"When do you think we will see the first next-gen console?" -wtf?-

[lapsed_gamer]

Groucho said:

HappySqurriel said:

Maybe I’m slow, but I don’t understand why anyone would think that Nintendo would release a "Wii HD" unless it was just a Wii system with a built in scaler.

Why would Nintendo choose to (A) dramatically increase their software development costs, (B) hurt their hardware profitability, injure their image with fans (by having a short lived product), and (C) sacrifice further sales of what will become their most popular home console ever when they're not being pressured by anyone? This would be a lot like a hockey team that was up 3 to 1 after their first period sending all of their best players home so they can show off the talent of their rookies ... Its a losing strategy that only a moron would use.

I bolded the assumptions that, frankly, are just plain wrong.

(A) Making a HD and SD version of a game on what is effectively the same platform is trivial.  There is no dramatic increase in dev costs.  The SD/HD difference is often the only point of contention that reviewers have with Wii cross-platform titles, over their HD counterparts.  More importantly, if game developers saw the Wii as a contemporary to the HD consoles, rather than the PS2, cross-platform games might actually start with the Wii HD as a basis for game design.

(B) Selling 100% BC Wii HDs to the HD crowd, and still making Wii SDs for the SD crowd would not hurt Nintendo in the slightest.  Quite the opposite, in fact -- it would expand the audience, and cause many Wii SDs to be repurchased as Wii HDs.  Remember, upgrading isn't a requirement, if Nintendo says every game must also support the SD console.

(C) See (B).

 

The "Wii HD" really would just be a "scaled" Wii, after all.  A faster GPU and more texture memory would really be the only prereq -- it doesn't need to have more base memory or a faster CPU at all.  A HDD, better textures, and 720p output would appeal to a very large crowd, though, I believe.  Ask yourself if you would purchase a Wii, say in two years time, that cost the same, or slightly more than the current Wii, but had a built-in HDD, upscaling hardware, more texture memory, and a faster GPU, along with 720p output support -- say it upscales any Wii game, and any future Wii games can make use of the additional texture memory if they so desire (there's certainly room on the DVD).

 

Thank you.