OK. Now I had my little joke. But seriously, where do you think those inscrutable Nintendo wizards will take us next? And when?
Here’s my personal speculation. Based on a desire to keep the casual gamers AND to lure back/away more of the other kind, and with vast resources and great momentum at their disposal, I think they might:
1. Release their next console early, probably early enough to beat Microsoft.
2. I t will be HD, of course, with a solid state hard disk, and refined motion control. It will have its own on-line gaming without friend’s codes etc. but with an age restriction.
3. It will not replace the Wii which will continue in production at a reduced price and marketed specifically towards the sub-teen and distinctly casual demographic.
4. The Wii 2 will have full backward compatibility and will be able to play any new non-HD releases aimed primarily to the Wii 1. This way developers do not have to invest in HD development for that market.
5. Using dual layer media all new HD releases will also be playable on the Wii1 (at lower resolution) except for mature rated games which will not be playable on the Wii1. This means that parents can know that their kids can still play safely on a Wii1 without detracting from a more mature experience on Wii2. Crossover games would be released on dual disks but the Wii2 version might have some additional content. Anyone with an older Wii1 that cannot read the dual disk can choose to get a Wii1 only disk, an upgrade, or trade in towards a Wii2.
6. Nintendo will go out of its way to reassure their huge Wii1 base of continued support and not push the upgrade in any way. Those that want it will damn sure get it anyway.
That’s what I might do if I ran Nintendo. What about you?
