txrattlesnake said:
HappySqurriel said:
txrattlesnake said:
HappySqurriel said:
For argument’s sake, it is entirely possible that Nintendo could release a new console or handheld this year; but there is no way Nintendo would release a new console and handheld this year. Realistically, most companies would want at least 12 months between major hardware releases that have an overlapping user-base; and would most likely be aiming for an 18 to 24 month split between the systems. The reason for this is pretty straight forward, that a company wouldn’t want its most dedicated users trying to decide which system to buy; and they would want the early adopters to have bought into one system, and the system to be in a position where it is self sustaining, before they release a new system.
Now, if Nintendo was in a rush to release both new systems I could see a spring/summer handheld release followed by a Q4 2011 release of a new home console; but this seems more like the act of a console manufacturer who is desperate rather than a company who is currently the most successful console manufacturer ever.
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I wrote about this before at length. Basically, I think Nintendo could release a 360 or PS3 powerful console this year that could appeal to hd game developers more than the Wii does and have launch games like a Super Wii version of Final Fantasy XIII, and versions of Epic Mickey, Metroid Other M, and Mario Galaxy 2 and Zelda Wii on it with PS3 / 360 quality graphics and probably 3rd party offerings like Fallout 3, Assassin's Creed, Modern Warefare 2, and GTA IV on it that don't appeal to the bulk of Wii gamers but that do appeal to people that don't like the Wii's current offerings. A trade-in option of Wii's towards a purchase of this new console as someone mentioned would be a good option. Then keep the casuals buying the Wii with the types of games they like.
In a couple of years, Ninty could bring the casuals on board with Wii Sports 4 etc.
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The question is why would they?
They're currently selling more hardware and software than the HD consoles, which costs Nintendo far less to produce; and the negative impact of not having HD visuals at this point in time is minimal. The longer Nintendo holds off of producing a new console, the more processing power will be available at a lower cost and diminishing returns on processing power will translate into it being dramatically more expensive to release a meaninful improvement on the system; you could argue that we're rapidly approaching that point being that a $100 graphics card at the end of this year will be 4 to 8 times as powerful as the GPUs in the HD consoles but holding off a couple more years will put a cheap low-end laptop GPU in the range of running a game like Crysis at 1080p @120fps with full detail and few customers would care about graphics beyond what that chipset would produce.
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Iwata said at E3 that he was interested in getting all people into playing games. One would assume he meant Nintendo games.
As it stands Wii Sports etc sell more copies than any other games on the market, still 50% of the gaming population is still more interested in the types of games that have been popular the last few gens than what they see on Wii. With many third parties saying they're not really interested in working on Wii as much this year (and not bringing key games to Wii any way), the only way Nintendo can capture more than 60% to 75% of the market at this stage, a console such as that would be the way to do so.
Also, it would be fully b/c with gcn and wii software so with the trade-in option people would still be able to play their old games and it would probably upscale their graphics.
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The problem with this is that you are believing the lines that 3rd parties are dishing out. They say they don't want to develop for the Wii because it's not comparable in power to the other consoles, but this meant nothing last gen when the GC was more powerful than the PS2 and on par with the Xbox. It's an excuse. Even if Nintendo releases an HD console, 3rd parties still will not jump on it. Then they will say they want to wait to see if it has a high enough install base before they dedicate resources to it. And then next they will claim to be working on next-gen software and it's not worthwhile to release software on the Wii HD. There will always be excuses.
