Two Nintendo Rumors(one for 3DS, another for...Wii Hi-Fi)

[Mr Khan]

Resident_Hazard said:

Mr Khan said:

Natal is only the expensive beta for whatever the real product is, waiting in the wings. Plus Microsoft desperately needs a total rebranding if they stand to compete with Nintendo at all. A new console is a chance at an image refresh that Microsoft and Nintendo could both use. Nintendo needs a new chance with the self-proclaimed hardcore, and Microsoft needs a new chance with everyone else.

The only things Microsoft needed to do to improve themselves with gamers/consumers was improve their customer service for RRoD consoles, and to improve the hardware of the X360 to prevent RRoD issues from being issues.  And they did both of those things, and the X360 is still selling far better than the original Xbox.  As far as I'm concerned, Microsoft convinced me the Xbox360 was very much worth it.  I love the hell out of mine. 

I think Nintendo has almost spent all their chances to gain back the hardcore, and they do little else than straight pandering to the "Nintendo core."  Rather than giving us excellent, core-ready original titles, they just keep rehashing Mario, Metroid, Pokemon, and Zelda.  I'm an idiot, I'm still going to buy Metroid: Other M even though I think it's completely unnecessary, and almost guaranteed to be inferior to the Prime trilogy, and especially Super Metroid (glutton for the Metroid games).  Other M is simply going to be the Resident Evil 5 of the Metroid series.  A quality title that works--basically--but does almost everything wrong.  But if Nintendo actually cared about "core" gamers, they'd give us high quality original titles, and serious sequels to franchises other than "the big 4."  Was Eternal Darkness really the last truly original Nintendo title? 

The hardcore, or serious gamer, has given up on the Wii.  Higher quality sequels to relatively popular "hardcore" games are all selling worse than their predecessors.  Red Steel 2, No More Heroes 2, RE: Darkside Chronicles, etc.  At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if Mario Galaxy 2 sold below standards set by Galaxy 1.  Maybe if Nintendo had bothered keeping a continuous line of the "core" titles going, things wouldn't have fizzled to this level.  They really should have released Disaster and Fatal Frame worldwide over a series of "dry" months to keep serious gamers interested in the Wii.  For that matter, they probably shouldn't have killed Project HAMMER, which is a title I was really interested in. 

For that matter, an Achievement/Trophy system integrated into a firmware update wouldn't hurt things, either.

We're thinking differently. Microsoft is stuck on the inside looking out. They've totally dominated the hearts and minds of the core, but at the expensive of growth focus, and it shows.

We're thinking differently on what sells consoles, too. Disaster and Fatal Frame wouldn't have helped anyone but list wars. But the hardcore are quite fickle. If Nintendo can convince 3rd parties that their platform is worthy of top-tier investment, they'll get them, or at least compete for an equal share, but clearly that's only possible on a new console

your last point is quite impossible, sadly. Wii titles can't be patched.