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jarrod on 12 July 2010
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Smashchu2 said:
jarrod said:

Honestly, looking at timelines I think it's likely Wii 2 will launch first (Wii fell in Japan in 2008 and hasn't really regained much ground since, and Nintendo always looks to their home market when planning launch cycles) and it may come as soon as Q4 2011.  In terms of hardware spec, Wii 2 will likely be just a normal generational upgrade, meaning there won't be as much pressure on Sony & Microsoft to push to their next cycles right away.  This will also likely benefit 3rd parties, as they'll now have 3 consoles to launch games across and share costs/risk with rather than just 2, though it might also result in the 3rd placer getting squeezed out GameCube-style as the gen goes on and Wii 2 gains ground.  Like with 3DS vs PSP, you can probably also expect Wii 2 spec to be a decent increase over PS3/360 capability, and probably with a focus on developer ease of use.

Microsoft's timeline I think depends entirely on how Kinect fares though.  They're in no hurry to rush the cycle, they've clearly shifted priority to profitability and MS PR has even espoused their own "10 year cycle" for 360.  Xbox 3 will probably launch alongside PS4, the only way I can see it launching earlier is if Kinect utterly bombs and the current 360 market basically dries up next year, in which case a Q4 2012 launch might be possible.  But that looks pretty unlikely imo.

I disagree a lot there. First, The Wii was never that strong in Japan. In 2008, it's best year, it sold 3 million. In 2009, it sold 2 million. It's a big drop in terms of relativity, but the system wasn't preforming that great overthere, esspecially when compaired to the US and Others. Nintendo will not launch unless they think Sony will launch. 2011 is far too early for even Sony. 2012 is most likely because it would be the most plausable for Sony to launch then.

As for Microsoft, don't try to tell their strategy. They change it every so often. They would only say "10 year life cycle," to copy Sony. They stole Reggie's 06 speech in their E3 09 conference. Kinect is going to kill Microsoft and the amount of talk from Microsoft on it is proof of that. Everyone thought their press conference was bad. And people from Microsoft keep saying how it's like Super Mario Brothers and will change everything. A fire broke out in their core market, and since Microsoft is retarded in the game business, they will not know how to put it out and will crumble.

Eh, "ever that strong" in Japan?  Until 2H 2008, Wii was actually outselling PS2 even launch aligned iirc, NO system has ever sold as well as Wii did upfront in Japan (not SFC, not PS2, not even DS).  The problem with maintaining that level of sales momentum was software support (both 1st and 3rd party), which is what directly led to the current Wii malaise in Japan.  Iwata's actually spoken on the issue at length.

At this point, I don't think Nintendo's even that concerned with Sony, even console side.  They'll launch Wii 2 next fiscal year for the same reasons they're launching 3DS this fiscal year; they can make more money with a new machine than the current one, piracy is steadily eating into their current bases and the timing gives them an opportunity to regroup and bring the 3rd parties back en masse.  Despite being huge worldwide, Nintendo also always looks to their home market first, and in Japan Wii definitely more than winding down (and basically abandoned by 3rd parties) now...

 

For Microsoft, I see Kinect as mainly a stall tactic and grab for some casual dollars.  They'll probably include Kinect in Xbox 3 as well though.   And despite their disasterous E3 conference, I don't think the hardcore are going to abandon MS overnight either... they'll wait for Sony because it's financially in thier interests to, for Nintendo it's basically the opposite.