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HappySqurriel on 02 August 2010
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jarrod said:
Mr Khan said:

The problem with console development is that developers are locked into a "port everything" mentality there. If Nintendo's in the porting loop, they'll succeed, if not, i would bet against it

 

Though Nintendo might set the porting standard depending on when they launch, so it depends.

Pretty much.  I think 3DS again illustrates Nintendo's likely Wii 2 plan, release a comparably/slightly better specced platform than the current competition, release it well before the competition is ready with their own next gen successors to jump the cycle first, and focus on extreme ease of use development/tool side to help attract support.  I expect Wii 2 to have it's own wow-factor "hook" as well, much like 3D for 3DS, motion/pointer controls for Wii or touch control for DS.

Also like 3DS, I think you can expect Nintendo to make a concerted effort to line up key 'core' 3rd party IP upfront.  At first you can probably expect a flood of PS360 'definitive version' ports (similar to RE4 Wii Edition), but I think they'll also line up key original titles upfront (and mostly coming from Japan, where they have more influence and stronger 3rd party relationships).  Iwata's spoken on the 'core' problem with DS/Wii, about how those markets were never properly pioneered or sustained, and 3DS shows it's something Nintendo's making central to their next gen plans.  3DS feels almost like a PlayStation launch in terms of 3rd party commitments and announcements, I expect Wii 2 to be more or less the same thing...

I think many people are seriously underestimating the kinds of performance gains Nintendo could make with their next console. If you look at GPUs available today and speculate what could be very low cost and low energy consumption at the end of 2011 (or later) and in ATI’s line-up the Radeon HD 5670, Radeon HD 5750 and Radeon HD 5770  may be viable candidates.

To use an example, the jump from the HD consoles to the next Nintendo platform could be similar to the jump from the Dreamcast to the Wii.

 

This isn’t to say that Nintendo will be pushing the limits, but it will be 6 or more years between the release of the XBox 360 and Nintendo’s next platform; and even a very low performance system built today could easily exceed the performance of the HD consoles.