| Resident_Hazard said:
I think we basically said the same thing. DVD is essentially a brand name Nintendo didn't want to pay for, so they had Matsushita/Panasonic craft roughly the same thing for their use. There's no guarantee the follow-up to the Wii will be Blu-Ray. After all, the system probably won't be all that powerful and might not even need large storage space. Microsoft does just fine with DVD format on the Xbox360. Nintendo's history is that of a company that seems forward-looking, but that always takes one or two steps back for every one or two forward. ... This... is getting a little long-winded, so I'll try to get to my point--while I expect the next Nintendo system to be something amazing, I also fully expect them to simply drop the ball on a wide variety of things. For one thing, Nintendo has noted that they don't understand the modern gaming culture as they are resistant to including an Achievement system in their machines (Sony is already planning on Trophies for the NGP). I'm sure they'll finally do high-def, but I wouldn't be surprised to see only 720 (unless higher than 1080 surfaces, then Nintendo will peak at 1080), and unless Nintendo really does something with the HVD's, I don't expect anything other than DVD's the next time around. If it is some copy of Blu-Ray technology, I wouldn't expect it to be as robust as actual Blu-Ray disks--meaning they'll probably hold less data. I also don't imagine the next Nintendo console will be the tech powerhouse that they made in the past with the SNES, N64, GBA, and GameCube. Part of their new operating formula is "good enough" tech (CPU/GPU) rather than "leading edge." |
Blu-ray is dated technology at this point, it's established and cheap and thus exactly the sort of thing Nintendo would want to use. One of their chief media partners (Panasonic) is also the largest IP holder on the standard (yes, ahead of Sony). And the main draw for BD for Nintendo isn't even storage space (attractive as it might be), the main draw is security. DVD's been cracked wide open, even Nintendo's variant of it has, there's basically no way they're doing DVD-based again.
To be honest, I'm having a bit of trouble understanding your reasoning for Nintendo not using BD? Or limiting to 720p actually... I agree with your notion that Nintendo goes for "good enough", but 1080p or full size BD are also hardly "leading edge" even today, nevermind whenever Wii 2 releases. Nintendo's next system will easily outclass PS3 in all technical aspects, just as 3DS easily outclasses PSP in all technical aspects... technology doesn't stand still for 5 years, you need to get out of your apparent 2006 mindset on what's "leading edge".
