Erik designs the Wii 2

[Erik Aston]

Play4Fun said:

And also, your whole point was that all Nintendo needed to do was release an HD Wii . That won't fly.

They need a console with significant increases in power and better online service. If Nintendo takes its core audience for granted its beause some will buy anything they just slap together like that HD Wii you are asking for. That would just be lazy.

No, the point is that Nintendo needs a renewed focus on the games instead of on constantly "innovating" with no substance behind it.

If you follow the course of the DS touchscreen, to the Wii remote, to the balance board, to Motion , to the DSi cameras, and finally to the phantom Vitality Sensor, each and every control innovation Nintendo has had since Iwata took over has diminished in the amount of great content developed in support of it. And then with 3DS, there is no control innovation, there is just a graphics upgrade which Nintendo expects to carry weight just like MS and Sony thought HD would matter to customers.

Innovation is not an ends to itself. The ends is great, content-rich, multiplayer games, which is what gaming on your TV is all about. Expecting innovation with no substance to carry the day is lazy. Nintendo needs to back off on the innovation and amp up the substance to correct their current course.

I listed in the first post the technology-related things which in practical terms, are more important than sheer power. Reduced loading times. Reduced controller response lag. Maintaining 60 FPS. Keeping the system small, quiet and efficient. Recognizing higher amounts of controllers such as multiple balance boards.

Better online is almost presumed. More games should have Mario Kart style online, and friend codes should be less of a hassle. But Xbox shouldn't be the model. And a higher focus should be put on 4-controller penetration than online penetration. Local multiplayer is the domain of consoles.

If you want a "next big thing," maybe it should be 6 player gaming. Imagine 6 player Mario Party. Super Mario Bros.  Smash Bros. Mario Kart. Just Dance. 3 vs. 3 Tanks battles or Star Fox dogfights. If 4 player Mario Kart was fun on 17 inch CRTs, 6 players should be possible now that everyone is buying 42 inchers.

Nintendo would definitely need to put 2 controllers in the box and have additional 2 controller bundles available if they took that route. And then they could call the system something with "6" in the name to reference 6th console/6 players.