marc said:
You might be right, but I dont think we can use the portable market to measure the home consoles. I think for the most part, folks who buy portables are not graphic buffs to begin with. Those people probably have a game they want and simply buy the system that can play it. I am currently going through a dilemma in choosing between the PSP and DS. In terms of games the DS has a huge library which is why I would probably pick one up despite the fact that the PSP is a more powerful system. Regardless of which I choose however, I am willing to make a graphical sacrifice for portability because the portable is only there to pass time during situations when a big console cannot be used. In other words, I doubt that most people use their portable as their primary console but rather a fun and convenient alternative while away from their main console or if they simply cant get a big console for whatever reason. I dont think this type of thinking can be applied to home consoles because they will all have very large libraries unlike the anorexic PSP library which is probably holding it back a bit not that it doesnt have a few good games but the DS seems to have more a lot more good games to me. In the home arena however, I think everyone would rather have the more powerful console if they have the same amount of good games and the prices are within range of each other. I agree that the Wii will not die but I think that to solidify their position now and on to the next generation they need to upgrade the Wii somewhat. As I explained, I wouldnt make a new console at all. I would just release a more powerful version with new graphical capability and a few scaling libraries so that programmers can make games that work on both the old model and new. In such a case no one is getting screwed. Old Wii consoles will still be able to play every Wii game released but this would give the graphic whores something to play with and it would make for a nice upgrade if someone wanted to get a new Wii console anyway. It would also prove to 3rd parties that Nintendo can & wants to support big graphical project if they wanted to make such games. Games like Oblivion would be a huge boon to the Nintendo imho. If the Wii had games like that it would probably kill all criticisms and give them a very strong foothold next generation very much like how Sony had all the 3rd party support this generation at the start. |
Most graphics whores are not home console gamers, they're PC gamers ...
Beyond that, I don't see much of a need for Nintendo to release an upgraded Wii until 2011; for the next 2 to 3 years the Wii userbase will continue to grow because it is the only affordable new console and will continue to sell in the years following that because of the userbase that it has already built will attract a lot of development.
