There really doesn't seem to be an expansion port on the Wii. There's a Micro SD slot, a couple of GC mem card slots, 4 GC controler slots, and 2 USB slots. Nowhere in there do I see a place that'd make for an appropriate attachment. It WILL be a new machine, no doubt.

New machine...

in 2012. It will not come soon like Pachter keeps predicting.

Miyamoto has hinted that Nintendo might release some kind of external upscaler if there is demand for it. This is as close to a "Wii HD" as there will ever be, and frankly still more than is necessary.

This is not to say the Wii will have no successor; of course it will, eventually (2012 at the earliest, and possibly later). But it will be a completely new system, not a hardware refresh.

No. There will be no WiiHD.

This...

Excellent games is all i'm asking for, the console is there for a few more years, with all its strenghts and weaknesses: i don't want to spend more money on hardware, i want to spend more money on GAMES... is it possible to enjoy this gen before already thinkin' about the next one? I'm so tired about all these "next-gen" discussions all over the place for now four years...

Same thing with the price drop these days: why should i care, i already had a Wii back in 2006... i don't care if Nintendo sells 15 millions Wii's in 3 months instead of 10 millions, i'm not Yamauchi's son... plus, Nintendo may sell more and more and more, it seems to never be enough to justify development of AAA games for the platform anyway, so... i'll enjoy the best efforts, and will forget about all the rest, i don't care anymore...

But to answer, yes, the next Nintendo console will have HD output, but it's not that feature that will make it a success, i think Nintendo will still have a brand new surprise for us... they have billions in the bank, they have excellent engineers, and they may buy any patent out there to use it in a near future... that's all i need to know about Nintendo's next console for at least another couple of years...

This

ChichiriMuyo said:
"There really doesn't seem to be an expansion port on the Wii. There's a Micro SD slot, a couple of GC mem card slots, 4 GC controler slots, and 2 USB slots. Nowhere in there do I see a place that'd make for an appropriate attachment. It WILL be a new machine, no doubt".

makes this

Millennium said:
"Miyamoto has hinted that Nintendo might release some kind of external upscaler if there is demand for it".

sounds like BS...but what do I know.

An Attachment that you'll have to hold in your left hand while holding wiimote on the right hand.

(If you understand this post, give yourself a pat on your back)

Such upscaler can be done as a separate box with component input and hdmi/component output.

It would also not doing anything that a good TV doesn't do automatically.  Of course, it would make a cheap hi-res TV look better...

They could also do something via the USB ports such that it used the wii for the DVD and to handle the controls and periphials.  It would not make sense for a long term box, but could be a way to offer a cheaper "upgrade" option to the install base when the new system comes out.  Put more limitations (no upgrade to media, etc...) that it really doesn't make sense, but you never know with marketting and some companies...

It's likely the next Nintendo box will be at a minimum 1080p, and will be better able to handle it than the 360 and PS3.  It's now a lot easier and cheaper to provide the resources to do 1080p right then it was 3 years ago, even more so when they decide to launch a new console.

1080p is under 6 times the processing as 480p.  The Wii handles 480p better than the 360 and PS3 handle 1080p.

Given Moore's law...  Expect double every 2 years...  So, let's say the next Wii launches in 3 more years in 2012.  That would be 3 doublings over those 6 years.  So, using commodity parts, 1080p will be nothing special.

They might not wait until 2012 for the next console.  That said, they don't need to in order for 1080p to be economical.  They could do it today if they settle for 360 level processing power.

There won't be an attachment. It's not like you can just plug something into a USB port and suddenly it's got as much power as a PS3.