Wii 2 to be smaller and cheaper?
If you're expecting bigger and better things from the Wii's successor, you may be let down. Nintendo might be satisfied with what the current Wii is already able to offer. According to TechRadar and Popular Mechanics, the company's creative mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto says, "With both the Wii remote itself and Wii Motion Plus, what we've been able to do is introduce an interface that is both I think appealing and at the right price for a broad audience."
Does the "right price" mean the next Wii will go for a comparable price to what it is now? Miyamoto continued: "And while we don't have any concrete plans for what we'll be doing with hardware in the future, what I can say is that, my guess is that because we found this interface to be so interesting, I think it would be likely that we would try to make that same functionality perhaps more compact and perhaps even more cost-efficient."
Sure, it's probably too early to forecast what the Wii 2 will offer, but as of now it sounds like Nintendo may not look to offer more of a graphical powerhouse, but instead continue to deliver what has proven to be a winning formula--just in a more compact and inexpensive package.
What do you think? Are you content with more of what has seemed to work for Nintendo or do you want a more powerful Wii with functionality like HD graphics?
Before covering games and gear for CNET Reviews, Jeff Bakalar dabbled in film and video production. An avid writer, reader, and gamer, Jeff is also an obsessive New Jersey Devils hockey fan. Catch him live every day as the co-host of CNET's infamous podcast, The 404. 
For me there's nothing inherently wrong with the existing interface, but it needs a serious infusion of more mature titles that are written to take full advantage of it, rather than current games that amost always feeling like the software is just soft pedaling around the interface as if it's a necessary evil. So far the gaming experience for almost every older audience-oriented title I've tried on the Wii has been rather disappointing. Not that these are specifically adult-oriented but Guitar Hero and Rock Band have tried to make their guitars at least resemble real guitars; it's time that the controller add-ons (or even straight-on replacements) for shooters resemble a real gun in both look and operation rather than the simplistic tripe that Nintendo currently passes off as a good-enough; the same can be said for steering wheel controls as well. Enough with the tunnel vision focus on games for preteens.
Like JamesCS said, if you make the Wii into a PS3/XB360, then what's the point of buying a wii?
Project Natal looked awesome at E3, but for all practical gaming purposes it will be useless. Could you imagine playing a game like Halo with no controller at all? Do you really think gamers will stand up hours at a time mimicking the movements and actually be able to pull off the precision needed to play a game like that? Forget Halo, what about a simple 2-D side scroller? It is more of a novelty item the way it is designed and will only be good for a limited type of games, like the ones showcased during the demo at E3. XBOX 360 owners generally fall in to the "hardcore gamer" demograph, so I'm not sure what kind of games they plan to create with that technology that their users base would buy.
Now, Nintendo is strictly for games ... and I will most likely buy the next Wii (or whatever they call it) no matter what. Mainly for Zelda and Mario. However, they really need to up the graphics of it. I know it's the gameplay that makes the game, not the graphics ... but if I have two systems and a game comes out for both, I'm more likely to get the game on the system with the better graphics (even if that game costs ten dollars more).
Gaming companies make most of their profit on games. If you rely solely on first party games, you're gonna shoot yourself in the foot. The next game console must be in HD. I've noticed that text alone is a lot more difficult to read on non-HD games.
Here's a suggestion that I doubt will happen, but Nintendo should come out with two new consoles. One for the lower $200-250 price point, and another with higher graphics for around $300-$350. PC games have to deal with different graphic cards and memory constraints, so why not consoles? Consumers will make the choice and I bet the majority will pay more and go for the higher end.
I never bought the wii to play the latest and greatest games I have the xbox 360 for that. But comparing Burnout paradise to Mario Cart. or Resident Evil 4 compared to RE 5. Its not even in the same ball park. I don't even know if people called the wii the "next Generation" of video gaming. But its not.
I would think even just getting the wii to 720p which is even starting to become a lower standard would work. If I could get 720p on my 42" I would be happy.
I wonder if Nintendo is going to start feeling the effects of not having HD. Sony and Xbox don't plan on doing another Console until at least 2012 but more likely 2014. By then I'm going to go to a museum to see what 480i looks like.
But really what I have been preaching for a while now is the next generation of gaming needs to be build around 3D. Not the red and blue glasses but what you get in the theater and what everybody is trying to make there HD Tv be. Who ever can get 3D video gaming out first is going to be the winner!
Even at 720p but in 3d with the wii controller. People are going to be buying them up as fast as.... well the wii.
When you get 3d video on my TV at home (not having to buy a new TV! You have next generation.
Did you also stick forks in electrical sockets as a kid?
I'd guess they needed the new accessory to be able to have better tracking for HD resolutions anyways.
Come to think of it, I can't really think of a "must have" feature set for an Wii 2. Unless Nintendo wants to get heavy into digital distribution, or maybe into media, the Wii is at a rather nice zen-like plateau for the mass market.
As for JJohnson1701's comment: "offers a real controller (something similar to the XBox or PS3 controller) as the standard, and the motion controller as the optional". Developers have the right to choose their control setup. They can use either the GCN controller or the Wii controls. So in reality the Wii does have a real controller, it is up to the developers to use it or not. The PS3 and the Xbox360 will be in the same situation when they release their motion controls, developers can choose between them.
I would only consider buying Wii 2 without High-resolution if they release the next Zelda exclusively on it and not on Wii 1. Which would be supper-fricking lame. But I would spend the price of the system and the game to play the next Zelda. Twilight Princess was amazing. I will play the next one.
Some of you could realize that many of us who enjoy the Wii are not, and never will be, gamers, and we have no desire to sit in front of the TV with the controllers used by other systems. I don't have anything against gaming that way, it's just not for me. And yes the Wii could have better graphics. But I really enjoy my Wii as-is.
I will never understand the mass hype of wii though.. I mean the thing can't even play DVD movies, SD graphics, and real lack of games but yet people pay a premium on the console and controllers. I will give them credit somewhat for the DS though.. it has some good games and is a nice system but like 90% of the games released on DS suck as well but all sell well.
Some WII games may be fun/novel but when it comes down to it, if you have an HD TV, nothing beats a PS3 for all it can do... It packs one hell of a punch for the price.
- by play7 October 21, 2009 6:23 PM PDT
- waiting is the only way.rumors are will........................
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