Comments on: Nintendo shouldn't rush to release the Wii 2

At least one analyst says Nintendo should be the first to enter the next-gen video game console fray, but I think it should be the last.

[volterwd]

Blu ray should be affordable in 4 years... so skipping bluray wouldn't make sense unless it dies to download HD which i doubt it will.

[compudoc318]

im sick of hearing about wii sales, its way cheaper, so parents bought it. everyone i know who has one, barely plays it now, its a gimmic....graphics are bad, games are for children, i dont see how anyone will get fit off the wii fit..... its not a next gen game system yet, id still compare it to ps2 and xbox!!! The game interaction is terrible, like a tennis game where all you control is swinging, while your character runs aimlessley, or games like madden which dont translate at all to wii.....its a nice try nintendo, but id have to see wii 2.0 before id buy one of these cheap gimmick wannabe systems... nintendo is always ahead of the curve, before they have the tech to do so....i.e. virtual boy....lol.

[Lamppost0]

Who cares? They're swimming in money. Nintendo understands that profitability trumps all.

[Philips]

> [http://...|http://...] cheap gimmick wannabe systems [http://...|http://...]

So peevish...

Did your mom denied to buy you a new console? Or you are simply grounded for two weeks?
Do not worry, you would grow up eventually.

This is the problem of gaming market. Thanks to Internet, it's flooded with vocal kids who have no money and depend on parents to buy them consoles and games; depend on game reviews because they can't try console games before. Consequently, whatever parents bought them becomes "cool." Because kids treat whatever they own "cool" and "better" than that of the rest. Problem is that the kids have essentially no freedom of choice and have whatever they end-up having.

Personally to me, all consoles are deficient. Console games tend to look more and more like dramatic TV show with poor directing and your role in the show is to mash buttons. Thinking isn't involved - game developers prescribed scenario and force you to follow it to the point.

PC gaming thankfully still has number of outstanding RTS, RPG and FPS games which simply are impossible to have on consoles. Because consoles have very limited controls (mostly suited for button meshing) and usual audience consists of ~12yo kids.

In that respect Wii was first (and remains only) adult game console with WiiSport pioneering whole new genre of games. No wonder kids despise it - it's too adult for them to grok.

[sanenazok]

wah wah wah my mommy bought me the wrong console. Growing up we had to walk two miles in the snow uphill just to get a glimpse of a b&w television. Next time talk with your parents about pros and cons of products, they'll respect you for thinking logically.

This makes me think about how many other posters are actually kids. It just happened that you slipped and revealed this fact.

[kelmon]

With all due respect, the Wii is the only "next generation" console that was released in the last grouping. The 360 and PS3 are nothing more than more powerful versions of the versions before with the same damned games. You have to do a lot more than simply produce prettier games to impress me. The Wii might be graphically inferior to the other 2 consoles (but, let's not kid ourselves, there's nothing wrong with the graphics) but at least it gives a different experience than the usual fumbling with a joypad.

Frankly, the last console to really advance gaming was the original PlayStation. Ever since then games have just been a case of "more of the same".

[compudoc318]

what, i wrote this reply, im 32 years old, my mommy doenst buy my games, i do, and i can afford what ever system i want. and as for p.c.'s, i have 5 since i own a cpu repair company and probalbly make more money than you or your mommy and daddy...lol. and phillips says wii is adult, what a joke, nintendo has always marketed to kids.....

[celticbrewer]

"Wii is a gimmick" wow- how original. What XBox blog did you read that on? We (being my wife and I) bought the Wii (and yes, we also have a very capable PC and other NextGen consoles) and play it far more often that the other options.

[Kwasiowusu]

@ kelmon : "With all due respect, the Wii is the only "next generation" console that was released in the last grouping. "
The Wii is next generation like Saddam is Mother Theresa.
Heck, I have seen plenty of orginal XBOX games that have better graphocs, batter game play, and are more bleeding edge than the Wii's shovelware games taht usually end in "CATZ" or "DOGZ" or something equally ridiculous. Sure the Wii has the "waggle", but then that has been around on PC games for years. Both Motus and Gyration have had motion control devices for years, long before the Wii..
As a matter of fact, Nintendo had to license the technology of the "Wiimote" from Gyration.

[warrencheswick]

You're logic fails quite a bit. Fact is the Wii kills everythign in sales. We get it, you don't like it but that doesn't mean it faisl as a product. I'm 28, make good money own both a wii and a ps3 and play my Wii alot more. My gf won't touch my ps3 but loves wii. There's a reason why Nintendo is doing so well. Cause there are far more consumers like me then there are like you. As for never playing the system after inital purchases games like guitar hero and tiger woods sell better on wii then the other consoles.

Oh and i've lost 10 lbs since gettign wii fit

[ender21]

Compudoc, bragging about your income? Did you just walk off the playground or what? Your credibility is nosediving faster than your alleged businesses revenue. I'd move right on to the next business if I knew the owner of the CPU repair company I was looking at was as childish as you.

[zhakidd532]

I'm so tired of XBOX 360 and PS3 freaks looking down on the Wii. It's the same tired excuses and criticisms all the time. I'm sorry there isn't enough blood and death...at least the Wii is trying to do something somewhat interesting. Microsoft and Sony put out the same system twice essentially. The Wii is breaking barriers on so many levels. It has Super Smash, my favorite game ever. Zelda, Mario too. If you want to shoot something, would it be more fun to hold a gun and point it at the screen and shoot, the Wii brings that. This spring real sword fights will be real. Light-Saber fights...now that's gaming...

[pizzapanther]

DVD playback can be added with just a software update just check out the hackers at the Wii Home Brew: http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Main_Page. With that said you don't mention anything else to compelling, so they should take their time to get the next Wii out. I don't think they have to be first but if they were around 6 months after the first competitor, instead of a year, i think that would be better.

[pogeypetey]

compudoc318 -
Bitter, are we? Seriously, the cheapy XBOX 360 Arcade has been at or near the Wii Price for a long time, and parents/gamers didn't jump on that. Price isn't what draws people. Gaming is what is drawing people. Wii is exciting, and new. Nothing quite like being able to interact with your games. Why does next-gen need to be framed as having better processing power?

You can continue to mock the wii, or you can recognize it as a game changer (literally and figuratively). Sony and Microsoft going motion... XBOX 360 Mii like avatars... crazy when a "gimmick" becomes a way of life.

1900's gimmicks - Cars, lightbulbs, toilets, bathtubs, running water, canned food, TOILET PAPER.

Hope you have taken those gimmicks seriously...

[RMarino]

Sorry pogeypetey, but I don't think equating cars and lightbulbs to the Wii is really the same at all. The Wii is more of a Segway type of gimmick - sure it's fun to ride and efficient, but if you're going to go on any serious travels, you find a different platform to take you there. That's the thing most "gamers" (i.e. not the people Nintendo was targetting with the Wii) see the Wii as. It had a few great games that could consume steady chunks of time, but they're mostly gimmicks and in the end it sits around while the gamers play elsewhere.

I preordered the Wii at the Nintendo World Store, waiting many hours on line to get it at launch, and played a few great games that came out, and I'm still waiting for a few games we were promised months before its release (Project H.A.M.M.E.R. springs to mind...), but 6 months after I got the Wii, I bought a 360 and have played all kinds of fun, enjoyable games as well as my more hardcore games.

That's what the Wii needs, in my opinion, an upgrade to graphics, a better online offering, and something to win back the hardcore gamers. Of course, they're winning this generation without them, but a boy can dream.

[compudoc318]

im not bitter, i make enough money to buy a wii a week, but i dont want too, the controler is neat, but no where near a finished product

[Kwasiowusu]

pogeypetey : " recognize it as a game changer ..... 1900's gimmicks - Cars, lightbulbs, toilets, bathtubs, running water, canned food, TOILET PAPER"
How anyone in his right mind, can even compare the Wii to the lightbuld is beyond me. That's simply nuts.
Before you go any further overboard, I might remind you that the biggest gaming paltfor BY FAR on the planet is the Windows PC. Over 70 million Windows PC's are sold every single quarter on the planet. That makes the Wii's total sales of just 30 million in 2 years, look like a joke.
There are over 1 Billion Wiondow PC's in active use by consumers out there, and close to all of them are used to play one kind of video game or another at some time. By far mosrt people play more games on Windows PC's than on any other platform. Window RULES casual games as well.. If you want to talk about game changer, its the Windows PC, not the Wii.

[NowComeOn]

Nintendo should use HDDVD format in the next gen Wii, reasons

1. Existing technology. Can start production immediately.
2. A lot of storage for games 15G single layer or 30G double layer
3. Nobody except Toshiba has it and I don't think they want it anymore - so it's cheap
4. Upgrade of DVD factory to produce HDDVD is cheaper than Blu-ray
5. Better control of piracy - Control of HDDVD tecnology and blank discs

[celticbrewer]

I agree with all but 4. By the time a Wii2 came out, any factory worth noting would already be producing BluRay.

[Ottozero]

I totally agree with you. This will also **** off Sony in the process and might even bring back HD-DVD in a small way with motion picture studios if MS also uses HD-DVD for xbox 720.

[bigmc6000]

1) doesn't really apply to 2012 - there will be absolutely no economy of scale for HD-DVDs at that point
2) Again - it's an economy of scale issue. You can certainly put a lot of data on 1 disc but producing HD DVDs in 2012 is going to cost more than Blu-Rays (perfect example is trying to get OEM parts for your 5 year old Honda, WAY more expensive than an in production model) and more storage is only useful if you have the hardware to be able to handle it
3) Nobody wants it because the HD format war is over - why doesn't the Wii try BetaMax? That's gotta be crazy cheap!
4) Every factory worth it's salt will already BluRay manufacturing so using existing production capability vs paying to change something it's financially viable
5) Blu-ray won partly because of it's superior ability to control piracy (as the CEO of Lionsgate pointed out) so I don't really get that argument.

[zaznet]

HDDVD has been burried. The reason is couner to argument 5 which was partly caused by argument 4 which Toshiba had touted as the primary advantage to their technology. Cheaper cost to manufature, cheaper cost to pirate in mass quantities.

Burry it so that you DENY it from consumers and pirates have no HDDVD users to push their wares on.

Wii 2 would be going DVD or BluRay. I don't see them going BluRay unless they adopt the high-end and performance strategies of their competitors.

[gerrrg]

It would be a real paradigm shift, if they could create:

- A super compact system that didn't use a spinning disk at all - use a CF system that would keep 1 GB free just to store your game on, and the rest would be read-only memory for the actual game.
- A system would literally mount on the side of your TV (because it was so small and so lightweight), that it would change the way we think about gaming systems, as the entire front face would be the motion sensor.
-And just for kicks, add another 240 GB of SSD memory to store downloaded games and videos.
-For backward compatibilty, an external, plug-in disk unit (that could play DVDs as well) could be purchased (say around $125), or your old system could be plugged via ethernet.

That would be my design for the Wii2, and I would wait until prices for flash memory made it so cheap to essentially keep the same price point for the current Wii. That would kill MS and Sony. Am I asking too much?

[tech_junky48]

The only problem with the side-of-TV mounting is there is no really good technology to hold it there, and it would be hard to mount on a flat panel LCD or plasma TV. The only way I can think of is suction cups, and those eventually fall off from normal pulling forces. Maybe a magnetic rig?

[zaznet]

Solid state is the way things are moving. Nintendo does not seem to care about the media market and keeps their focus on it being a game console. Going solid state would fit Nintendo's paterns.

The plug in capability could be achieved if the cable-card standard ever reaches the market, but Nintendo does not go after the smaller high-end segment of the market and tries to reach mass market at the lowest common denominator. That would seem to preclude them from making a cable-card style console.

[gregorytga]

Sometimes analysts make my brain hurt. The DVD market has been so overly saturated that DVD players can be had for $25. I can't see DVD playback being a feature even if through software that'd be very enticing for a user to buy.

I've noticed a rather interesting culture among Wii fans that professing processing power doesn't equal and so forth, a strange mantra for a technology driven culture. While the actual capacity to render polygons doesn't equate directly to increased perceivable fun, it does give developers more leeway to explore the technology. The Wii honestly is vastly under powered as the console's controls would lend itself to games based off advanced Physics engines but sadly these sort of advanced modeling can't be explored, nor is the controller capable of some of the level of detection that developers would like with 1:1 movement. Notable the Wii Controller itself is receiving an upgrade, adding the functionality it should have had. Nintendo gets credit, where credit is due. They tried something different.

Now that its been established, it'll mature. I agree with CNET, Nintendo should ride the wave of the Wii long as possible.

[mgarc1125]

I disagree, the PS2 had a huge lead last generation and look at the difficulty it has had competing with XBOX and Wii. Granted it is starting to do much better but that Sony's success last generation did not guarantee it easy success this time.

[bobmarleypeople]

**facepalm**

Someone didn't read the wiibrew page properly. The disc reader in the current Wii model is not suited to playing DVDs. Yes it CAN do it, but there's a difference between CAN and SHOULD. The thing with the reader in the Wii is that it's not designed for continuously reading discs in a straight line. If you watch any DVDs or play CDs on it, it reads continuously from the disc and slowly damages the laser and the reader, eventually requiring a replacement and don't think that your warranty can help you with this.

As Nintendo have said on multiple occasions, there is little need for a DVD player in the Wii since most households have at least 1 these days (hell I have 2 DVD players that aren't even in use in addition to the ones I use regularly!). However, since everyone wants it, Nintendo may want to try and deliver this time (and finally start giving money to the DVD forum).

A bigger internal memory is seriously required this time, especially due to all these WiiWare titles coming out (I had to delete half of my VC titles to download the first Strong Bad episode).

Allowing people to download and run VC/WiiWare titles off their SD card would be nice instead of having to transfer them over/re-download them each time you want to play them.

Or, instead of making a new version of the Wii (which there's little point in doing), make a new console with all the usual (graphics, cpu, memory, HD space, etc) improvements but be sure to include backwards compatibility with the Wii because of the popularity (don't do a Microsoft or a Sony and fail at backwards compatibility).

[compudoc318]

ok, now that everyone is crying for me knocking the wii cause mommy cant afford it, i have more than enough money, im 32 and own a successful business....that being said, the wii is a novel idea, its just too raw for me, not enough control in the games ive seen so far. Id be curious to see a wii2, but this wii just doenst cut it for me. wow, u'd think i ripped apple with all the nintendo fan boys here...lol.

[ender21]

No nintendo fanboy here. I rarely play my wii. I'm more a fanboy of good sense and intelligent, well thought out ideas instead of the "i make more money than you" 3rd grade mudslinging.

[compudoc318]

ender.... if you read the responses to my intial reply, which was harsh, i admit, i was saying that to all the "mommy wont buy me a wii" replys. What i really have to say is the wii is a nice system, but ill wait for the wii 2. this one just isnt polished enough yet for me, I want more control with the wii controller, and i understand the technology is new and it will get better, until then i enjoy pc, ps3 and xbox 360 games. I do want to see the jedi game on wii to see how the controls are on it.

[tech_junky48]

Maybe it's time to rethink cartridges.

Think about it, Flash memory is CHEAP now. You could integrate whatever you needed for a Wii level game system into something the size of a thumb drive. Make a proprietary cartridge port and design it to fit them flush, so it looks cool (no flash cartriges sticking out at odd angles). Maybe a glowing blue power/eject button? One button to control everything. Push briefly, reset, push twice quickly, eject game, push and hold, power off. So a long, thin system with the IR reciever built in and one button, using flash cartridges that sit flush and are ejected with the button. It would look cool and work well. You could even be really cool and have a wireless TV connector and a pwer connector that hiches inline with your TV plug, so you would have a system that looks completely wireless. It would be so small, you could just set it on top of your TV.

[onlyauser]

LAST...market leaders should try to go last. If you are ahead good counter punches can put the competition down or at least be delivered much more effectively.

[Lerianis]

Personally, I hope that they will retain backwards compatibility in some fashion with original Wii and Gamecube games.... that would make my next choice of a console extremely easy.

[Ottozero]

The Wii sucks.... Not the games... just the system... Not the controller....Just the system... I mean come one no freaking Hard Drive, Limited Graphics and Sound options. I still say the Wii is Last gen. The one bright spot is the Virtual Console gotta love that for Old-school sake. So yeah the Nintendo should take its time this time when releasing the Wii2. Gives us a Hard Drive and Next Gen Media Make Two SKUs one with out those and one with those, I guarantee you the One with the Next Gen Stuff will sell Better, and Nintendo please include 802.11 "N". Have a nice day.

[billeeyum]

I'll give you the hard drive, but the graphics argument doesn't make the Wii last gen. The Wii is targeted at casual gamers and people who aren't gamers at all. These people, for the most part, don't care about graphics. What they want are games that are fun, easy, and they don't have to put in 100 hours to beat. The Wii has made a killing in this market, as the Sony and MS systems just don't have much to offer this group. But for hard core gamers, the PS3 and the 360 dominate. They are aimed at different audiences. What makes the Wii next gen is the fact that it has brought gaming to a whole new market.

[benjwah]

Why would they put a DVD in it? Honestly? I mean, it's not like DVD technology was mysterious and futuristic when they brought it out in the first place.
I submit that there's no more or less reason for them to put a DVD in the next Wii than there was for them to put one in the first Wii (or Gamecube for that matter).

[Kwasiowusu]

@ RMarino : "Seriously, the cheapy XBOX 360 Arcade has been at or near the Wii Price for a long time, and parents/gamers didn't jump on that"
The Arcade was sold at $300 for a good 22 months, to the Wii's $250. Even after the price cut last year, the Aracde still sold at $280 to the Wii's $250. At no time has the 360 Aracde ever been sold at the same price as the Wii.
Not to mention, the 360 Pro is by far the top selling version of the 360, and that sold for $400 for the first 22 months, still a $100 higher than the original XBOX sold at launch, and a good $150 higher than the Wii.
For the most part, the Wii is being bought by geriatric old women in retirement homes for Wii Play and Wii Sports, and to some extent by soccer moms, who dont lnow any better, for their little kiddies. These people don't even buy NCAA rMadden football. You only have to look at July's NPD numbers where the 360 version of NCAA 09 was at # 1, and the Wii version didn't even make the top 10. I hear thw Wii version of NCAA 09 old less than 50,000 units. Pathetic.

[DrtyDogg]

ncaa 09 on the wii sucks. EA dumbed it down to an unplayable level. Thankfully they didn't do that to Madden though.

[bigmc6000]

That's interesting. Amongst my group of friends (aged between 25 and 35) they all either have bought a Wii or are actively pursuing trying to find one. I guess that doesn't really fit into your demographic huh? Of course if you were to be believed then you'd never have "game night" with your adult friends. You do realize that's the main attraction of the Wii to the 20 - 40 year old crowd right? The same people who have game night parties are now using the Wii as the center of their game night. You did see the article on here a few days ago when 3 of the top 5 game sales in the US were Wii ONLY and the other 2 were also on the Wii.

And yes, NCAA 09 on the Wii sucks but that's not because of the Wii, that's because EA tried to make it a kids game rather than make it the NCAA version of the Madden that they do with everything else. Madden on Wii is actually quite enjoyable...

[Kwasiowusu]

@ bigmc600 : "And yes, NCAA 09 on the Wii sucks but that's not because of the Wii, that's because EA tried to make it a kids game rather than make it the NCAA version of the Madden that they do with everything else."

Ummm..the very same thing happened with Madden 08 last year.
While the 360 version of Madden 08 was the # 1 selling game in NPD August 2008, the Wii version didn't even make the top 10 at all. In fact, even the original XBOX version of Madden 08 sold more than the Wii version did in August 08.
The retirement home geriatric old women who buy the Wii simply don't have any desire to play Madden football, which is a game that suits the 360 demographic of young men in their primes, just fine.

[Kwasiowusu]

pogeypetey : " recognize it as a game changer ..... 1900's gimmicks - Cars, lightbulbs,
, bathtubs, running water, canned food, TOILET PAPER"
How anyone in his right mind, can even compare the Wii to the lightbuld is beyond me. That's simply nuts.
Before you go any further overboard, I might remind you that the biggest gaming paltfor BY FAR on the planet is the Windows PC. Over 70 million Windows PC's are sold every single quarter on the planet. That makes the Wii's total sales of just 30 million in 2 years, look like a joke.
There are over 1 Billion Wiondow PC's in active use by consumers out there, and close to all of them are used to play one kind of video game or another at some time. By far mosrt people play more games on Windows PC's than on any other platform. Window RULES casual games as well.. If you want to talk about game changer, its the Windows PC, not the Wii.

[ashwinkn]

First of all, most PC's are not used for gaming, they're used for work or web browsing. Also, many are even more underpowered than the Wii, when it comes to graphics (Intel Integrated Graphics). PC game sales, with the exception of WoW, have actually fallen since game consoles were created. I don't know how you can call something that has been around for 20 years a game changer.

pogerpetey was not comparing the Wii to a lightbulb. He was stating that the lightbulb was also a fad during the 19th century, but look at how ubiquitous it is now.

[masterz13]

Hold on now. It WILL have Blu-Ray. When DVD came out in 1999, it too was expensive, but by about 2003-2004 it was really cheap and everyone had a player. Blu-Ray emerged in about 2005-2006, so by the next generation of consoles, it should be standard in a console. I agree that NIntendo will use their highly acclaimed motion controls. Its really gained popularity and gotten them massive sales. Seeing as flash memory is getting cheaper by the day (4 dollars for a 1GB SD card!), I think we might see an 8GB or 16GB card built in to the next Nintendo console.

[DrtyDogg]

I would personally like to see Nintendo go back to cartridge based systems. They where the last to embrace CDs, they should be the first to jump on CF based games. Fast, small, easy to transport, hard to destroy, seems quite logical to me. More storage is a must also, though they could/should offer that as a USB add on this generation.

[dmuzaf]

I agree with your analysis.. the Wii is not competing with the 360 or the PS3 it has its own market. In fact the Wii has carved a market out of non-gamers or casual gamers such as myself. I don't want to buy a bulky PS3 or 360 so I can drool on the graphics and get lost in 3D. I miss my old SNES, when gaming was simple and am glad the Wii is out there.

[Dragon_Myr]

Nintendo's next system should do exactly what the Wii did: focus on entertainment and simplicity. One of the big faults with this generation of consoles is all the different models, hardware changes, and higher prices of both consoles and games. Nintendo got it right by not joining the 360 and PS3 at the higher prices, having a single unit instead of a bunch of models, and crafting games that are fun to play with a bunch of people therefore infecting more people with the Wii-disease. The Wii doesn't have as many good games as it should, but it sure is fun.

Nintendo should ride the Wii out and see where it takes them. It's perfectly positioned to take advantage of accessories and now 'core' games in which Nintendo says may show up next year. Sony and Microsoft should also be riding out their systems because I don't think people will be ready to replace them as soon as they have in previous generations due to costs and the arrival of good downloadable content. I would hate to see Nintendo add blu-ray since that's separated PS3 from the rest of this generation, particularly in cost. I'm perfectly happy with DVD's and downloads. I'm wondering why we even should want blu-ray to begin with when downloadable HD movies are becoming available. I know the specs, but those aren't important because I want to play games with consoles. Maybe I'll watch a movie, but that's not a selling feature of a console to me, especially when the movie is 8 to 10 times more expensive than going to the movie theatre.