soooo.... some sort of proprietary 3G type service or Wi-Fi daisy chain and lots of onboard storage. gotcha.

I'd be happy if it just let you swap some basic game info. Say two 3DS owners owned the upcoming Mario Kart but neither were playing passed each other. Would be pretty neat when the next time they played their copy of Mario Kart their time trial records & ghost data would have merged & added each others' times.

That's exactly the kind of example Iwata mentioned in one of those Iwata Asks videos they did for the 3DS at E3.

“We are thinking the release of new hardware should be good timing for a  dramatic improvement of this situation."

That's all well and good, but that makes it sound like the Wii is doomed to be stuck with what it has now.

This may work in a crowded subway in Japan but in the rest of the world that isn't densely populated it won't work. I'm glad dog mode is built into the machine, but even if I carry around my DS i won't always have it in sleep mode

It's way too late to make and dramatic changes in the Wii, the system cam out over 4 years ago and has sold around 75 million units. What do you want them to do? worldwide recall?

But don't worry, Wii2 will be here soon enough and 3DS will take your mind off it till it does come.

Wii 2 is still several years away. Anyways, new hardware wouldn't be needed; Iwata is just saying that the launch of a new system is a good time to do it.

I wouldn't say several, man.  I think Nintendo's next console is coming holiday next year.  If they're smart, it will.

Why? I don't see any motive for Nintendo to do so. They are easily beating the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, ad are making a ton of money from the Wii. I can't see any reason to expect the Wii before 2012 at the earliest.

I suppose you're right from a business standpoint... but.. but..

The Nintendo loyalist gamers! We're ready for a new console NOW.  Personally speaking, I was ready for a new Nintendo console two years ago. Two!

I guess that's why I went and bought a PS3. :P

Actually new hardware would be needed since the Wii wasn't designed to be more functional than it was at launch. They need a whole new OS system and all current software needs to be compatible with the current broken and segregated system in place.

That is why the best time to do drastic overhauls is during a fresh hardware launch. The new hardware & software will be built with forward thinking capabilities in mind and lots of ideas that either weren't possible or wouldn't have worked right with old hardware can now be realized.

It's called striking while the iron is hot. Wii sales and profits are way down from previous (record setting) years, and if Nintendo has the right tech at the right price plus the software to match, then it might be in their best interest to get an early jump on the CORE market that has been "ignored" for all this time while the Wii continues to service the casual market for the next few years.

As far as Nintendo's next home console, they'll be in the position to do a this is what we've been working on, this is what it does and this week it's in stores and this is possible at TGS/Nintendo's Fall showcase next year.

With this "Tag" mode that the 3DS will have, I hope I will be able to contact or thank those that I got information from, that's a great way to build a friends list.

But one question still remains for me, will this be viral Wi-Fi like BNM2k1 suggests, or how much "FREE" 3G will we have. That would put free texting in the hands of 3DS owners. Is this part of Nintendo's plan to create a subscription model to ensure that their handheld prints MORE MONEY?

Wii 2 is never going to happen... Nintendo will call it something else

I predict the next Nintendo system will be announced at e3 2011 and launched in fall. If I'm wrong then i don't know what window they would go for. Fall 2012 seems real late, and summer/spring launches always sound silly. They make sense in Japan though. April is spend big money time.

Also, after playing mass effect 2 I have to say graphics are reaching some crazy levels. A system marginally better than xbox 360 or ps3 will still be awesome. Also, im a believer in unlimited detail(although from the sounds of it should be relegated to static objects), so if true than that is it, we are there.

Which is why i insist on calling it.......

You need to check out Rage then by id software, detail up the wazoo!

I don't know, I think the fact that the 3DS appears to be superior to the Wii in nearly every way might be a motive.  Do you think Nintendo's wants their consoles being upstaged by their own PORTABLE for any serious length of time?  The 3DS will be popular with the same audience as the Wii.  People will notice and the Wii will look very out-of-date.

Besides Nintendo is always very worried about hardware sales dropping.  As a system becomes older the sales will drop because it's a one-time purchase.  No matter what the Wii's sales are going to dwindle.  That's just how things are.  Since Nintendo considers that a major priority I figure they'll want to get some new console hardware of some sort out to kick start sales.

I don't see any reason why Nintendo shouldn't release a new console in 2011.  The "but it's still selling" argument could have been applied to the NES, SNES, GBA and DS as well.  You don't wait until everyone stops giving a shit to release the new hardware.  You try to be just ahead of that.

Join the club.  I wonder if this sort of thing will initially affect Wii 2 sales.  I still have a Wii and when games come out for it that I'm interested in I buy them.  But since I felt the need to own a second console I don't think I would be all that enthusiastic to buy a Wii 2 right away.  At the very least it would be a wait-and-see decision.  Will others have that same mentality?  Nintendo talks about being the ideal complimentary console and such but realistically anytime someone who owned just a Wii bought a second console, Nintendo just lost some consumer loyality right there.  The situation suggests dissatisfaction with the Wii and so I would think that would tilt future buying decisions away from Nintendo being an obvious first choice.

Nintendo only released the SNES (after the NES had been out for 7 years) because the Genesis was starting to outsell it. Ironic since the NES's biggest year in terms of hardware sales was 1990. Same thing with N64, SNES sales had slowed by 1995 and the PlayStation was doing great (even Saturn was selling well at that time). GBA had slowed down in Japan, which is the only market they really care about.

Why would someone owning more than one system be considered losing consumer loyalty? I consider myself a hardcore Nintendo fan, but I don't own only Nintendo systems. The only time I only had Nintendo systems was when I could only afford to choose one system.

Well for me personally, owning a second console was never something I had done.  I did own non-Nintendo consoles but I had bought them after they were no longer current to play some of the game I had missed out on.  This is the first time that a Nintendo console was so unsatisfactory that I felt the need to buy another console while it was current.  There was a sense of loyality before and now that is gone.  I could see others having a similar point of view.  As a result, next time around Nintendo's console is not the obvious decision anymore.

If you have to buy a second console to meet your gaming needs then you do not trust Nintendo to provide for those needs on their own.  If Nintendo wants repeat business for their next console they need to be a person's "main" console.  You're not someone's "main" console if they felt they had to buy a second console because your console wasn't cutting the mustard.

It's very different from someone who normally would own multiple consoles and someone who intended on only owning one but felt the need to buy another.  I bought a PS3 because I had given up on the Wii and have more or less given up on Nintendo as a console maker.

Oh, there'd be no hesitation on my end pertaining to the purchase of Nintendo's next console right off the bat. I'd be there launch day standing in line without a doubt.

oh no wasn't in response to you, it was Tj spike, you posted right before i finished posting, so my timing got messed up. I could have quoted, but i didn't think about it.

I don't think it will either, but it's a good placeholder name. I think Super Wii is possible (similar to NES/Super NES).

Back to topic :)
"3DS to Improve Digital Distribution "
This makes a lot of sense because Nintendo's trying to fight privacy which has been a bigger issue each and every generation.  Even in the Land of the Raising Sun, privacy has continue to grow at an alarming rate.  If you look at DS sales in the last year alone you'll see a vast drop in numbers especially games targetting late teens-mid 20's.  The files are so small and flash carts are so easy to come by makes the DS the most pirated system ever.

As far as release goes Ian is right, there really is no reason to release a console in 2011 from a sales standpoint. They did good, and from this point on whatever they did cannot be construed as a failure. Quite contrarily, it was a raging success. However, there could be other factors at play besides sales and marketing that could prevent the next system from getting released. Cost, Development, and Game Development. One big thing Nintendo always does is Nintendo doesn't release dev kits soon enough to third parties(although, if i were a third party i might plan 2 generations ahead), and because of this launch games are....well launch games. There usually a bunch of Red steel type games that are rushed.

On the off-topic of the next console.  If Nintendo were to release a new console for the sake of reversing diminishing sales, then they're potentially missing a big opportunity.  What I mean is, how do we even know that they have the console they want to release, ready?  Sure, they probably have a backup-plan console that could be released at any time, but this console would never match the sales of Wii.  What I hope is the determining factor, is when the tech they want to take advantage of becomes viable for mass-production.  Just like with 3DS, they've been holding it back until the tech was ready to bring to market.

Now since the Wii has reduced the competition to such a pathetic state, and because of the lack of foresight in PS3/360, Nintendo has the opportunity to wait until they can get the next console 'right', again.

Besides, they already have 'a new console' that they haven't fully exploited: Motion+!  Depending on how well Zelda+ does, Nintendo might not have to release a new console for several years.

And on a personal note, I would be very disappointed if the only upgrade was better specs.

The next Wii wont be out in 2011 just for the fact that none of Nintendo's studio's will have anything ready for it by then.  The average Nintendo studio takes at least 2 years to make a new game, right now all of Nintendo's major studio's have just released something on the Wii, are about to release something on the Wii, or are developing something for the 3DS.

Tokyo EAD just made Mario Galaxy 2 so a new 3D Mario won't be ready.  EAD 3 hasn't even finished Skyward Sword yet so they'll have nothing ready for it.  Sakurai is busy working on Kid Icarus for the 3DS so there won't be any Smash Bros ready.  EAD 1 is working on Mario Kart for the 3DS right now so no Mario Kart HD either.  Retro is busy working on the new Donkey Kong game right now so they won't have anything ready for next year.  EAD 4 made NSMBW last year, but they'll release another NSMB for the 3DS years before they release one on the Wii HD.

The only studio that could have something ready is EAD 2 who's made most of the Wii _ games, but Nintendo wouldn't launch a new system with only a Wii Sports HD because they know that the Wii _ audience is the audience that isn't going to give a crap if the new system is HD with better graphics.  Why else do you all think when Nintendo unveiled the 3DS they focused primarily on the traditional gaming audience by showing all the 3rd party games as well as Kid Icarus and the Ocarina of Time remake.

Right now releasing the Wii HD in 2011 would only appeal to Nintendo's traditional gaming audience who buys their system for 3D Mario's, Zelda and Smash Bros.  Considering there's no way Nintendo can have any of those games ready for a Wii HD launch in 2011, it's just not going to happen.

One word: newplaycontrol. When was the last time they had any of those games for launch? They're more of a late launch/early dinner sort of thing anyway.

Luigi Dude, awesome post!

But Bit.Trip is on top of it. Those type of are rarely ever ready at launch. Whatever they might release with at launch will be focused on their new innovation, remember Nintendo doesn't want to release a new system unless they feel that they can't accomplish it on their current platform.

But I do agree that the new console doesn't showcase until 2012. I shall call it "The Nintendo Armageddon"

Luigi Dude basically said what I said, game development is tied up.


Still, Nintendo could have a tide of ps3/xbox 360 ports on its system at launch. Not sure of 3rd parties though, since they are dumb.

We haven't mentioned NST. Maybe project hammer isn't really canned :D :D :D I doubt it. Actually, if SMG2 was released in May, that leaves a 18-19 month window to make a new Mario game by November-December 2011. I'm pretty amazed they pumped out SMG2 with rave reviews so quickly after part one. Development time for sequels can sometimes become expedient.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smg2

"Takeshi Hayakawa, the lead programmer for Super Mario Galaxy 2, created a development tool that allowed different staff members, including visual and sound designers, to easily design and create stages without waiting for programmers, many of which were incorporated into the final game.  Miyamoto compared Super Mario Galaxy 2 to The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, in that both games use the same engines as their predecessors, yet build upon their foundations."

pretty interesting, actually thats one thing i always thought was ridiculous about Nintendo...always starting from scratch. In the pc world game engines are re-used and re-used. To some extant they are even shared among companies. That's sort of an American time cutting/cost cutting philosophy though.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Quake_-_family_tree_2.svg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Quake_-_family_tree.svg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Fpsengine.svg

speaking of unlimted detail

here is id software essentially doing the same thing...under Future Technology Evolution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MegaTexture

Considering Nintendo is super secretive about what they are working on I don't see how we can assume that a 2011 launch for a Wii successor is impossible.  They won't be ready in time?  How do you know what they have ready?  And Nintendo didn't seem to mind launching the DS with a port of an N64 game and nothing else.  They didn't mind using a Gamecube game as one of their Wii launch titles.

2011 would be the normal timeframe for Nintendo to release a new console anyway.  Surely when they launched the Wii they had that timeframe in mind for a successor.  They wouldn't know how well the Wii would do so they would have had to at least be planning the successor.  They have said they start working on the next console once they finish the last one.

They have to do that to have any flexibility at all.  What if Move or Kinect became huge hits.  That's not likely but if they did then Nintendo might feel more pressure to release a new console.  They have to at the very least have something far enough along to adapt to a changing market.  If Nintendo would be unable to bust something out in 2011 then they're not very prepared.  And if they're aiming for 2011 they would not have revealed it publicly yet.  We would probably find out later in the year or possibly not until 2011 itself.

I personally just think it would be unlikely that Nintendo would want the 3DS upstaging the Wii for any serious period of time.  Wouldn't people look at the 3DS and think "if Nintendo is able to get all this into a portable device then why can't they do even better with the Wii?"

Ditto, Ian.  Which is why I fully believe an unveiling is going to take place at TGS this year.. exactly like how they unveiled the Wii Remote at TGS in 2005.

I don't think they're going to even mention the successor to the Wii until after the launch of the 3DS.

You can't compare to past launches (DS, Wii) since they don't have any other competing consoles launching in the next few years.  At the very least, you can expect the team responsible for WiiSports to have something ready for launch.

Hopefully this includes a Virtual Console type of service and let's you play GB, GBA, NES, Snes and N64 games on the go.

If there is one, I can guarantee you that you would have to repurchase all your old games again, just because they're now "on the go".  That's just how Nintendo is.

If they are cheap, it doesn't matter. What I want is the option to be able to play those games on the go.

But come on, I'm sure Nintendo will somehow link our Club Nintendo Account or something and let us re-download for a smaller fee or for free. :P They could, but I bet they won't.

And this attitude is exactly why Nintendo will probably not let you transfer existing VC purchases.  For every one person who will grumble and complaint there are two others who will gladly rebuy them without batting an eye.  This sort of thing should outrage people but in my experience it won't.

We do need a VC for old Game Boy games though.  It would be nice if the VC was just expanded to work with Nintendo consoles and portables universally and you can pick if you want to play the game at home or on the go.  And the purchases should be tied to an account, not a system, so you can have a game for your Wii and your 3DS.  If they wanted they could make it so you can only have it on one system as a time so no copying, only moving.

Virtual Boy Rise from your grave!!!

Im betting all Virtual Boy games will be available on the 3ds shop channel from day one, possibly in color.

I know I won't repay to have all of the games I already purchased on VC/WiiWare to play on the next console.  Nintendo better release a firmware upgrade that ties all of my purchases to my MyNintendo account -- and tie THAT account to the next console. That's the ONLY fair way to do it. I will be fuming mad if it's any other way.

As for Virtual Boy games on the 3DS? Leave 'em in their original form -- red and black all the way. I'd LOVE to play Red Alert once again!

its kinda funny people being all bitchy, this is the first generation Nintendo has had backward compatibility. Save your money now, don't buy every new release...wait for their prices to go down. Then when the next console comes out, and if it doesn't have backward compatibility or the ability to transfer your stuff than you've saved a fortune. Keep your old system, at least the Wii is tiny and doesn't take up much space.

There's no way I'd buy all 70-plus VC games I own again, but I'd certainly re-buy a few of them if there were no other option. I wouldn't like it, but if it were the only way for me to play Super Mario 3 on it then I'd have no choice but to do it.

How would it be the "only way"?  Couldn't you just keep your Wii hooked up?  As Perm mentioned it's a small system.

I was talking about the 3DS. For the next console I'd probably just do what you said.