This was exactly what I was hoping for. Sure, its just a rumor at this point, but it is reassuring. The only thing about the rumor I wasn't happy reading is the "late 2012" release. That means diehard Nintendo fans will have to drag on for another year and a half with the Wii and its shitty lineup.

Nintendo next system will have Xbox Live integration?

If the rumor is true, that's the first of many steps Nintendo has to take to regain some semblance of 3rd party support.  I'm just waiting for word of the oh-so-Nintendo gimmick or obvious omission that will destroy that.

The power difference is natural but the "recapture the hardcore market" comment has me worried. That sounds like they're going to fall back into the mentality that created the Gamecube.

I'm working on the assumption that a PS4 and XBox720 would blow a Wii 2 out of the water in terms of pure hardware punch. However, I think much more interesting would be whether Nintendo standardizes and future-proofs some of their tech, like adopting the latest programmable shader tech instead of using the way the GameCube did stuff. As much as sheer hardware power, I'm guessing it's the non-universal circa-2001 technical interfaces that the Wii inherited from the GameCube that could also be giving hardcore developers pause when considering what platforms to target.

If this rumor is true I won't be eating my shoe.

So if they are already showing it we are talking at max 2010 tech.

In before Mark Rein bitches about how the Super Wii can't run UE3.

Do I dare allow myself to hope!? :-\ ...................................... ;) :D ;D :Q ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

The rumor (I must emphasize that all we have are rumors at this moment) is that they're showing something. That doesn't mean it is final hardware.

This is what we were discussing in the rumor thread a for the last week or 2. This is what I had to say on it:

And also IGN is reporting full BC with the Wii.

Nice. Can't wait to hear more about it.  :D

Exciting times ahead. Ah, new console hardware times. It's been a while.
While the late 2012 time frame is a worrying, I hope some of big Wii games like Xenoblade and Pandora's Tower will come to North American and European shores to make the wait to not be too bad.

I am soooooooooooooooo taking the day off work to watch Nintendo's E3 presser this year. What day is Nintendo's? The 6th? I take it the NWR crew will be there?

Should we start the naming pole for the Wii successor?

Despite tradition, I think it's possible Nintendo could launch a new console in the spring or summer, as they just did with 3DS. This would let them devote Christmas 2011 to Zelda, then get out new hardware before the end of the fiscal year (at least in Japan).

It has to be "Super Wii" but I'll also take "N.E.S 6"

hopefully followed by a rerelease of that same Zelda with improved graphics and controls.

I hope they ditch the Wii brand name. If they want to retake the hardcore market it would be wise to drop "Wii" because that name has a bad rep with that crowd. What hardcore gamer who was disappointed with the casual shovelware of the Wii is going to want to buy the Wii 2? Give it a badass name like Hercules, or something. Who wouldn't want to own a "Nintendo Hercules" console?

Wii = Weak
Hercules = Powerful

And let's face it, the "Wii" name is ridiculously easy to make fun of.  The good thing about naming a console "Hercules" is you can't really trash it no matter how hard you try.

This certainly would explain the recent drought of upcoming Wii releases. If it's true, I just hope they don't try going too hardcore and release something with a $400+ price tag. The recent increases in food and gas prices have hit me hard and have already forced me to put off getting a 3DS (and I'm sure that's likely one of the reasons 3DS has hit a slump already). And they better not try anything stupid like ditching motion controls as the standard just to appease the outspoken minority.

If the Wii 2 does have a motion controller, would it be compatible with regular Wii games, or will I need a controller for both system's games?

If this does turn out to be true, I think we'll have our answer on why Skyward Sword was delayed... *cough* GameCube *cough* Twilight Princess *cough*

They can't use the name Nintendo either because that has a bad rep with the "hardcore" crowd. Also yes get rid of the Wii name, who cares about the brand recognition to the 80+ million who bought Wii's.

Yeah but people were excited about Twilight Princess :P:

I think they could easily get away with going back to the "Nintendo Entertainment System", with everyone simply referring to it as "The Nintendo" like they did back in the 80s. It's simple, it's to the point, and also lends itself to multiple incarnations (NES, NES 2, N3S, NES 4, NE5, NES 6, NES 7, etc). They could immediately start out with the proper "NES 6", which would ultimately look much better than "Wii 2" when sitting on the store shelf next to higher numbered machines (PS4, XBox 180). Besides, the way I see it, "Nintendo" is the brand that should be marketed... encompassing the console, the games, and the service.

If Nintendo really wants to shake their image (which I don't think they do), a new name isn't going to do it. The so-called "hardcore" crowd will see through that anyway, as they keep themselves at least that well informed.

I like it. It's like when a band releases a self-titled album later in their career.


Reggie:


Ladies and gentlemen I give you... the Nintendo!


Yeah!

Then how about catering to both crowds-- just call it the Wii60!  :P: :

They could name it "Gamesphere" in honor of the Gamecube. Of course, the console would have to be shaped like a sphere (but flat on the bottom for obvious reasons).

While I'm excited for it, I can wait till 2012, that's cool... do it right.  Now for those worried about the next gen PS and that other console 1-up'n the next Nintendo console, I don't think you have anything to worry about really.  The way games look now on the other 2 systems, you can only really add so much.  If the next thing Big N puts out is better than the current competition then even if they put out another, it's still going to be amazing. 
When 3rd parties are actually getting into the groove with the hardware, not to mention that kinnect thing, why would they need to come out with anything else.  Nintendo is the only company right now that "needed" an update.
However, if 3rd parties tried a little harder and if Nintendo would have stopped allowing so much shovel-ware on the Wii, it probably wouldn't have been mocked as much.

In all seriousness though, I'm almost willing to guarantee the name will be "Wii ". Mark my words, it'll something along the lines of "Wii Nitro", "Wii Nexus", "Wii 3000"... something that will appeal to both casual and hardcore audiences.

I think Nintendo needs to break the from the current hardware release cycle so that they're not going head to head with MS and Sony.  That might happen with the Super Wii but I think MS will release the Xbox 3 close to the Super Wii. PS 4 will probably be a couple of years later.

NEW DETAILS

IGN is reporting that the system is fully backwards compatible and that Nintendo may have a pre-announcement this month.

Does that include GameCube titles?

Jumping before they're pushed? Hard to keep a secret these days.

Crimm -- BnM posted that twice in the time you took it to post it once. Just hire the man already!

Anyway, Chozo Ghost is nominated for WORST POST OF THE YEAR for the idea of naming the next system Hercules.

http://www.dustcatchers.com/cards/tv/hercules.jpg

LMAO

I like Morari's suggestion. The Nintendo sounds delictable, but it isn't going to happen either. Wii is too big of name to simply throw away. It's like throwing away the DS name (though they did throw away the Gameboy name, but that was because the DS might have failed).

I agree. "Wii" is not going away, and "2" would look immediately lesser than "4" and whatever number the next Xbox has. Nintendo might do what they did from the NES to its successor and call the Wii's successor the "Super Wii". That'd be a pretty good title, methinks.


I agree that if this console really isn't coming out until 2012, that Nintendo localize a bunch of titles like Xenoblade, The Last Story, et al to give the Wii a nice swan song, along with Skyward Sword, that is.

Shhhh.... my post are subliminal.

Super Wii sounds pretty terrible.

What about WiiNES? :)

The rumour seems so specific to exactly what I want that it seems unbelievable.  I'm sure there is a new Nintendo console on our doorstep but the details of the rumour are so core gamer specific that it feels like Game Informer telling their audience what they want to here.

What Nintendo ideally would want to do is keep the casual market without turning off the core.  I don't know what name would work with both though it is kind of Nintendo's blunder if the casual market does not know the "Nintendo" brand name.  It is the same company making the DS and Wii and if the casuals don't associate the two, Nintendo really goofed on marketing.

I doubt Nintendo wanted the Wii to be purely the casual console but the way they designed the hardware and marketed the console, it worked out that way.  I think they wanted to expand but took the core for granted, assuming they could keep them with the odd Mario or Zelda game.  But the core was not interested in a token effort and bailed.  There is the simple arithmetic that casual + core > casual alone.  Why turn away a big chunk of the market, even if the casual chunk is bigger?

But then I also think that casuals are fickle and have no loyalty.  Smartphones will be a threat and Nintendo kind of has noted this with their whining about $1 games.  I think that relying solely on casuals is foolish.  Maybe Nintendo is thinking the same thing so they need to attract the core so that if/when the casuals bail they aren't stuck with nothing.

But we shall wait and see.  Nintendo can fuck ANYTHING up.

For the record I maintain Kevin Sorbo is awesome.

This is soooo exciting!

NEWii


is the name. Just watch. I guess 2011 and 2012 will be releases of tons of 'lost games' . I totally expect Disaster Day of Crisis, Fatal Frame, Trace Memory to get US release date to help out, also xenoblade, Last Story, Pandora, that new kirby game and other surprises to pad out the months.

I was notifying that the story was updated. I was in no position to update the story before that.

Hopefully, when this system is unveiled Nintendo will prove that it actually has been learning from the many failures of the Wii, and created its next console accordingly.  Otherwise, I'll sit this Nintendo console generation out, as I'm not up for yet another 5-6 years of gaming library mediocrity and 3rd party abandonment.

Their approach to the 3DS makes it pretty clear that they're aware of the problems with the Wii and are attempting to fix them.

Ooo, I like the sound of NES6 and Famicom 6. Maybe "The Nintendo Six" or "The Nintendo" would really work.

"THE Nintendo Entertainment System"  Sounds definitative.

I can see movie trailer like commercials coming out for it.

From the People that Brought You the N64 and Wii

Comes the Ultimate in Video Game Experience

The Nintendo Entertainment System

Coming November 2012

Be N or Be Out

It could break out of one of those Cubes the people were trapped in with the GCN.  But I like the "Now your Playing with Power" line more.

I was always a "Play it LOUD!" person, myself, though I am also fond of "Get N or GET OUT!"

It's On Like Donkey Kong

Yes my predictions of Super Wii are coming together nicely!

Nintendo already has a good grasp on the casual group, and that group imo is much larger than the hardcore group. If Nintendo is now gonna go after the hardcore group with technology to back them up, then they may have made the right decision when they went the route of the Wii first.

Also, name it the Super Wii Turbo! Why? I dunno, but it would be pretty S-Wii-T.

Wii HD.

Even still, you want it to sound like a new system, not just a slight improvement or a new feature. That's why I don't think they can simply tack on a subtitle to the Wii. It works when the brand is "Nintendo" itself, as proven by Super and 64.

NES HD? :P

This suggests to me more than ever before that Jonny was right on RFN when he said it's going to be Super Wii. The NES was for everybody, for kids, had a lot of shitty games in addition to good ones, and then the SNES was kind of the realization of the fan's dreams. Plus, it's nostalgic without going straight up Nintendo Entertainment System.

If the Super Wii is going to be the second coming of the SNES then it is more than welcome to be so on the condition that it have a superb list of RPGs like the SNES had in its day. Games such as Last Story, Xenoblade, DQX, and Pandora seem to be an indication of where the RPG genre is heading on Nintendo's console, so now all we need is Square to release a numbered Final Fantasy and perhaps a sequle to SMRPG and Chrono Trigger. Man, if this were to pass then I would the first in loine to buy the console when it launches.

I agree with everyone here who mentioned "Super Wii" as a possible next console.  NES 6 sounds too much like the Friday the 13th & Nightmare on Elm Street sequel counts, and Wii is too much of an equitable brand name to let go.  Nintendo may want to recapture some of the hardcore market, but they sure as hell don't want to relinquish their casual appeal that printed them money for the last generation.  Nintendo's stockholders wouldn't stand for a hardcore gamer-only approach, because it would completely hamstring their potential consumer base.  The Name "Super Wii" in my opinion bridges the gap between hardcore and casual gamer, as the "super" is nostalgic of the Super NES (many hardcore gamers consider this system the "golden age of gaming") while the "Wii" has the mainsteam appeal and instant brand name recognition.

If Nintendo does announce a new console in the next few months wouldn't that shoot down the late 2012 release date? Would Nintendo announce a new console THIS far ahead in advance? The problem with announcing it 1.7 years ahead of time is it gives the competition time to prepare and to steal ideas, and it would also do harm to Wii sales as well. So if we hear an announcement of a new console soon I doubt its going to come out any later than late 2011. Because if its coming out late 2012 they should just wait and announce it at E3 2012.

If the Wii 2 ends up being backwards compatible with GameCube games (which is what I would assume they mean by "fully backwards compatible"), that would be pretty awesome.

Here's my wish for the Wii2/SuperWii/NES6.0:

Wii motion plus controls for Wii 2 games.

Start that as the standard right out of the gate so every game has that functionality.  Also, it'll mean I won't have to buy another set of plastic peripherals for another new system.  I already have the following for my Wii

- 2 Wiimotes
- 2 wii motion plus adapters (I'm stupid for being an early adopter to this, when I should have known they would come out with a wiimote that didn't require the stupid cheap plastic attachment)
- 2 nunchucks
- 2 Driver wheels
- 2 Classic Controller
- 1 Classic controller pro
- 2 gamecube controllers

While I'm afraid this won't happen due to retailers needing something to sell to make a profit, I really wish it would be considered, and frankly, it wouldn't be a half-bad idea for Nintendo to adopt this strategy.  Could possibly give those sought after Casual players more incentive to buy the New system if they know they don't have to buy more plastic to go with it.

Being an HD-capable system requires it to be powerful. Powerful hardware is a basic cost of entry going forward. That was more or less a given.

The "recapturing the hardcore market" stuff is not likely Nintendo's words. The horsepower will surely make it a more attractive platform for 3rd parties, and that's nice, but I would never believe Nintendo is attempting to directly compete with Sony or MS on their hardcore turf so bluntly until I saw it with my own eyes. Their basic business model works very well for them, and I can't see it changing.

That being said, they have been slowly moving their technology (and prices) up over the last several years. Coming out with a reasonably powerful system at $300-ish wouldn't be surprising, and it would likely compel Sony and MS to make something even more powerful and potentially disadvantage their pricing.

Suddenly I care about E3 this year. Who knew. ;)

E3 is to gaming what Wrestlemania is to wrestling.

They should call it "Revolution" just to fuck with everybody.

I presume none of these rumors hold any weight. Some are safe bets and some aren't. Considering how secretive Nintendo is, the idea that this much would get leaked so early is ridiculous. I remember when we were talking about 3DS employing the Tegra II. It almost seemed like a sure thing. How silly.

Wow. Nothing like a rumour which sounds like something someone pulled out of thin air to get people talking.

To me, this just sounds like stating the obvious. We know the next system will be HD because Nintendo have said so. The rest sounds like things they said about the 3DS, such as capturing the hardcore market too.

I'm also nervous about Nintendo going all hardcore...I know that the term "hardcore" seems to always be in flux, but I always think of  homophobic slur slinging MW2 playing 14-year olds when I think of "hardcore gamers."

I decided to go "hardcore" after a owning an N64 (aka the system that had only 10 games on it) so I skipped GC and went PS2.  Big mistake.  I should've at least splurged for both, or just stuck with Nintendo.  I missed out on the Prime games, RE4 with beautiful graphics, Smash Bros, Sunshine, WindWaker, the list goes on.  What did I get from the PS2?  Onimusha 3: Demon Seige?  Metal Gear Solid 2?  Killzone?  FFX?  FF X-2?  FF12?  Burnout 3?  Burnout Dominator?  Need for Speed anything?  Ratchet and Clank anything?  Jakk and Daxter?  All these really mediocre, forgettable, or even bad games.  I think I can count the games that I really really cherished on the PS2 on literally 1 hand, and still none of them come nearly as close to the great Nintendo games I've played on the Wii this generation.

I hate to say this but the PS2 really excelled at Fringe Tastes.  There was a game for about anything.

ICO? Shadow of Colossus? God of War (I & 2)? Any sports games? Time Splitters? Okami? GTA?

PS2 was the shit. But so was the Xbox. Every system had a game I wanted. Luckily my friends and I had different tastes so I got to play them all.

Yeah, I have to second that, and I didn't get a PS2 until a few years ago.  Just in terms of quantity and quality of console libraries, the PS2 is a close rival to the SNES (at least in terms of my tastes, which are RPGs and adventure games).

Here is how I see it.

-Nintendo releases Gamecube 2.0, a sub HD system with motion controls
-System becomes huge success and Nintendo profits tremendously
-MS & Sony very obviously take notice and plan their entry into motion gaming
-Nintendo releases the Motion Plus, pushes out as many as possible
-MS & Sony release their motion control devices hoping to rejuvenate sales and extend the cycle long enough to recover massive losses
-Iwata: Laughs.... then announces New Wii2 that is a nice leap over PS360
-Wii2 releases (early 2012) and becomes lead console for multi-plat development
-Sony & MS scramble to leap frog the Wii2 & releasing no earlier than late 2013 for MS and sometime in 2014 for PS4
-They make their systems much more expensive than the Wii2 placing their consoles as way too expensive to develop for and therefore still receiving Wii2 up ports for their first 2 or so years....

then BAM Wii3 is being released the year after (2017).
Flawless Victory

Where I disagree is the "then BAM Wii3..." part.  I think they would try to PS2 it.

Early kits of the 3DS supposedly did use the Tegra2 chipset, then they (N) decided to go with 3D and things changed as cost needed to be cut and battery needed to conserved. Nvidia was the one pumping their own stock early on by mentioning the TegraII was to be in the next handheld. I've documented it all in the rumor thread somewhere.

as far as todays news, supposedly the Game Informer guys have gotten in a little trouble with their source as they were to "sit on this news until after Nintendo made their announcement" which is supposedly happening sometime next week (or b4 the month is over?)?

The Wii successor will be called the "Evolution" in the same way the original Wii was called "Revolution." Although the final system will be called either the Wii 2 or Super Wii when it is finally revealed.

You notice I didn't name those games :-)

Okami and Time Splitters, though?  I tried both, and they didn't quite stick.  Especially Time Splitters.  I went in really wanting to like it because I'd heard so many good things about it, but the game just felt like a late 90's era FPS.    And as for GTA, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one, especially on these forums, who don't like sandbox games.  I see why people like sandbox games, but I like a more directed experience in my gaming, which is probably why I like Nintendo games as much as I do.  And let's face it, the PS2 didn't get any good sports games, AT ALL, until the Dreamcast died and 2K started putting out games on the PS2.  EA Sports is mediocre at everything except a few of their FIFA games.

I knew that I missed Nintendo systems when I went totally apesh*t over Katamari Damacy, thinking "Oh, this is so unique, what an amazing game, it's so inventive, etc..."  I freakin' loved that game at the time, though, in hindsight, it was basically downloadable game quality, being that it had only 1 game mechanic and it just used it the exact same way over and over and over again.  But it was the game that made me realize "I really, really miss gameplay-focused games.  I really, really miss colorful, vibrant graphics.  I am so over being a graphics-whore."

Which brings me back to my point.  I want my next Nintendo console to be a Nintendo console, and not another PS360 hardcore console. 

Oh yes, the JRPG selection on PS2 was crazy big.  But my problem with PS2 JRPG's was that everyone seemed to be following the formula set out by FFVII of lots of exposition, crazy long 20 minute cutscenes, super long battle animations.  As if a JRPG has to be over 40 hours long, or it wasn't a JRPG at all.  FFX was okay I guess, graphically at the very least, but then there were all these crappy ones, truly crappy ones like Star Ocean:  Till the End of Time, whose ending will make you want to take a baseball bat to the game disc, your PS2, and your brain, in that order.  I won't spoil it, but suffice it to say, it's like the game is laughing at you and saying "You just spent 50 hours and I'm pissing on that commitment you made."  And Grandia 3, which took a good game and a great combat system from Grandia 2  and just took a crap on it. 

Don't get me wrong:  I love JRPG's.  But the DS's selection is much better.  (Okay, technically not a console, I am not overlooking that point).  FF3, FF4 remakes, all those Dragonquests, Shin Megami Tensei, World ends with you, Lufia, Etrian, like just crazy JRPG's that just never, ever came out in the US before, at least, not on the same console, it literally made importing useless.  And you can just put it in sleep whenever, and no 20 minute cutscenes! 

The time between the PS2 launch and the Dreamcast death was only, what, like a year or something in North America (a bit longer in Europe, I know)? The early EA games on the PS2 were pretty "meh" but they did get better. Madden wasn't bad on the PS2. There were also several games that came out other than FIFA games that were actually quite good such as Black, Burnout 3, The Godfather, SSX, and the Lord of the Rings games (based on the movies). Those games might not be classics, but most of them are definitely more than just mediocre. 

Back to your previous post, though, leahsdad, I'm a bit nervous if Nintendo goes the route of attracting the more hardcore crowd as well. If their new machine is super powerful and third parties flock to it, putting out huge AAA titles, I could see that subset of gamers coming to Nintendo or at least consider it. It's all just up in the air right now, but Nintendo kind of has an edge. Heh, I've forgotten how exciting it is to hear news about a new Nintendo console. I haven't felt this giddy since the "Revolution."

The existence of MVP Baseball 2005 completely invalidates this statement.

Wow, he did say EA Sports specifically, right? Apparently I don't know how to read.  :(

Though insanolord has a point. EA did pump out some pretty good sports games that generation.

The most significant question still remains, the one that everyone tries to answer without much success: what will the hook be? That's how Nintendo makes all their systems now - there needs to be a hook that's unique, showy and simple to understand. For better or for worse, they are not about just upping the power.

This looks like it's going to be the greatest April Fool's joke of all time. The whole internet is believing it. I'm not. Nothing matches up. The facts are alll too hazy. People are just throwing in whatever they want to see in the system just to hype it up.

This isn't going to happen.

I don't think that anyone would disagree with you. No one really buys Nintendo consoles for the hardware (because it's become mediocre over the last few generations), they buy it for the games. Still, I think everyone would like to see some variety beyond just Nintendo games like they've been stuck with since the 64. If nothing else, I'd like to have some place to play Mortal Kombat 9. :P

You should look back to the forum days of the  Revolution.  That was a fun time.

On the PS2 front I kid you not the only reason I had one was because my GF at the time, now my Wife, bought it for DDR and Kingdom Heart.

Obviosuly a lot has been posted already and I jsut kinda scrolled past everything. I've been hearing all kinds of crazy shit lately like that itll have 12 cores and HD screens on the controllers.

This is the key to a really great console.  You can be a fan of strictly one genre and find tons of games to play.  Nintendo has made some absolutely amazing games since the N64 but realistically Nintendo's style is only one niche.  If you're not interested, you're out of luck and if you want more than that, you're deprived.  The NES and SNES had that variety where you could be a big Nintendo fan and also like other stuff and you were set.  You also could have not been a Nintendo fan at all and still found tons to enjoy with those systems.

The greatest flaw with the Playstations has been that they don't have Nintendo.  Since 1996 it's like the elements of the NES and SNES have been split into two platforms and each one feels incomplete as a result.

Regarding Nintendo competing with Sony and MS - they always do.  They can act like they're not competing but that's a wad of shit.  Even if Nintendo was only interested in the casual market, Sony and MS are also interested as demonstrated with Move and Kinect.  Whether Nintendo wants it or not, Sony and MS will go after their customerbase.

It's the most wonderfull time of the generation! Anticipation for the next! Now how powerful does this thing have to be? Unless some games are trying to be photo realistic, will I really be able to see a step up in the graphical output? For Nintendo franchises hell yeah! But everything else? I guess I just can't see graphics getting any better. When I look at some PS360 games I almost feel like im looking at some CGI movie, in the vein of Toy Story or that dumb Final Final Fantasy movie,  I would be totally satisfied with that for a good long time even now. I don't know what opinions are like on the other ships but are people already asking for prettier games or is everyone more or less satisfied? 

EDIT
Golly I have terrible grammar.

Go to every other website and they're mentioning how Nintendo will be behind, graphic wise, yet again! Really? I'm fine with the HD graphics of today. Plus, Nintendo games are about artistic style, not photorealism, but I guess the Nintendo hater always need something to bitch about, pathetic really.

Though some of those early Screenshots of Pikmin looked like they were going for Photorealism.

Realistically speaking, Sony (and as of late, Microsoft) have stated that they intend on supporting the PS3 & 360 for 10 years.  I could see Nintendo releasing their new console next year, riding that console until the PS4 & XBOX over9000 comes out, and then work on the next iteration. 

Ten years of mainstream support is a pipedream. They may be able to continue selling the PS3 for ten years, but the PS4 will need to be in the spotlight long before then. It'll be a secondary market at best.

I hear a lot people say that there's not really anywhere to go as far as graphics are concerned. It looks "good enough" right now. Well, that's not true. Until computer generated graphics can mimic reality and look absolutely photo realistic, there's still places to go. Now, I'm not saying that I would necessarily trade that in for a unique art style, but it's naive to think that there's no advancement to be made. Even when we do hit that wall, processing power can then be dedicated to things that have been largely ignored, like better AI and physics. Remember, added power doesn't necessarily equate to more eye candy. There's plenty of stuff to utilize it for behind the scenes as well. Maybe today's graphics do look good enough, but it wouldn't hurt to have large, more open environments with hundreds of NPCs on screen at once... would it?

We are already hitting up to the Eerie valley.  The next gen consoles are not going to have enough power to push us across.  Better physics, better AI, better etc.  Would be possible with more power but I think a videogame console could take better advantage of a lot of cores because of those things.

I've been thinking about the name.  Why not just Nintendo Videogame System?  Then people would likely call just the "Nintendo" for short (or VGS to seperate it from the NES).

Regarding the future of videogame specs what I think of is the Massive program they used for the Lord of the Rings movies.  They had complex enough AI to have a whole army of dudes fighting and reacting based on what was going on around them.  To be able to have a battle of that scale with all these AI dudes while you, the player, are in the middle of it would be awesome.  We can't do that yet.  Graphics are pretty damn awesome now but we can do so much more with AI.

The way you can look at this gen is that nobody really had a complete package.  Nintendo was not making the hardware jump but went with this montion control stuff instead.  Sony and MS did the hardware jump but no motion control (though how could you expect them to anticipate that).  Sony and MS have introduced motion control options, thereby making their consoles "complete" and capable of matching the Wii in every way.  Nintendo now has to upgrade the hardware to match up and offer the complete package.  That can't really be done with an upgrade so they need a new console.  So think of it as a gen that was going to last ten years but every participant had to make an enhancement halfway.  Nintendo just did it in the opposite order of the others.

Sounds too similar to the VES and VCS.

What about AIDS?

That's a good name right?

Fits in with the DS brand perfectly.

I'm just gonna drop this here since I took the time to put it together;

Great time to be a nintendo fan, we will probably get rumors ever few weeks until June.


I will buy this console if the rumors are true.

Hmm, if I start putting away $10 a week, I should have more than enough by the time this thing comes out. I did the same kind of thing with 3DS.
As for the name, how about capitalizing on the 2012 world-ending prophecies? The nintendo Nostradamus? The Wii Oracle?

(Those are really terrible names, aren't they)

The Nintendo Nibiru? Nah, I think they should stay away from the pseudo-science bunk.

Yeah.  The Nos and the Wo.

They should call it the "N." Then they can release it in 2012 and say, "the N is near."

IGN now reporting new console is called "project cafe" and has a gamecube-like controller with a built in 6 inch touchscreen that can stream content from the console

Boy, rumours sure are neato.

First thing that popped into my head was Big Bird saying "The N is Near..."  but, while writing this I realized it would be Grover having that line.

updated with more rumors. This is starting to sound really crazy

6" touch screen?  That's pretty damn huge.  And how much are these controllers going to cost?

The whole point would be to do that old Crystal Chronicles stuff again... except the controllers will cost like a hundred bucks each so no one will own multiple controllers and offline multiplayer will be absolutely screwed.  And for online multiplayer what do I really need a seperate screen for?

The idea kind of sounds like fanboy wishful thinking from people who have no concept of cost feasibility.  The screens would need to be pretty low tech for it to make any sense.

I could easily see a second screen coming in handy for online multiplayer.

For instance, in Black Ops there's a camera you can place down to watch a door or a section of the map. With a second screen, that camera could actually be useful.

Also, I'd really welcome the fact of not having to press start in order to look at my map in Hardcore modes. Also, if you can take everything out of the HUD and stick it on the bottom screen, it would add more real estate.

And lastly, a touchscreen is way easier to navigate then conventional menus.

I basically just posted the same thoughts over in the rumor thread.

the console IS the controller

WHAT A TWIST

Everything old is new again, a.k.a., Nintendo never throws anything out.

This from the Wikipedia article about the Wii
"The Nintendo DS is said to have influenced the Wii design. Designer Ken'ichiro Ashida noted, "We had the DS on our minds as we worked on the Wii. We thought about copying the DS's touch-panel interface and even came up with a prototype.""

Wii controller prototype = Wii2 controller (maybe)

I am guessing the pointer replaced the touch screen functionality and for Wii2, it may be the reverse.

EDIT - apparently the quote above is cited to an old Newsweek article. So, slightly more credible than Wikipedia  ;D

The new console should be named "Epic WiiN" in which the N stands for Nintendo, of course. So instead of Super Wii, its the Epic Wii'n. This waY it retains that stupid Wii brand name, but its blended into the name in such a way that it becomes awesome. Alternatively, it could be called "Wii Next" which would still be abbreviated to WiiN.

Except you have to take your hand off of the controller, pull out the stylus, and then click on the menu in the amount of time any mentally capable person could navigate multiple levels of menus.  And while this is going on you have to stop looking at the TV screen.  To me it's like selecting letters with a mouse vs. typing.

What would it cost to make a GBA today?  There is something pretty fancy with a small screen that is ten years old.  If they used GBA level tech would it make such a controller cost feasible?

Of course this touchscreen stuff has brought forth the ideas of the touchscreen replacing buttons, which is such a DUMB idea, but also comes up from people who don't think at all about how that would actually work.  The iPad has that.  The iPad has shit games.  If the Wii 2 had that, it could have all the horsepower in the world, but it would be another casual console because the controller would be completely unuseable for anything with any complexity.  With no tactile feedback you have to look down at the screen constantly making any sort of game that involves perfect reflexes or timing a huge mess to play.

This isn't like the DS where you are essentially staring at the touchscreen the whole time because the two screens are right on top of each other.  This isn't a minor glance here, it would be moving your head to stare down.  And if someone wants to make touchscreen games, why not just make them for the 3DS in the first place?

I'm wondering if Nintendo's plan is to make the iPad to the 3DS's iPhone.  So this thing doesn't even connect to a TV and has its own screen but it isn't as portable as a 3DS so it's for around the home.  And this thing would become another casual shovelware paradise because it's so different and weird.  I would never buy it for all the reason why I hate using handhelds (screen moves with controller, either have to hold controller in front of face or look down the whole time, both of which are ergonomic nightmares).

But if it also allowed TV output I wouldn't mind it too much (still think it would be branded as casual).  But then it can't really do local multiplayer without it being incredible expensive, unless Nintendo is smart enough to also offer screenless controllers specifically for if you want to hook it to your TV.  But this would involve considerable flexibility and options, which Nintendo is horrible at.

Hopefully this is very conventional and it's just a classic controller with a low quality touchscreen on it with the Wii remote as a seperate option, like how the NES came with normal controllers and the lightgun.

You know, if the the Wii's successor will use a controller with a touch screen on it, does this mean we might be able to finally play DS games on a TV console?  Hey, it would definitely open the possible for something like this to happen since the main reason we haven't gotten a Super Gameboy or Gameboy Advance Player for the the DS yet is since DS and 3DS games use 2 screens for all games and so I was impossible to recreate this on the Wii there's nothing on the Wii that can replace the bottom touch screen.

Well if their new console is going to have what is basically a second touch screen on it's controller, then Nintendo finally has the ability to make this happen.  Yeah some games might be kind of tricky to play like this but most DS/3DS game will work just fine since all the action usually takes place on the top screen with the bottom used for menu's or some other button feature.  Actually if the touch screen on the controller is indeed 6 inches, that would actually make it bigger then any of the DS's touch screens by quite a bit making DS games that use the bottom screen better to play.

So yeah if the touch screen rumor is true, I'm calling it now, the Nintendo DS Player is only a matter of time away.

Okay, I like the DS Player idea.  I like it A LOT.  In fact it gives this rather bizarre idea a more practical purpose to it.  Nintendo wants the DS design applied to their console but to do so they need to offer a second screen, so that ends up being on the controller itself.  Thinking it like that it makes a lot more sense.

However another thing to think about beyond cost is battery life.  I assume we'll have wireless controllers here.  That is the standard and hopefully Nintendo goes with a recharge model like the PS3 has instead of AA batteries again.  But if I've got a six inch screen I'm probably going to be sucking the juice pretty quickly.

But let's say you can play tethered if you want to so that helps the battery thing.  Right now a full Wii remote with Motion+ and nunchuk will cost about $60.  Could you make something like a CC Pro with a 6" touchscreen in the center that would only retail for that price?  The price of controllers these days is pretty insane to begin with and I can't imagine the market tolerating much higher.

No offense, Ian. But your such a stubborn idiot sometimes.

I couldn't even read the rest of your post because your first sentence was so damn idiotic.

Pull out a stylus? Why not just use your thumb? You know...the big weird looking thing attached to your hand. Seriously, why do you think every touch screen ever made requires a stylus?

Because it smudges the shit out of the screen.  We've gone over this a million times in DS discussions.  Some people don't like smudging the shit out of screens and having the clean them constantly.

Plus the "take your hand off and fumble with the stylus" method is what Nintendo has used for the DS and 3DS so I think it's fair to assume the same design would be present here.

Using the d-pad and buttons is more intuitive and much quicker and easier for me.  This wouldn't be an issue if Nintendo wasn't so bizarrely opposed to providing options.  Why not let people do it the way they want?

Cleaning a screen is easier than fumbling with a stylus, and stylus control is definitely NOT the scheme intended for games like Ocarina of Time 3D.

Nor for SSFIV 3DS

I was just about to say thee same thing. I was gonna ask if Ian ever stopped bitching long enough to actually read what it is he is talking about. Why would you need a stylus? that makes no damn sense. It's a 6 INCH touch screen, my finger is the stylus.

Also if you read all the links I've gathered so neatly for you, it said that that the controller has a standard set of buttons and dual analogs. So i don't know what the source of your "touchscreen replacing buttons" rant even is.

from the Project Cafe link:
According to 01net, the peripheral will feature a six-inch single-input touchscreen -- which corroborates a similar report published by CVG yesterday. The French site also says the controller features a standard set of buttons, a front-mounted camera (what?) and can even function as a Wii sensor bar, should the player choose to indulge in the console's built-in backwards compatibility.

Camera as well?  How the fuck is anyone going to afford one of these controllers?  Has Nintendo gone Sony crazy?!

I guess my post are not only subliminal, but invisible as well....

link to rumor summary that I am updating as I find them:
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=16688.msg666999#msg666999

p.s. I've posted it twice in this thread already

I'm surprised, you of all people, are not jumping for joy.

Isn't this what you wanted?

I like the idea of Nintendo not skimping on hardware but it has to be affordable.  I didn't buy a PS3 until it became affordable.  This is looking like an incredibly pricey controller and I'm not interested in that (particularly since the elements that make it expensive are gimmicky fluff anyway).  Plus I'm just looking at it from an armchair business analysist position.  How does Nintendo expect to put all this tech into a controller and have any hope of people buying multiple controllers?

And there is the debunking of how accurate this rumour is.  Throwing everything but the kitchen sink into a design reeks of fanboy fantasies.  The questionable cost feasibility really is just asking "is this a credible rumour?"

It makes me think back to the Dreamcast. The memory cards (VMUs) slid into the controllers and doubled as a secondary screen. It was monochrome and usually didn't actually provide much in the way of functionality, but the idea was awesome.

I really, really just want a normal controller though. So many games have suffered on the Wii because of the shoe-horned motion controls. I don't mind that the option is there, but it shouldn't be used where it doesn't really make sense either.

Less than 2 months till we find out.

Is E3 on the 7th of June.

All these rumours about crazy controller functionality (it has Everything a Fanboy could possibly want!! And More!!) make me think of that Simpson's episode where Homer's long lost brother has Homer design a car.

I'm actually not that excited at all about these rumors, which is strange to me.  I can put the reasons to a few things.
1) I still have 5-7 Wii games to purchase and play and that's gonna take some time due to my limited console play time.


2) Although it has been 5 years (standard console cycle) I feel like it's a bit early to bring out a new console, low sales be damned.


3) I'm so use to Nintendo doing the weird and exciting and just surprising folks that I can't possibly see how they can do that with their new system.  My worst fear is they just make a soul-less powerhouse.


My opinion is of the minority, though I always look forward to new Nintendo software.  I just want be blown away is all and I fear that may not happen this time...

All I really want to know is, will this whiz-bang new console allow me to play Mario Kart without having to wait two minutes for somebody else's game to finish?  Now THAT would impress me.

You can always play by yourself, then you won't have to wait on anybody.

With the Wii though the motion controls aren't an option.  Because the CC is optional, motion control HAS to be supported because otherwise you only have a handful of buttons to use.  Waggle becomes a simple way of getting the game to work on an inflexible controller.

But this insane Homer bling controller has multiple options so no one had to use the touchscreen or the camera or motion control because if they just want the buttons and analog sticks they are all right there.  The DS didn't succumb to forced touchscreen usage as much as the Wii succumbed to waggle becuase normal control options were available.

Of course we'll still get Phantom Hourglass type forced controls from Nintendo themselves as they feel they have to "sell" us on the gimmicky concepts they come up with.  I don't want any more of that.  But at least if the Wii 2 has good third party support there will be tons of good games that don't have stupid control schemes.

maybe the next system will have a voxel tree processor and use cartridges

Flash memory is cheap enough nowadays that a cartridge based system could easily be a reality. So long as the save file and any additional DLC is also stored on the cartridge, I wouldn't really have an issue with it.

Maybe the new Wii Awesome-Controller-Of-Awesomeness (tm) will have Super Blast Processing built in!!!!

plug it up to the tv sans n6 and it becomes a sega genesis

Updates!!

Thank you for the effort you put into compiling that, BnM.

If you think about it though, with the exception of Gameboy and GBA, Nintendo control schemes have just been crazy.  Some may call it "Innovative," "Groundbreaking" or "Inspired,"  and some might just call it just plain crazy.


Look at the NES controller.  Young people on these forums might not remember that a lot of people thought that this controller was idiotic and stupid.  Movement controlled by the left hand?  No Joystick?  2 buttons?  Crazy!  The dominant control scheme at the time was either the 2600 or the 5200 controller, which was a joystick typically controlled by the right hand (though not necessarily) and one or two buttons.


Then the SNES.  Shoulder buttons.  This was crazy.  How would you use these?  Wouldn't it make more sense have all buttons on the face, like every single previous generation's controller, as well as the Genesis?  SF2, man, everyone complained about having HK and HP mapped to the shoulders.


The N64.  The trident.  An analog stick, thumb driven?  Crazy. 


The Gamecube controller.  That was just weird.


DS?  Dual screen?  Why in the world would you use Dual Screens?


Motion controls on the Wii?  Wow, that'll never catch on.  MS and Sony, they'll never jump on that bandwagon.


And now we have the 3DS.  People don't want 3D, they say.  It's a gimmick.


And now we have this crazy Wii 2/ Project Cafe controller, which to be honest, I cannot understand.  It's crazy.  I can't even imagine how in the world this would work in gameplay.


I think that if Nintendo had introduced a conventional Dual-Shock-y controller, everyone on internet would simultaneously lose their sh*t.    Conventional is just not the Nintendo way, as much as people complain about what Ninty does with their IP's.    People say that they want to skip Nintendo's next console because they can't quite understand what it'll bring to the table in terms of gameplay.  I say, if it was something I could easily understand, then I would have been profoundly disappointed with Nintendo. 

Would they go for flash memory or try to do the blu-ray thing as well.  I like the idea of flash memory and dlc being stored on the same ... "stick"?

-3rd Parties have had Wii2 Dev Kits for Months, Has better Motion Tracking than Move

I, too, would love the ability to only access my games and write save files a million times before it can NEVER BE USED AGAIN.

Every game delivery system has a shelf life (the exception arguably being digital tied to some account, but you could argue that has a limited shelf life as well).  Have you never gotten a disc scratched beyond repair?  I for one would gladly take cartridges over discs again.  No more worrying about friends leaving discs on their sides leaning against a wall and getting scratches.

Uh what? Save files already use flash. And Flash writes are what matter, not reads, so this wouldn't affect the games unless you were replacing games over and over.

You could access your games indefinitely. I suppose there would be some worry when it came to the write limit, however. It's a pretty far fetched wall to hit, but still a possibility.

What kind of person would save their game data one million times? If you save your game data once every hour then that's one million hours worth of save data. There are 8,760 hours in a year and let's say someone lives 80 years, so 8,760 times 80 is 700,800. So assuming someone lived 80 years and saved their game every single hour of their life they still wouldn't have one million saves. You'd have to live like 100 years and be saving every hour that whole time in order to have written to the thing a million times.

And that also means that would be the only game you'd be playing your whole life and you would have no time for a job or school or family or anything. Your whole life would have to be devoted entirely to that one single game and nothing else in order for you to reach the point where you would exceed the write limit. Keep in mind you'd also have no time to eat or sleep and you'd also have to start playing the moment you were born.

I, too, lose sleep at night with this exact same worry.

I'm sure most of us would want these features for the "Super Wii":


- A "standard" controller like the 360/PS3
- A hard drive that the games can be played off of
- HD graphics (at least 720p or so)
- A stable online system akin to Xbox Live or PSN
- Big franchises to come to it

Here's what I want

- Backwards compatible with Wii games
- Includes pointer controller
- Hulu support
- Programmable Shaders
- Butt load of RAM
- Unified friend code system

Ew.

First, I couldn't care less what the controller will be. I'm pretty flexible when it comes to my taste in controllers.

Don't care about playing off hard drive. I like having physical media.

Don't care about HD. I don't have a screen to utilize it.

I'm perfectly fine with a unified friend code system.

I couldn't care less about big name franchises. I want new IPs, not games that have been driven into the ground a hundred times.

If you want those, then go buy an XBox 360 or PS3.

The rumors have gone off the deep end at record speed.

A SIX inch touch screen display on the controllers? Really? These are either deliberately planted false trails or made up. I'm disappointed that sites like IGN would even run with them.

But I want to buy only one thing that also plays Nintendo games :(

Anyway, assuming some measure of backwards compatibility, we almost already have a standard controller in the Classic Controller Pro. It only lacks thumb stick buttons.
A hard drive would be quite nice. Even nicer if I can buy my own 2.5" HDD and slap it in the system. With the SD card support in the Wii and 3DS, it appears that Nintendo isn't opposed to having expandable storage. I do have my doubts about the Super Wii sporting a SATA port in it. If it must come to it, I think a big SD card might be tolerable for saves, patches, and downloaded content.
Looking at the 3DS, I think the Super Wii's online feature will be fine. The most important things are being able to easily add friends and preferred players to a list, be able to see when and what they are playing, and to be able to send small messages to schedule play dates. 3DS has most of those things (from what I've read) so I think the Super Wii will have it too.

Yeah the more I think about the six inch rumor, the more unrealistic it sounds.  I don't see how Nintendo would be able to release a controller with a six inch touch screen and two analog sticks as well as buttons like the rumors say it has now, without it costing a ridicules amount of money.  I mean hell, the DSiXL's which has the biggest screen Nintendo's ever released on a portable is only 4.2 inches.  For a controller to have a screen almost 2 inches bigger then that just doesn't sound right because it's price would have to be similar to that of the DSiXL, which Iwata would have to be completely insane to think he could get away with pricing a controller that high.

I've been thinking about the whole "screen on the controller" aspect of the rumor, and honestly it just doesn't make any sense to me.  Why would I want such a feature, especially as a touch screen?  I like what I'm hearing about every other rumored aspect of this new system, but I only need one screen when gaming, thanks.  With rare exceptions, I never thought the dual-screen functionality of the DS really added much to most of the games I played on it, so I foresee the same thing here.  And like Ian has said, this is sounding like it would lead to expensive controllers, when I'd prefer Nintendo's gimmicky add-ons to be simply that: accessories I can ignore rather than be something I have to pay for and then rarely use.

I'm in agreement about the rumours getting out of control. What started as one fairly standard rumour dropped by a magazine has exploded into all sorts of random details, a lot of which I believe to be hogwash. It sounds like either some fans are getting carried away with wishful thinking and actually posting these as rumours, or the big media outlets like IGN have seen the opportunity for traffic, so they throw out stuff like a picture of the Classic Controller Pro with a screen Photoshopped onto it.

My personal thoughts on the idea of a controller featuring a small display are mixed. On the one hand, it dredges up memories of Four Swords Adventures, a great example of how the TV screen-to-handheld screen dynamics can be done. On the other hand, this be expensive! Especially throwing in all the other bits and bobs we've heard about, plus it would kill the battery quick. That's why I'm sceptical about this whole thing being real.

It would be very useful in local multiplayer games so you would have a display which other people in the room couldn't see. Even in single player games it would be useful as a Map or HUD which you could interact with via the stylus to mark locations or do whatever.

Maybe the best way the screen idea could work is if the controller had the ability for peripherals to be added to it, just like the N64 controller. So the screen might be something you would buy separately and then plug it into the controller. This way you wouldn't have a $100 controller, but it might cost $50 and then you can buy the screen later one for another $50. Or the screen could be bundled in with certain games in like a Wii Play type deal where you get the screen plus a game which uses it extensively for one reasonable price.

It seems like Nintendo would want to repeat that strategy, because look how well it worked for Wii Play sales. Wii Play is now one of the best selling games at all time, but most people only bought it for the controller. So it was a smart move. Why would they not want to repeat it?

Wii Play is a bad comparison because its another standard controller a better example would be Motion Plus stuff or the balance board.  I own the balance board but not the other because I haven't needed it.  If its not part of the original package its hard to get wide usage and support.

Thumb stick buttons? That's the worst idea since Sony's D-pad.

I bring up the things in my last post because when I see people complain about Nintendo's systems, that's often what they refer to. Then again, I'd like to see Nintendo take a different approach to the whole situation.

Hmm. It works pretty well for the SIXAXIS, Dual Shock 3, Xbox 360 controller, and some other controllers. I have yet to see how durable it is, but my 360 controller for my PC still has its thumb stick buttons working fine.

I just think that an analogue stick button is awkward to use. I have trouble pressing it without pressing a direction on the stick or changing the direction I'm holding, and sometimes I accidentally press it when using the stick. It's an unnecessary button, and I can't think of any game which has so many functions that it needs analogue stick buttons (certainly not any good game).

Quite true. It's most prominent use for me is in first-person shooters where you push the right stick once to activate sprint. Also in first-person shooters, I like pushing the left stick in to preform a melee attack. It's quite satisfying and intuitive. After discovering it, I never had much trouble with the thumb stick buttons as long as they were used intelligently. There are certainly some bad games that want you to press and hold the thumb stick button while moving in a direction.

New Rumor

-Pikmin 3 moved to Project Cafe & to be shown @ E3; Nintendo also in talks with R* for solid AAA support.

Sometimes I think Nintendo holds Rockstar in too high of a regard.

Uncharted and Uncharted 2 say hi. :)

It was a pivotal gameplay mechanic which aided in taking cover -- allowing you to switch views over either should of Nathan Drake to make the appropriate shot. I used it immensely. Fantastic gameplay mechanic, and not once did it mess up my aiming using the right stick.

This is consistent with the previous rumor of Nintendo wanting to target the hardcore market. The best way of targeting the hardcore is to get companies like Rockstar on board. Even though its just a rumor I can believe this, because they've done it before when they talked them into bringing Bully to the Wii and Chinatown wars to the DS, so its perfectly in line with what they've done in the past.

In other news, April Fool's on all the internet.

So many unbelievable rumors that they can't be true everyone. STop the hype train before it crashes and burns.

They HYPE train is designed to push expectations so high that "crash & burn" is the only truly expected outcome.

In the rare occasion that the HYPE train actually reaches it's destination fully intact, then.... well, lets not even entertain the idea that something like that is even possible.

Hey, when Nintendo first revealed the Wii remote back in fall 2005, I think the hype train made it to the station and minds were blown. I remember saw pictures of the wiimote and thought it was just another fan speculation mockup.

Hey, the 3DS hype train made it safe and sound, so it can happen!

PS3 level graphics....

Forget PS3 level graphics.  This thing is going to have Toy Story level graphics. :D

lol

I was talking about the 3DS.


& forget Toy Story graphics, Wii2 will finally be able to realize Zelda 2000 in real time!! ::)

I'm of the opinion that most of this stuff is just the gaming media saying things to build up the hype for E3. If this doesn't come to be at E3 I'm not going to jump out of a window and go emo about it. If it is there fine but if it isn't I'm okay with it.