Just having browser features and e-mail is what I'm asking, so it's not the same in the least. The basic tablet is there already, it could be very low-end, while the above are higher end.Originally Posted by Rob2600
Just having browser features and e-mail is what I'm asking, so it's not the same in the least. The basic tablet is there already, it could be very low-end, while the above are higher end.
I could get behind that.How about making us both happy? Keep the current shape, but make it look like a NES? Fair?
The color of the Wii (And the WiiU so far) is my least favorite aspect of their appearance. One styled to look like a NES, such as their anniversary GBA SP from a few years ago, would be great.
Actually, I don't even like how the Wii looks, so they have a nice start since I like the lines of this thing. Had to hunt one of these things down just to try to improve it's appearance (I don't actually use the storage area, I just think it helps the console look much better when it's horizontal).
Such a thing would need a decent processor and a good bit of ram integrated into the controller. Two critical elements that very well might not be there already, beyond just enough power to handle sending and recieving a signal from the WiiU and streaming video from the console.
As you already know, I'm sure, there's a heck of a lot more to something like a tablet than just a screen.
Last edited by Leo_A; 06-23-2011 at 01:02 AM.
I was actually at E3 and I spent some time in the Nintendo area. I can tell you that the big selling point a lot of their reps were making is that the Wii peripherals you currently own will work with the new games to be released. Adding a new iteration to the Wiimote to the two versions already out there would be market splitting suicide and they won't do it. Will they maybe make a version of the Wiimote plus with WiiU branding on it to package with the system? Probably, but they aren't going to add significant new functionality. The screen is the innovation, not new hand controllers.
I don't know what makes you think this system has nothing to do with the Wii, but Nintendo made it very clear it is 100% backwards compatible and the controllers and other peripherals all work with the new system. WiiU also isn't a code name like Dolphin or Revolution. It's a name that replaced a code name and is being actively marketed to the mainstream media. This isn't a release that's years away, it's a year or 18 months away, so making major changes just isn't going to happen. Developers need at least a year to work with relatively firm specs including controllers. You can speculate all you want, but I look forward to necro bumping this thread in a year so you can admit that your naked speculation was completely off-base.
That's a definite possibility. But I don't think Nintendo's graphics have ever been the company's main appeal. It could bring people onto the bandwagon and it could allow for more mature titles, which Nintendo usually steer clear of. But the main threat is the tablet/smartphone games, which are stealing gamers away from the console gaming market.
The people that bought a Wii to play Mario aren't going to leave console gaming for Angry Birds and other inane touchpad games. The people that bought Wiis for Wii Sports, however...
I think what we've seen so far has done a good job at differentiating Nintendo's stance on console gaming from phone OS "gaming." The Wii U is a console first and an implementation of touchscreens and accelerometers second. It's a device for gaming, not an all-purpose device, and there is a distinct market for both. Nintendo made the right move in acknowledging that distinction, so they won't be losing their target audience.
Saying that Nintendo has to compete with the iPad is akin to saying a toothbrush manufacturer has to compete with dental floss.
I think you're 50/50 with this point. I would disagree that the Gamecube wasn't as powerful as the PS2 or Xbox. The Cube on the whole I think had better looking, but less variety of games than the PS2. You're right with the Wii being under powered compared to the PS3 and 360. The Wii U will be the most powerful system on the market for maybe 1-2 years at best until MS and Sony come out with their systems and blow Nintendo away.
Microsoft put out a blurb the other day that they see the 360 at mid-cycle and don't expect to release new hardware for 5-6 years. Basically, their new system is Kinect, and they're satisfied. Sony simply needs to ride it out longer... Wii U is looking like a Dreamcast with good timing.
Last edited by Icarus Moonsight; 06-26-2011 at 10:16 AM.
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For those curious what Microsoft actually said, they just stated the following:
"We see it as about halfway through. But yes you are right, Xbox is defying the normal curve you might expect. There’s no doubt that Kinect put a huge shot of adrenaline into the business. What we are now seeing is massive swathes of families and younger audiences flocking to it. As you saw at the press conference, we are now in line with what we projected at E3 2010."
So no such statement about not releasing any new hardware for 5-6 years. I think everyone fully expects that the Xbox 360 will have some significant life left in it after a successor is released. There's no incentive to kill it off as soon as possible like there was with the Xbox, which was losing money with each console sold with MS facing huge cost from vendors like nVidia to continue production any longer.
So a lot of this second half of it's life could very well be spent as a companion to the Xbox 720, with legacy support of existing Xbox 360 owners as well as marketing it as a economical entry level platform keeping the system alive. They never said anything about when a successor is due and a console's lifecycle doesn't end the moment a successor is released.
Last edited by Leo_A; 06-26-2011 at 08:24 PM.
Half way between now and 2005 puts a tentative flag around 2017. The source I got that from seemed to have paraphrased what they said. Thanks for bumping up the original statement. That's even more obtuse than they reported it.
Nintendo needs new hardware. Sony and MS don't really. If either of them go too early they are going to piss off many people, since they need this time to finally make some damn money instead of blowing it out their ass on fatal design flaws and quasi-retarded business plans.
Last edited by Icarus Moonsight; 06-26-2011 at 08:26 PM.
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They said something a while back about dual-platform compatibility, where Xbox 3 games downscale for 360. Assuming they stay friendly with IBM and AMD, the next hardware for MS will probably follow what the Wii and Wii U did with the same architecture pairing, but the 360 and Xbox 3 will share binaries. Just like how PC games detect, "oh, this system supports Shader Model 3.0, I'll enable the fancy effects," developers just initialize the executable with a line of code along the lines of "if platformID != Microsoft.Xbox.720_EN_US {then system.detailMode = legacy;} else {system.detailMode = engineDefault;}."
I'd almost expect Nintendo to do the same thing, now that I think about it. Imagine Skyward Sword running at 1080p with extra texture filtering when it runs on a Wii U. They've both sold so many consoles, and not everyone is going to buy a new piece of hardware (especially on the Nintendo side), so it makes sense to make new software that reaches both audiences. The Wii and 360 can't cost that much to produce right now, so why abandon a platform that's still selling?
wii u = dreamcast all over again...early may not necessarily lead to success...the market can't truly keep supporting three consoles...
Dreamcast
- Successor to a system that underperformed in the US market
- Used an obscure GPU and helped speed along the downfall of 3dfx as a result
- Had no support from EA
- Had a screen on the controller that just showed dot-matrix pictures and ate batteries
Wii U
- Successor to a system that that actually sold a few units in the US market
- Uses a decent GPU from AMD and similar architecture to what developers are used to, no beloved GPU companies were harmed
- EA bigwig came out for the hardware announcement just to show support, even before announcing any games
- Has a screen that actually has some useful functionality during gaming
With the current console generation, atleast 75% of PS3 and 360 games are multiconsole, where as in all prior generations up to and including the PSX and N64, but not the Saturn(atleast I don't think,) atleast 75%(or close) of each library was exclusive.
So it's really not any problem having three comparable systems. The Wii U since is probably not going to be very noticeably more powerful than the PS3 or 360, the Wii will get the same multiconsoles as the PS3 and 360 and fewer shovelware exclusives the other two consoles don't also get.
Everyone will buy the multiconsole titles for their favorite system and the exclusives for the other two systems. That's how it already is anyways.
Everything in the above post is opinion unless stated otherwise.
I'm personally in no hurry to leap into the next generation. My 360 handles most all of my gaming needs and really after how little I've bought for the Wii I'm not entirely sure that I'll even pick up a Wii U. Graphics will probably be above what the 360 and PS3 do but given that they were released in 2005/2006 respectively; it would be an embarrasment for it not to be at least slightly more advanced. I just don't want new control schemes and unless Nintendo brings in good 3rd party support I doubt they get alot of cross console jumping. Not everyone froths at the mouth for the next Mario/Zelda/Metroid just as not everyone froths at the mouth for "Generic FPS sequel#300456"
And the Xbox 360 was also early to the marketplace, for just one example of many of a system getting a head start on the competition without failing like the Dreamcast did.
And the marketplace doesn't seem to be showing any evident problems of supporting three platforms now. I haven't even seen any industry analyist predicting this, and there's several that love baseless and wild speculation. What's your evidence?
The problem with that is the disc that they'd use. The Xbox 360 utilizes the DVD format and there's a near certainty that a successor will require something with more capacity (Even the WiiU is going to be utilizing single layer Blu-Ray disc for game data).
Doesn't sound like something I'd expect to happen (Would people upgrade to a new platform just for things like a bit higher HD resolution and such, if the same games play just fine on their current console)?
I wonder if they're considering that just for XBLA. Would make a lot of sense there to have their downloadable arcade releases have cross platform functionality so future post 360 XBLA releases could still be played by 360 owners (At least for the first few years until so many move on to the 720 that it stops making sense to limit XBLA developers to the capabilities of the 360).
Last edited by Leo_A; 06-27-2011 at 02:06 AM.
Why wouldn't the new system be compatible with DVDs as well as whatever new format they'd choose though? Just like BluRay players are today.
I'm wondering if MS will go BluRay and put money into Sony's pocket, or if they'll shy away from that and go proprietary as I've heard Nintendo is. Regardless, I expect it will play DVDs if they're serious about backwards compatibility.
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I'm sure it will be able to read DVD's, I wasn't suggesting it wouldn't.
But we're talking about the idea of Xbox 720 games that can also have the disc be put into the drive of a Xbox 360 and be played in a downgraded mode on the Xbox 360. So that would mean Xbox 720 games would have to be released on DVD if the Xbox 360 is to read them.
And that isn't about to happen since DVD is increasingly seen as cramped for space. Sony has moved on, Nintendo is moving on, and DVD is starting to present a space problem for developers on the Xbox 360 as well. So I'm sure they're going to move on to some format that offers higher capacity (My money is on Blu-Ray), which automatically kills the thing NayusDante was discussing.
Nintendo is supposedly going with single layered Blu-Ray disc, so don't read too much into the word "proprietary". They used the same phrase for the GCN and Wii, and both basically relied on the DVD format and required licensing several DVD related patents from the necessary companies. They just never paid the DVD Forum any royalties, so they couldn't call them DVD's and they couldn't enable video playback on their devices like the Wii (Even though the hardware is fully capable of it).
Blu-Ray doesn't belong to Sony anymore than DVD did. Sony was just a major player in both the DVD Forum and Blu-Ray Disc Association and hold several of the many patents that various industrial partners hold in regards to both technologies. So they're just one of many shareholders in the technology.
Last edited by Leo_A; 06-27-2011 at 08:55 PM.
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