So Nintendo is following up the Wii with a new console next year....

[CmdrSlack]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/04/25/nintendo.wii.successor/?hpt=C2

I'm really not quite sure what to think about this. There's no details yet, so unless they've been working on this for a year or two, will it just be a re-packaged Wii with closer-to-next-gen hardware?

Maybe Ninty is really out of touch and this is just them trying to stick with the 5 year cycle for consoles no matter what.

[NiX]

Rumors:

Controller
- 6" touchscreen, not HD, not multitouch
- D-Pad, L, R, two triggers, others
- 'Front-facing camera'
- A sensor roughly analagous to the Wii sensor bar is incorporated in the controller - i.e. some kind of IR beacons/transmitters. Purpose isn't clear.

Specs
- Custom triple-core PowerPC
- AMD/ATI GPU. 'Probably' derived from R700 series.
- RAM unknown
- Developer quotes: graphics capabilities "roughly equal to those of the Xbox 360", performance "over the Xbox 360, but just a notch"

Rumored controller mock-up:

[Yegolev]

Lies.  Why would Nintendo make a powerful console?

[Paelos]

Because I would buy one! 

[Mrbloodworth]

That's a bit of a radical departure from the current Wiimotes. I don't think its real.

[Yegolev]

Right, anyone remember my rumor coverage before the Wii announcement?  There was some crazy shit in there, but none of the high-powered ideas made it.

Because I would buy one! 

Explain!

[Rendakor]

Honestly they had to do something since Zelda is the only decent upcoming Wii game left; hopefully whatever they make has a normal enough controller that the big name 3rd party titles can release on it and and play as they do on Xbox/PS3.

[Phire]

Yay another system that won't have any good games for it!

Looking forward to the following lazy ports:

Mario Kart Wii HD
Metroid Prime HD
Mario Galaxy HD
New Super Mario Bros HD
Ever Mario sports game...HD!
Mario Party HD

And so on.....god I hat Nintendo

[Mrbloodworth]

I have more Wii games than PS3 games. It depends on what you like, Nintendo is a very different platform than the others.

Example, I think I have every harvest moon ever on that Wii.

[AutomaticZen]

Those rumors are tied to a system called "Project Cafe".

And someone found this header on Nintendo's WarioWorld dev site.



So the basic gist Nix posted up there could be correct.

[Merusk]

I have more Wii games than PS3 games. It depends on what you like, Nintendo is a very different platform than the others.

Ditto here.  Though in large part I blame the shitty RPGs on the PS3 for that.  If I wanted RPGs where 2d animation boxes have conversations at each other, I'd buy them for my DS, not waste the processing power of the PS3 on them (not to mention the extra expense.)

[Mrbloodworth]

Oh, don't get me wrong, the Ps3 games are mostly mine, the Wii games are the ladies. However I do play them too. I'm just saying the catalogs are vastly different.

[Merusk]

Heh, I own games on both, but yeah the bulk of the Wii games are the kids.

[HaemishM]

After the searing disappointment that the Wii became about a year after release, I find I don't really give a fuck. Virtual Console games? Virtually abandoned. Actual games that weren't wiggle shovelware? About 2-3 a year? Third party support? Barely on life support.

Fuck Nintendo in their tiny money-filled earholes.

[Shrike]

They talking any backwards compatibility on this thing?

The only reason I'd buy one of these is on the off chance it has a new (and good, don't forget that) Metroid and maybe Fire Emblem. That gets my interest. If you can play the Metroid (first one) and Fire Emblem games that came out on the Wii (still a stupid name), then I might part with cash. Maybe. It'd be nice if some other stuff that was actually interesting came out on it as well, but seeing as this is Nintendo, that is asking too much.

[Sparky]

Doubt it'll sell Wii numbers after all the casuals bought one, messed about with Wii Sports then shoved it under the TV to collect dust.

[Yegolev]

I can't underestimate the ability of normals to get frothy about stupid shit.

Just to play along, something looking like a crap iPad with a IR sensor and the dev name "cafe" obviously means Nintendo is bringing themselves into the networking age by having people bring around oversized handhelds to play together, like Pokemon.  I mean, really, the Wii just isn't portable enough.  The GameCube had a handle but would have needed a car battery to play on a train.  The Wii doesn't have a handle or a battery.  The peanut-butter-and-chocolate solution to this is to make a new GBA that can download WiiWare and VC games if you happen to be inside a GameStop or a McDonald's McCafe, after which you can sit in the shade facing your opponent and do pokemon battles.

[Rasix]

Now you can touch and waggle, how will this not sell a billion units?

This will likely be my son's first console. 

[NiX]

That's a bit of a radical departure from the current Wiimotes. I don't think its real.

Might find out tomorrow during their fiscal call.

[Paelos]

Right, anyone remember my rumor coverage before the Wii announcement?  There was some crazy shit in there, but none of the high-powered ideas made it.

Because I would buy one!  

Explain!

It's approachable and not annoying? I doesn't give me 20 buttons on a controller? If I wanted 20+ buttons, I'd just use a fucking keyboard. Also, Nintendo has always been more "gamey" to me than the other systems which were all srs bzns.

[KallDrexx]

I highly doubt that touch controller is real.  It would be enormously expensive that it wouldn't make sense for an in person social console (like the Wii is).  Remember, Nintendo has to make a profit on each console sold, they don't sell them for a loss like Sony/Microsoft does.

[Mrbloodworth]

Reason I said I think its fake, is it goes contrary to all the training they did with the Wiimote to the audiences. ( The entire get up and move concept )

[Ingmar]

Reason I said I think its fake, is it goes contrary to all the training they did with the Wiimote to the audiences. ( The entire get up and move concept )

I'm inclined to agree in general, but that's not to say they couldn't do both kinds of controllers on the same system.

[Mrbloodworth]

True.

[HaemishM]

Never underestimate Nintendo's ability to get you to buy seventy billion controllers for one console.

[Mrbloodworth]

Heh, I do have two mots, two chucks, two classics, and one classic gold myself. So, yeah, what he said.

[NiX]

Reason I said I think its fake, is it goes contrary to all the training they did with the Wiimote to the audiences. ( The entire get up and move concept )

Which resulted in the term "waggle" that often depicted people sitting on their ass miming shorter versions of their intended movements so they didn't have to "get up and move".

[Fabricated]

Brawl was so disappointing and my Wii is so infrequently used (I own literally 4 Wii titles) that I honestly don't think I'll buy this new console.

[Rasix]

I think I'm down to 2 or 3 titles.  I just haven't bothered lighting No More Heroes 2 on fire yet.

[Paelos]

I skipped the Wii because I was waiting for something a little more traditional. If this is it with some cool aspects, I'll buy it no matter what.

Unless they don't have a Zelda game.

[Rendakor]

The Zelda game will end up as a port of a Wii game, just like last time.

[Fabricated]

Zelda literally hasn't been good since OoT. I loved it too but it's like, gone man. Jumped the shark. Bad.

[Paelos]

Zelda literally hasn't been good since OoT. I loved it too but it's like, gone man. Jumped the shark. Bad.

I liked Windwaker. 

[01101010]

I heard it was being bundled with some Zynga games. 

[Fabricated]

Zelda literally hasn't been good since OoT. I loved it too but it's like, gone man. Jumped the shark. Bad.

I liked Windwaker. 

I liked it until I had to sail all over creation hunting triforce pieces.