5 Things We Would Like To See in The Wii 2
Rumors about a second generation of the Wii console began to surface last week and suggest that Nintendo will be unveiling a new console at E3 in June and launch it later this year.
It appears that much of the 'confirmed' information centers around a new controller, which seems to be a mini TV in itself. Is this really what Nintendo needs?
Wii sales have been tanking for some time now. Last week's data told us that Microsoft sold 433,000 Xbox 360 consoles in March in the U.S. (confirmed by Microsoft), while Nintendo said it sold more than 290,000 Wiis and Sony noted that it had a double-digit shipment increase, which puts PS3 units at 240,000 or above. There is a general consensus that the Wii's novelty has worn off and that the buyer interest has shifted more toward new controller concepts as well as traditional values such as choices and quality of gaming content. Price cuts such as today's price drop to $170 can only do so much for the Wii: It is pretty clear that the Wii is on its way out.
It almost appears as if Nintendo, which seemed to have found the key to unlock new gaming markets back in 2006 - 2009, missed evolving trends by praising itself and hoping that the Wii could outshine its rivals with entertaining content alone. AT E3 2010, Nintendo countered the PS3 Move as well as Kinect with a range of games, but the presentation felt artificially stretched and helpless at times, especially if we compare it against those blockbuster presentations of the preceding years that brought amazing products such as the Wii balance board. The Wii may have grown older much faster than Nintendo anticipated and it would have needed a thorough refresh last year, not this year. In that view, a new Wii is not really a surprise. Here is what we would like to see in the new Wii.
1. A real controller
Rumors suggest that the new Wii controller will have a 6-inch HD screen and pretty much turn into a mini TV or mobile game console that streams content from the Wii base station. Seriously? How is that going to work? Why would you need a screen in your controller and why would you stream content to a mobile controller that will cost $80 by itself? If we are looking at the general user base of the new markets Nintendo has opened with the Wii, all those general gamers - would they want such a new controller? I highly doubt it. Maybe we are talking about a Wii extension here, but a 6-inch screen controller may not be convenient to hold for most of us and surely not enough for young kids as well as all those seniors who love to play bowling with the Wii.
It would be way too complex to use as well and that's just not Nintendo. Instead, could we ask for an improved Wii controller that does not feel like a brick? A controller that is automatically rechargeable, feels better in your hand and could be easier to use? If it was me, I'd get excited about a connected controller glove that could deliver a Kinect-like experience at much higher accuracy. That is unlikely for several reasons (just imagine all those allergy lawsuits), but a noticeable controller improvement based on the current design could do wonders for Nintendo. Ditching the current controller for clumsy, expensive HD touchscreen screen controllers would be suicide.
2. Please no WiiWii
A Wii 2 implies a step forward, but problems for Nintendo as well. How do you cater to the market you created with the Wii and go beyond it with a new technology? Perhaps the biggest revolution for the Wii (which is code-named Project Café, according to IGN) should be that it is no revolution at all. The basic controller concept still works and there are plenty of people who like the general idea of the look and feel of Wii games. Rumor has it that the new Wii will be backwards compatible, which is a critical step for Nintendo - and suggests that we might see a Wii 1.5 and not a Wii 2.
Nintendo will have to be very careful not to alienate its user base as Microsoft is actively going after it with Kinect - which is marketed as a potential upgrade from the Wii. A new Wii will have to maintain the feel of the original Wii with substantial new benefits its user base cares about - and benefits the buyers of the PS3 and Xbox 360 care about at the same time. It should also be noted that Nintendo steps out of the traditional upgrade cycle for its console, as a new Xbox 360 or PS are not expected before 2013 or 2014. This new Wii has to be either an entirely new console that is capable of competing with the next Xbox and PS - or represent a thorough refresh that bridges the gap to a much more significant new Nintendo release that may be scheduled for the 2013/2014 time frame.
3. HD
Aside from a silly HD screen in a handheld console (what would HD in a 6-inch handheld be anyway?), the new Wii will have to support HD resolution. The HDTV penetration is now high enough so this feature can be appreciated and represent an update over the rough pixel graphics in the Wii that suddenly feel like 1990s graphics. But it's not just games. It's also entertainment content - such as support for Netflix HD movies. Or HD image sharing. HD has become a commodity and a new game console has to support it as a result.
4. Third Party Content
A huge problem for the Wii has been that it failed to attract enthusiast gamers, those gamers that function as evangelists for a platform and buy more games than anyone else. Nintendo often said that its users had intentions to buy many more games per console than the users of other platforms, but those studies remained largely, well, studies. In the real world, the blockbusters are lately on other platforms. One way to fix this issue for Nintendo is to focus much more on third-party content and create incentives for third-party game developers to develop their games for the Wii. In fact, this may be the only way to get traditional gaming enthusiasts excited about the Wii for years to come.
5. Mobile integration
It is somewhat stunning to see that there is virtually no integration of the DS with the Wii, two mega-selling gaming platforms. What if Nintendo found a way to integrate the two platforms? It's not really an option - Nintendo would have to integrate the two platforms as we are seeing Sony moving closer to Android and Microsoft experimenting with Xbox Live content on Windows Phone 7. Forget that silly 6-inch controller device - why doesn't Nintendo start with a simple integration of the DS as a potential controller and Wii extension - and build on this idea with new DS releases later on? I have no doubt that Nintendo will need a mobile strategy and that this strategy will be based on its DS user base.
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What I'd like to see:
1. 100 Amazing Colourful Variety of Games that don't suck, with awesome graphics to bring out the colour
2. Amazing extensions available for download
3. Amazing free games that are downloadable
4. A revolution in gaming
5. Games as good, or even better than Half-Life 2, Super Mario Galaxy, etc.
The Wii has some mobile integration. i used to download demos from the nintendo channel to my DS
"This new Wii has to be either an entirely new console that is capable of competing with the next Xbox and PS - or represent a thorough refresh that bridges the gap to a much more significant new Nintendo release"
Graphically it has to look the part yes i agree.
Wii is a triumph of engineering and marketing that sold amazingly well despite its relatively weak hardware.
If I had to spend money on a new Wii, I would rather spend it on an upgrade to the software. Not the entire unit. If I had to do that, then I might as well jump to Xbox! I think Nintendo needs to provide software updates for free to all users on a regular basis for some period of time. Its good marketing, and keeps people attached to the product line. And yes, eventually it would be nice to have more "real" looking graphics, and have a better controller or even a controller belt that you wear. Something similar to the Kenetic, but accurate.
1. Yes, the controller does suck, even with WiiMotion Plus (as its improvement with titles is hit and miss). Nintendo, with the wii, essentially took the Power Glove from the NES, and turned it into a console. It isn't as awful as the Power Glove, but the Wii controller connectivity still pisses off a good margin of gamers with its lack of precision and accuracy.
2. It is going to be hard for Nintendo to "upgrade" what they have created with the Wii. Xbox Kinect is just an upgraded PS2 Eye Toy, and PS3 has hit something with the Move (same tech used for TrackIR on PC). A controller with a screen is not going to make me want the next Wii, as I will want to pay more attention to my 55" LCD screen that probably would have much better graphics than a 6 inch screen.
3. This is what pissed me off the most about the Wii. HD, at least 720p, should have been included with the Wii. Hell, it does not play DVD movies without performing homebrew on it. The hardware is there (all consoles share a variant of the same CPU), and Nintendo could have made a few more sales by having 720p and DVD playback.
4. I can agree with this as well. I have tried various games with the Wii from Tiger Woods to Monster Hunter, from the Wii Games to Rock Band 2, and sadly the only one that I was interested in was Rock Band 2. Most other games out on the Wii were either on the PS3 or PC which I would rather play over the Wii (I got Rock Band before I got a PS3). You also have the issue with Rock Band where songs from previous versions can't be carried over on the Wii like it can be on the 360/PS3. I believe it was also mentioned that Rock Band 1 on the Wii did not support DLC as well. I don't know if that is the fault of Harmonix or Nintendo, but if the 360/PS3 can do it, the Wii should be able to as well.
5. I also agree here because Nintendo has been in the mobile gaming market probably more than the other two console makers. If anything, they should capitalize on the DS and add the mobile device connectivity to that.
A screen on the controller would be cool, if they have those jackets that turn them into a rifle, by adding mirrors you have a scope (if & only if you snipe playing a FPS game). A touchscreen controller would make possible different layout of as many or as few touchscreen buttons as required of a game. You could even have the screen show coordinates on it of your position in the game that you are playing without taking up space on the TV screen.
1. Games that don't suck (short livespan, boring, look uggly, make you feel like a 10 year old when playing).
2. A console that offers the latest graphics hardware and standards.
3. Built in storage and media center options (Blu-ray, hardware decoding of popular video formats) / streaming media support (better inputs, card readers...)
4. Better online experience and added community features.
5. Backwards compatibility with ALL previous Nintendo hardware/software (through add-on usb console readers for cartrage older games).
Did you seriously just write an article complaining about the possible addition of a controller with a screen on it and then complain that there's no integration with the DS? Do you get paid to write this?
"I'd get excited about a connected controller glove" It's called a Power Glove. A 6 inch screen would be unlikely, but a 3-4 inch screen? Theoretical designs place the screen in the middle plastic, which would keep it out ot the way and still allow a classic console control design. A lot of people compare this to Dreamcast's VM, but the VM wasn't a touchscreen and was very low bit. What people need to think is the lower half of a DS. DS allows for more innovative devs to utilize some touch controls while still leaving standard controls available. It's worked very well for them, so why not adapt it to their main console? I don't think they'd be fully willing to ditch the WiiMote however, but they could keep that basic functionality by putting the same sensor port on the new system. Like anyone who's ever used a WiiMote, I want a MORE PRECISE WiiMote. It might actually be fun if it worked accurately. They could always do something truly different and just stop bundling controllers with the system. Leave people the option of using a cheap basic controller, a touch screen controller, or a WiiMote, depending on their gaming preference, and save them the price difference.
While I agree that Wii has to support 1080p for it's games, I don't believe it needs to sign any solid deals with providers and become a media player system like XBox/Sony. Nintendo has always stuck by it's "gaming only" style, and it's about the only console that still sticks to this philosophy. We don't need prices being driven up from trying to be a media system, let the others do that. Nintendo's done well just running it's games. I mean, what isn't running Netflix and Hulu+ anymore? I don't really need to pay extra for functions I already have.
A lot of people say that releasing their system earlier than the competition would put them at a disadvantage. Keep in mind though that having the most powerful system on the block, even for a short period, could pull some developers back into their corner. Once they're back, they might realize they'd rather stay. Catching devs is also about creating a platform that's easy to develop for, but this may not happen since easy to dev systems are often easy to hack systems and Nintendo seems to be getting fed up with piracy. I tend to wonder if it's worth bringing them back however, with the increasing low quality that 3rd parties bring. It seems like more of them would prefer to just up their graphics and toss the same garbage out rather than improve their gameplay with the tools given.
I've actually been somewhat surprised that Nintendo HASN'T done more with using the DS and Wii together, historically they've already dabbled in it on previous systems. I wouldn't call it necessary though. The only thing that seems necessary on that front is the same account between systems for their DLC games, those should be shared between the handheld and the console.
One thing you didn't touch on that's on a lot of people's mind is the distribution of games. If they don't put out a media player system, they don't need a bluray player, but they'd likely need a format larger than a normal DL-DVD, a few Wii games do actually push up to 8GB so that won't do for next gen. They could try finding a cheap flash memory source, which would allow them to use cartridges more along DS sizes, or they could switch back to a proprietary format, which would help deter piracy. GC games were pirated much less than Wii games due to the difficulty of getting the proper burner. Really though, I still think the best option for consoles at this point is downloadable games. If they used an account/license method like Steam, they could both make pirating difficult and lower the need for large HDs since you could download and delete as needed. I know that makes people without credit cards and with slow connections cringe, so they would still need a physical format as well, but let's face it, that method has gone very well for the PC industry. It could even help fight off Apple/Android by using the friendly and convenient download and play method.
I think it's hilarious how people were going nuts trying to get one of these and paying more than retail to get them off ebay or craigslist.
Yet when I bought it last year, I couldn't believe how overrated it was. My kids don't even touch the thing anymore. Maybe it's because I bought it long after release, but I still could not see what all the hype was about.
Give it real controls, and hardware poweful enopugh to play 360/ps3 quality games at 1080p, and the devs will come flooding back. If it has those things, it doesn't need anything else.
Why has nobody made a laptop console yet?
Changes I'd like to see
1. HD
2. Proper (accurate) 1:1 tracking controls if Nintendo insists on keeping the motion control concept alive.
3. Integration with DS/3DS (they did it with the Gamecube on a random few games, should be possible with the Wii)
4. Backwards compatibility and transferability of all library games purchased on Nintendo online to the new console.
Launch with a Zelda game that aims for a higher age than Disney World does. No more talking animals, wolf-transformations, chicken chasing, or silly masks.
Zelda CD-i =D
I want a Wii mote that is also a tazer!!
I'm just looking forward to playing Zelda in HD.
Nintendo has been on a roll of follies. I'm sure there will be something really dumb about this next console as well.
NES - Was what it was, no complaints
SNES - A better version of the original
N64 - I really didn't like the controller I thought the SNES controller was about perfect.
-Nintendo made the mistake of sticking to cartridges. This stopped Square from making Final Fantasy 7 for N64. The game was big enough that it took 3 CD's. It would have taken an insane number of cartridges to get that game on the system.
-I also didn't like that they changed the name to N64 as apposed to the earlier expected name "Ultra 64".
-The graphics for this system were not as good as I expected them to be. The system didn't suffer from pixelation like the Playstation did but it did have a problem with aliasing. Those jagged lines were bad and made the games look worse than I was expecting them to look.
GameCube - The controller was even more odd.
-The console doesn't play DVD's
-No built-in WiFi
-Nintendo maintained a mindset that video games are primarily for kids for far too long. Slightly before the Wii came out Nintendo did a study that told them the average gamer was in his/her upper 30's. They found that a typical gamer picked up the controller to play Super Mario Bros on NES and hasn't stopped gaming since and thus their audience has growen up. The whole time they were making games with kids in mind. That prompted them to change the new Zelda (The Twilight Princess) in a way that would make it more appealing to older audiences.
Wii - It wasn't HD. Someone high up at nintendo said HD doesn't matter. -> idiot
-Fake surround sound using ProLogic II
-Doesn't play DVD or BluRay movies
Wii 2 - I'm just waiting to see what the big folly will be this time.
If there is going to be a true upgrade to the Wii to compete as a next gen console it would need to be 1080p, with the new games on blu-ray discs and make the blu-ray player compatible to play movies and backwards compatible for original Wii games. It would also need to have proper storage with at least a 120gb hard drive for downloadable content, whether game purchases, apps (if Nintendo wants to go that route for it's downloadable games), movies, etc. and make sure it has wireless N for streaming movies.
Did you seriously just write an article complaining about the possible addition of a controller with a screen on it and then complain that there's no integration with the DS? Do you get paid to write this?
Agreed, tom this is one of your more crappy articles. If we learned anything from the wii it should be to not count Nintendo out. I can't wait to see what the hubbub is about.
1 - decent hardware, good graphics chip and large amount of ram is what all consoles are missing. Ram is cheap, why hold back to 512mb??? If i dont see at least 2gb ram in it ill be disappointed.
2 - i know some people may not like this idea, but i say bring back ROM cartridges. I do not want to have to install games on a console and then proceed to wait for them to load for 5 mins.
3 - dont fill it up with gimmik hardware, just get back to basics and give me good HD graphics and no load times.
Well - lets see
1) Backwards compatible => PowerPC processor, multi core, stream processing
- add only cores, like XBox360 - would six cores suite you?
- more and faster RAM than XBox360 / PS3
- add stream processors, like PS3
- complete Wii on a chip (possible as it is quite old tech),
add whatever you like for rest x86 or ARM (used in mobile devices)
2) HD graphics => Almost any current video chip will surpass XBox360 / PS3
3) Media => BluRay - the new standard now at affordable prices
and a big title to use all this power, i.e. something built for current/future PC not old consoles.
What about Battlefield 3?
EA/DICE has not yet shown any console play... That could be a perfect match for E3 !
How about games?
I hate this racist whitie console! I'd buy black PS3 anyday! Black Power!
Dump the controller screen, give me a 360 style controller that I can choose to use instead of the wand and nun chuck. The wand is great for casual games but not so much for shooters and RPGs. I'm not a fan of having to scoot up closer to the TV to make sure my wand doesn't loose sight of the sensor bar. The classic controller doesn't cut it as its too oddly shaped.
As a nice to have, give me a big hard drive option and let me download my games to the HD and play them WITHOUT the disk. I'm 100% ok with having to be logged in online with a user account to play without the disk. Do it Steam style.
Did you seriously just write an article complaining about the possible addition of a controller with a screen on it and then complain that there's no integration with the DS? Do you get paid to write this?
I agree. Also, in the first paragraph you said that..."buyer interest has shifted more towards new controller concepts...", but in the second you seem to have an issue with the new rumored controller, which is a new controller concept as it has a screen built in.
it's pretty much a given according to numerous sites that Wii 2 will support 1080p natively, and that it's significantly more powerful and both Xbox360 and PS3. everything else, about media format, controller...etc is still up in the air. According to some insiders, this new console is Nintendo's attempt to reclaim some of the hardcore gamers back. From what I heard so far, looks like it's going to work.
Man- hardcore gamers using a Nintendo console- either I don't know anything about video game history or that sounds really... well odd. You always think of Sony as pushing the limits of hardware and Nintendo you think of a repetition of the same low-graphical style games that were all popular in the 90s just repeated a million times on each subsequent console with minor improvements.
How about Nintendo not bothering.
Man- hardcore gamers using a Nintendo console- either I don't know anything about video game history or that sounds really... well odd. You always think of Sony as pushing the limits of hardware and Nintendo you think of a repetition of the same low-graphical style games that were all popular in the 90s just repeated a million times on each subsequent console with minor improvements.
Yep, you just said it: you don't know anything about video game history.
I think the Wii 2 label in it self is completely inaccurate. The Wii served its purpose by simply expanding the console gaming market outside of the thirty-something age range. It wasn't specifically meant for the hardcore. This new console won't be a Wii replacement. There is no need for another Wii so they can and will co-exist. I think this will be the long overdo expansion of the Nintendo line the hardcore have been waiting for while keeping the Wii's family oriented accessibility.