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E3 Nintendo Wii Hardware

New Nintendo HD Console Rumors Abound 154

Posted by Soulskill from the control-it-with-your-brain dept.
pcgfx805 writes "Game Informer has reportedly received word from 'multiple sources' that a new HD console from Nintendo will be debuting at this year's E3. They report on conflicting information regarding the power of the console compared to the other current-gen consoles, but go on to speculate that 'Either way it will offer competitive specifications.'" This year's E3 is scheduled for June 7-9.
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New Nintendo HD Console Rumors Abound More

New Nintendo HD Console Rumors Abound

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  • I don't care if it's HD (Score:5, Funny)

    by YoshiDan ( 1834392 ) on Friday April 15, 2011 @03:34AM (#35826066)
    As long as they have Mario games I'll piss my money away on it.

    • I'll probably get one for the girlfriend..

      The only games on the wii which acutally got me hooked were mario kart and metroid, and that isnt enough for me to buy a console.

      On the plus side, this might trigger microsoft and sony to ramp up their next-gen machines. I love my 360, but somehow i wouldnt mind a new machine

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by cdpage ( 1172729 )
      Zelda does us is.

    • As long as they have Mario games I'll piss my money away on it.

      Tee hee giggle snort!

      Anyway, back to one of my many army-man-running-around-with-a-gun games.

  • I'm sure it's coming eventually (Score:5, Interesting)

    by _xeno_ ( 155264 ) on Friday April 15, 2011 @03:51AM (#35826140) Homepage Journal

    I have no doubt Nintendo will make a next-gen console, and I have no doubt it'll support HD. None of this is really new or interesting.

    However, my questions are:

    1. Will it support backwards compatibility with the Wii? (I expect it will.)
    2. Will it allow save games to be copied off the Wii onto the new console? (AFAIK, this only applies to games with online components, but some game saves are locked to the console.)
    3. Will it allow Virtual Console and WiiWare purchases to be transferred?

    That last one is a deal-breaker for me. If you can't copy your existing digital purchases off the Wii onto whatever the next-gen Nintendo console is, forget it.

    This is one thing that Microsoft and Sony do right: all you need to do to use your digital purchases on a new console is log in.

    With Nintendo, you simply can't use them on anything but the original hardware. And if the hardware fails (which has happened to me twice), your only recourse is to ship it back to Nintendo and have them fix it, or lose any downloaded games you may have purchased.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      This is one thing that Microsoft and Sony do right: all you need to do to use your digital purchases on a new console is log in.

      Except that it doesn't work like that. The PS2 not only ran all PSX games, it worked with old memory cards and controllers. The PS3, however, originally only had software emulation which didn't work with most PS2 games. Later models (2007 80GB onward) lack PS2 BC completely. The Wii OTOH, is actually a fully operational GameCube and can be used with most GC accessories (including old controllers and memory cards).

      ATM though, I'm more interested in the name. My suggestions:
      * Woo
      * WiiWii

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dingen ( 958134 )

        SuperWii

        I love this name already.

      • It won't have a hard drive, and that's a good thing.

        The Wii generates less heat than either of the other two consoles, because, at full bore, it consumes something like 14 watts. The others? 150 - 180 watts. They get HOT. And they're noisier.

        They'll stick with flash - just more of it.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by marsu_k ( 701360 )
          RE: noise - YES. I recently got an Xbox360, having previously had only a Wii - I really like some of the first-party titles, but apart from them there's not much to play on the Wii, the 360 certainly has a wider selection and some more "mature" titles. But I was so shocked when I turned the 360 on for the first time. It is loud. Not like "is there a new fan spinning somewhere"-loud, but like "did I just move next to an airport"-loud. I tried placing it inside a wooden cabinet (it has ample space and ventila
          • The new slim models are much more quiet (in fact if you install the game to the HDD they're almost errily silent), but the original model was stupidly loud - it's baffling that they'd cut corners that make the device almost painful to use without the volume cranked up full. These aren't toys for kids any more, the average age of gamers is mid thirties and they expect a better build experience.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by marsu_k ( 701360 )
              I admit I didn't get the slim model, but it's not the RRoD-prone first model either, something in-between. Oh well, it was very cheap used and already modded (I'm in the minority that I do admit to pirating games, but I also buy the ones that I play a lot, try-before-you-buy I guess)

          • The new slim model is amazingly quiet. The original was frighteningly loud and even for all of the racket the fans made I still ran into the RROD. I modded it with the usual heatsink mod, added a couple fans to the system and got a couple more years out of it. It finally gave up the ghost and the processors need reballing so I canned it and bought the new slim model. It is amazingly quiet. I don't think I've ever heard the fans come on and yet when I check it after gaming or streaming movies, it's only slig

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Omestes ( 471991 )

            ugh... the PS3. I own a Wii and various "retro" consoles, and I recently had a small party. A friend lugged his old, giant, PS3 over so we could play some... whatever new fighting game is getting all the buzz (Street Fighter Versus Weasels Alpha Ultra Versus Special Gold Extreme Edition 2!). After much drinking, I went and passed out in my bedroom with the door closed. At around 7:00am, I woke up to what sounded like a plane landing in the house. Someone left the PS3 on, and its fan was going a full-

      • WiiTuu

      • Except that that statement wasn't talking about game compatibility with the next console generation, but about transferring downloaded games to a new console of the same flavor. E.g. your PS3 gets thrown out the of the 30th floor window when you die for the four hundredth time in a room on some game, when you buy a new one your playstation store download purcheses can just be downloaded to it. Do the same with your wii and your wii store download purchases went out the window with it.

    • Those are valid questions, but there is one that is even more crushingly important:

      Are Nintendo prepared to swallow their pride and do whatever it takes to get a large number of decent third party developers properly committed to the system?

      In other words, are they doing all they can to ensure that we don't end up with an N64/Gamecube/Wii situation where by 2 years after launch, the system settles into a cycle of "first party game every 6 months, nothing else of note in the interim"? This would require a p

      • In other words, are they doing all they can to ensure that we don't end up with an N64/Gamecube/Wii situation where by 2 years after launch, the system settles into a cycle of "first party game every 6 months, nothing else of note in the interim"?

        errr.. where have you been the last five years? The wii has so many third party titles it's ridiculous, that most of them are absolute crap makes little difference since the same thing happened with the ps2. The most popular system gets the most games good and bad.

        • No, the Wii has low-quality shovelware (which I don't even count, given that 90% of these titles are just bad party games) and first party titles and almost nothing in between, barring a few highly stripped down cash-ins for the big franchises. The PS2 had Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid and pretty much every other big cross-platform franchise. Yes, it had a degree of shovelware, but it was fairly irrelevant given the array of big-name titles, mid-market but still decent games and small-budget Japanese quir

          • World of Goo and Defend Your Castle are great fun though. :-) Call it shovelware if you wish but you can't knock that the games are clever, unique and fun and with Defend Your Castle in particular, the focus is 90% fun gameplay, 5% intentionally-cheesy graphics, and 5% intentionally-corny sound effects.

            Hint: perfectly rendered eye candy does not make for a good gaming experience. Smart game design does, and if the graphics happen to be photorealistic, so be it. In most cases photorealistic graphics don't i

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Omestes ( 471991 )

              Hint: perfectly rendered eye candy does not make for a good gaming experience.

              I never saw him disparaging the Wii's graphics, or claiming that eye candy makes thing better. He claimed, truthfully, that the Wii has the worst 3rd party selection of games. This statement doesn't (on the face) have anything to do with graphics or hardware.

              I can barely think of any Wii games (not Wiiware or virtual console) that got me exited. Right now, in the forseeable future, there are only two Wii games that I'm looking forward to that aren't developed by Nintendo (The Last Story, and another JRPG

              • Monster hunter tri, Guilty gear Accent core, Tales of Symphonia: a new world.... and that's just off the top of my head, check stuff out and you may be pleasantly surprised

                • Re: (Score:2)

                  by Omestes ( 471991 )

                  Actually I've been interesting in the Symphonia game, but sadly it got hit with the Nintendo RPG problem; they are so rare that the instantly disapear from retail stores, and the used price never drops.

                  Monster Hunter is... Meh. I got a free demo with some game, and it was just kind of... I'm not sure why its such a huge trend in Japan, the game play was very average, the graphics were very PS1 era. I'm not complaining about the Wii's graphics here, but how people utilize them. It can't do realism, so do

        • I was going to say the same thing. Just because the games you want to play are on another console doesn't mean Wii titles selling as many (or more) copies than whatever your favorite game is on another system are absolute crap. Wii has plenty of good games. Also, I don't like many "blockbuster" titles on PS3 or Xbox 360 anyway.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by cwtrex ( 912286 )

      Just curious as to what your hardware failures were. Were either one of the failures related to the optical drive?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by _xeno_ ( 155264 )

        No, they were both related to the graphics chip. Apparently this is a known issue and has something to do with the GPU overheating and damaging itself.

        What happens is that the graphics slowly become more and more corrupted, eventually making games unplayable as you can't see anything.

        In any case, it happened with my first Wii, so I shipped it back at the very end of the warranty period, and then it happened with the second Wii again. I got an apology letter back when they sent the third Wii back to me.

        It ha

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by cwtrex ( 912286 )

          Ah okay, well I haven't had my GPU destroy itself yet, but I purchased a cheap USB cooling fan for the back of the Wii. I wasn't sure if it actually works to prevent that type of issue, but if you are on your 3rd Wii and I'm still on my first, it's either luck or it does indeed work. You may want to check that out at an attempt to prolong your Wii's life assuming you still use it often enough to worry about it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by elrous0 ( 869638 ) *

      Yes
      No
      No

      • Curious why you think "No" for the last 2 questions. DS to 3DS transfers are coming, so I see no reason why Wii to Wii2 wouldn't be allowed.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by cdpage ( 1172729 )
      <quote>
      1. Will it support backwards compatibility with the Wii? (I expect it will.)
      2. Will it allow save games to be copied off the Wii onto the new console? (AFAIK, this only applies to games with online components, but some game saves are locked to the console.)
      3. Will it allow Virtual Console and WiiWare purchases to be transferred?</quote>

      1. I had better, or they will see a quick and painful death of the Wii.
      2. interesting request. I'm sure it can be done... though im not sure thats a big de

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by slyrat ( 1143997 )

      3. Will it allow Virtual Console and WiiWare purchases to be transferred?

      That last one is a deal-breaker for me. If you can't copy your existing digital purchases off the Wii onto whatever the next-gen Nintendo console is, forget it.

      This is one thing that Microsoft and Sony do right: all you need to do to use your digital purchases on a new console is log in.

      With Nintendo, you simply can't use them on anything but the original hardware. And if the hardware fails (which has happened to me twice), your only recourse is to ship it back to Nintendo and have them fix it, or lose any downloaded games you may have purchased.

      Well they are already doing this (or soon will be) for transfers from the dsi handheld to the 3ds so I'm sure they are going to be doing something similar for wii -> hd wii (or whatever they call it).

  • Its quite obvious to do, how long they can hold on to standard definition formats ? They had to make a move and they have to make it fast before ps4 and xbox720 chomps away the next gen.

    • Its quite obvious to do, how long they can hold on to standard definition formats ? They had to make a move and they have to make it fast before ps4 and xbox720 chomps away the next gen.

      Just like the Microsoft and Sony sales chomped away at the current generation right? Like when Xbox sold 28 million worldwide by Jan 2009, and Sony had sold 20 million by the same time, and Nintendo had outsold both of them combined Jan 2009? http://www.shacknews.com/article/56613/xbox-360-tops-28-million [shacknews.com] http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2009/090129e.pdf#page=11 [nintendo.co.jp]

      Or how Nintendo has made a profit on every console sold, unlike MS and Sony who some still believe are taking a loss on the console itself and try

      • I could go on, but Nintendo clearly won this generation, and since they made a profit the entire time it has existed, they don't need to continue to squeeze the stones to get those last drops of blood...err....profit out of them, and can happily release a new product to continue to keep the pressure on Microsoft and Sony who have been struggling to make a profit on the current generation systems.

        The problem with the stats you quote is that, while they look at the big picture, they miss the smaller one... an

  • My bet is that this is the first console to really lunge at a complete online storefront pushing casual games.

    In the era of Netflix and Apple's AppStore model of buying games at GameStop needs to officially die. Nintendo is poised to be the first to put online sales above all others because they're the least reliant on third party publishers.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by h4rr4r ( 612664 )

      Which means you won't be able to play the games when they discontinue the service. Great. This is why I like steam but buy real game discs for anything I want to keep.

  • I will be pissed if Nintendo releases anything but a console with power equivalent to the current generation. The last thing I want to do is worry about how I'm going to convert my AC supplied power into whatever new fandangled, "innovative" power Nintendo comes up with.

  • I suppose that this is one unintended benefit of releasing an underpowered console for the current generation.

    Nintendo is releasing a new platform at a point when the 360 and PS3 platforms are starting to stagnate, resorting to parlor tricks like the Kinect and Move to cover up the fact that it's not economically viable to release a new "next generation" platform at this point in time.

    If they handle the new home console the same way they handled the 3DS, many people should be very happy. Backwards compatib

    • Neither the 360 or the PS3 are "stagnating" infact they are now reaching the glorious point in every consoles life where the developers have a firm grasp of how to utilize them, the units have reached high penetration so higher sales are likely and the games are eeking every last ounce of the console out of them.

      See : Shadow of the Colossus, God of War 2 for PS2.
      Nope - the fire is now well and truly burning and if anything, the Wii fad (sorry, my opinion) is now burning out to be "what can we do with this,.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Omestes ( 471991 )

        "what can we do with this,... well toy?" while the proper consoles are catching up fast (sales figures have finally started swinging away hard from Nintendo)

        Part of that might just be plain old saturation. About everyone who wants one has one. Notice how the underdog (the PS3) is picking up more than the rest now? How much of that is because people already have a Wii and a 360 and now are willing to try something new now that the price has dropped and the used console market is almost to the point of "whim purchases"? Pretty much everyone I know has a Wii or 360 in their living room by this point.

        I'm also glad you generalized your opinion to everyone. You

    • Nintendo is releasing a new platform at a point when the 360 and PS3 platforms are starting to stagnate, resorting to parlor tricks like the Kinect and Move to cover up the fact that it's not economically viable to release a new "next generation" platform at this point in time.

      Or, perhaps, maybe, just maybe, the current generation consoles are "good enough" that continued investments would produced diminished returns, since graphics have a hard limit of 1920x1080 (thanks to the high def standard), they can

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Luyseyal ( 3154 )

      Yeah, and if they can make Ocarina of Time for N64 not crap all over itself on my Nintendo-branded SD card, then I'll be happy.

      -l

      /bitter
      //not really
      ///gave up and made room on the console, but it's still irritating as crap.

  • In addition, this console will also support the 3D functionality of the the 3DS. While you are playing, simply have two of your friends lift the flatscreen TV from each side and position it at various angles while you stand stationary.
  • Announcing a new console at this years E3 is all well and good, but announcing that it is coming out in LATE 2012 is giving themselves 1 1/2 years for people NOT to buy a Wii before then, even with the previously rumored $150 price cut. Might also cause some people to hold out on a new Zelda purchase waiting for the HD version (which they should be making).

    • any new zelda would probably get the twilight princes treatment, skip release for the current gen, polish it up a bit, and release early on the next-gen console

    • Announcing a new console at this years E3 is all well and good, but announcing that it is coming out in LATE 2012 is giving themselves 1 1/2 years for people NOT to buy a Wii before then, even with the previously rumored $150 price cut. Might also cause some people to hold out on a new Zelda purchase waiting for the HD version (which they should be making).

      They're not doing anything out of the norm. The bigger concern is they tell their competitors how to update their machines to minimize the impact. (see Rumble Pak.)

  • Nintendo should definitely add some more features to appeal to the older gamers. I grew up with nintendo, love the mario / zelda franchise, and have owned every single one of their consoles. The Wii, while revolutionary for its time for its motion controls, was a bit behind in the graphics / processing department. Thank god it at least had component video outputs but even then it doesn't do justice to those of us who have large HD sets.. However as an aging (30-something) gamer, my tastes have changed.

    • Huh? What in the world does the stress you feel in many common situations have to do with gore, foul language, or sex. Those things might make "mature" content,but they have nothing to do with adult content. Usually I hear this argument from 17 year olds...

  • I thought that was the Wii...
  • When Wii 3 to come out, then I can make jokes about being the third wheel. "I wanna play the Wii." "Mii too." "Mii three."

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