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| Is this the new console? |
Note: I shall refer to the console as Stream from this point out.
- Nintendo has confirmed the new console. They are to show a working, playable model at E3 this year.
- The console is expected to ship in 2012 to give developers time to develop games for it.
- The system is to rival Xbox 360 and PS3. How? To get technical and quote IGN's Scott Lowe, "...the system will be based on a revamped version of AMD's R700 GPU architecture, not AMD's Fusion technology as previously believed, which will, as previously reported, out perform the PlayStation 3's NVIDIA 7800GTX-based processor. Like the Xbox 360, the system's CPU will be a custom-built triple-core IBM PowerPC chipset, but the clocking speeds will be faster."
- The system is capable of 1080p output and will support it.
- The controller is to have a more "traditional" design with one minor exception; it will have a touch screen built into the controller that will be capable of streaming the game content from the system to the controller. How it is actually implemented in games will be up to the developers.
- It might be backwards compatible. No idea if this means just Wii or Wii and Gamecube. And if does include the Wii, will we use a Wii remote or a new Stream Wii remote?
And that's what we know in a nutshell. And like I said, I am excited, but at the same time cautious.
See, at this point in time, everyone's sentiments with the Wii is as if the console failed as hard as the Gamecube, even though it did sell around 86.01 million consoles as of March this year.
See, even though the console sold millions, most people that actually bought the console, casual gamers, didn't actually buy games. They were just happy with Wii Sports and maybe Wii Play or Wii Fit. So as a developer, why should you bother if you knew that unless your game had Wii or Mario in the title, it would more than likely not sell. Two main problems spawned from this:
1) A huge lack of high profile games for the system.
2) Shovelware
Since publishers and developers didn't want to invest the time and money into something they wouldn't see a return on, they wouldn't really try to put out quality titles on the system and would just port over the PS2 version or not even bother. And it wasn't for a lack of not trying. You have great games like Zack and Wiki, Tatsunoku Vs. Capcom, Deadley Creatures, The Conduit, Muramasa, Dead Space: Extraction, and others which were exclusive to the system, but never really reached those heights of popularity like they should have. So then you started seeing stuff that pretty much just copied Nintendo like Deca Sports (1,2,3), Game Party (1,2,3), Wacky Sports Racing or just stuff that you can tell they didn't even try with like Ninjabread Man and Anubis II.
So now you have the system saturated with crap titles so people are ignoring it, fewer high profile titles means less people are playing their Wii's, and it is pretty much up to Nintendo to pick up the slack. Nintenod though had two systems to support so you know they couldn't put out a major game every month. And so those nice white Wii's started to look a little gray with the coat of dust they were collecting.
The Stream needs to avoid this. It has to have third party support, or else Nintendo will have the Gamecube situation in its hands again. Plus, I would love to see games like Assassin's Creed and Burnout Paradise on the system.
Also, how about some new franchises? I know everyone loves Zelda, Mario, and Metroid but some of us are actually tired of getting the wooden shield and rescuing the princess. I would love to see a Mature game based on a new franchise, from Nintendo, to release at launch as the killer app along whatever Mario game releases with it. It would show not only to consumers, but to the world how invested Nintendo is to this new console and that it isn't just some Wii HD but a proper next gen console that would cater not only to the casual crowd the Wii has, but the hardcore gamers that bought up Metroid and Zelda on the Gamecube and Wii.
And finally, Nintendo's Achilles Heel, online capabilities. They need not only an online infrastructure that is consumer friendly (NO FRIEND CODES) but is also developer friendly.
I want to have an online ID that isn't asdvcf-qwerq234-124ewtqf234-q32qrdw-2345 and is something more like my Gamertag or PSN ID and covers ALL games.
I want an online store where I can get downloadable content, movies, or games. And have the option of prepaid cards or using my credit card.
I want an overarching online infrastructure like Xbox Live where I can access my friends list and message them from whatever game at whatever time.
I want developers to be allowed to patch their games, offer downloadable content, and give away content instead of charging for it if they like (I'm looking at you M$ blocking my Team Fortress 2 updates).
I want achievements and/or trophies......actually I really don't care about those.
And I want WiiWare NOT TO SUCK.
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