Rumor: Nintendo Set to reveal HD Wii at E3

[Angrist]

I thought the controller screen was an awesome idea back when it was rumored for the GameCube. Now I'm not too sure. It's just too expensive and I don't see it work for too many things...

[BreakABone]

Originally Posted by Ginkasa

I don't generally like the term either, but its the one that fits best. Besides, I wasn't really thinking about people who casually play Halo or CoD or whatever. I was thinking more of the people that didn't previously play games until the Wii allowed them to bowl with their TV. The types of people who allowed the Wii to outsell the PS3 and 360 throughout most of its career.

See, I don't get this...

"No no, not gonna talk about the casual players who only pick up a yearly CoD or Madden or who made GTA into a mega franchise or turned FF 7 into a hit.

Only the ones who like to waggle their controllers*

"Casual" gamers are who drive the industry. They always have been. Perhaps, their faces have changed from generation to generation, but without them... you'll end up in a much more dire place with the gaming industry.

[Vampyr]

I think the problem for the Wii this generation was that a lot of the games only catered to the casual crowd.

Games like Call of Duty, Madden, Halo, etc, do get bought and played by a large population of casual gamers, but they are also loved and bought by the non-casual gamers too.

Sure, the Wii has titles like that - Super Mario Galaxy, New Super Mario Bros...but a vast, vast majority are games that only get bought by the casual crowd.

[Ginkasa]

Originally Posted by BreakABone

See, I don't get this...

"No no, not gonna talk about the casual players who only pick up a yearly CoD or Madden or who made GTA into a mega franchise or turned FF 7 into a hit.

Only the ones who like to waggle their controllers*

"Casual" gamers are who drive the industry. They always have been. Perhaps, their faces have changed from generation to generation, but without them... you'll end up in a much more dire place with the gaming industry.

I think you're misrepresenting what I'm trying to say.

1) You can't really group gamers (or any large population of people) into easily defined, separate groups. Neither the term "casual" nor the term "hardcore" are going to work for every single gamer. It all depends on whose outlook you're using.

2) With that said, I was using the term "casual" to not necessarily mean people who pick up a CoD or Madden once a year, no. I was referring more to people like, say, my mom who hadn't touched a video game since Super Mario World until the Wii came out. Then she was all for Wii Fit and such. Or all those elderly people who got news stories about how they were bowling with their grandchildren. People like that. Yes, there are other types of gamers that could also be termed casual, but I wasn't referring to them. Maybe I should have used another term, but I don't think I'm unable to talk about smaller group of gamers than "anyone who has ever bought a Madden."

3) In either case, I don't hate nor am I against casual gamers in any way. I am fully aware that "casual" gamers make the vast majority of the market. I don't mind companies making products with the "casual" gamer in mind. My point was just that group of casual gamers (the elderly, the "new" gamers, etc.) that made Nintendo so successful this generation won't necessarily follow it to the next generation just because. They have what they want with the Wii, they won't upgrade just because its new. So, it makes sense for Nintendo to try to win back the "hardcore" market along with the section of the "casual" market that buys CoD and Madden every year.


Anyway, I think we ultimately agree on the main point that motion controls are cool, but only for certain games that can use them effectively. Otherwise they feel tacked on and superfluous. I am all for a primarily traditional console with the occasional game with motion controls.

[BreakABone]

New and exciting rumors

Prototype/mock-up controller



http://www.01net.com/editorial/53199...-le-streaming/

-Tentative release date of June 2012.
-Controller screen resolution of 800x500.
-Can play games, watch movies, and more without turning on the TV by just streaming them to the controllers. Can stream to multiple controllers at once.

[TheSlyMoogle]

http://wii.ign.com/articles/116/1163764p1.html

Actual confirmation. Enjoy.

New controller sounds badass actually.

[Bube]

Damn. I was secretly hoping they wouldn't release a new console so soon. Now I have to buy it

[Bond]

That business memo looks extremely fake ... new console sounds interesting, though.

When is E3 this year?

[BreakABone]

Originally Posted by Bond

That business memo looks extremely fake ... new console sounds interesting, though.

When is E3 this year?

The business memo is from Nintendo's investor's website. http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2011/110425_4e.pdf The Japanese version/pdf

And e3, I want to say is June 7th or so, and MS/Sony presser are on June 6th

[BreakABone]

Some new information/speculation/rumors on the social aspect of Project Cafe

http://www.1up.com/news/nintendo-stream-console

[BreakABone]

Nintendo is acknowledging the lack of 3rd party support on the Wii and the problems that led to it, at least they are learning

Regarding your analysis that cooperation with third-party software developers didn't go as well for Wii as it went for Nintendo DS, there actually are some arguments which attribute the reason to the system’s "performance," but in terms of "performance," Nintendo DS did not overwhelm other devices by its performance. However, it proposed what other devices could not, and that value was recognized, and as a result the software sold well, which is the most important point. Unfortunately, there are very few success stories of third-party software in Japan on Wii. This lowered the motivation of the software developers, and at a time when these software developers should have been running their businesses on the platform with the biggest installed base, this wasn't the reality. On the contrary, in the U.S., several titles sold well. Not only "JUST DANCE," which I introduced today, but for some titles, such as "Guitar Hero," even if the titles were released for multiple platforms, the Wii version sold the most, and in such a situation, the developers did not completely lose motivation for development on Wii. However, Wii is good in some areas but not in others, so especially for games like "Call of Duty," the Wii version sold pretty well, but the unit sales were very different from the versions of other platforms, and I assume that one of the reasons is the issue with the graphical representations which you mentioned before, and also, the consumers who like that kind of game will have other platforms at home as well, which led to this result. Of course, we would like to cooperate with software developers for Wii's successor, and as I am repeatedly saying, I don't believe Nintendo can carry out everything alone. I am saying that we are responsible for building up the market, but I don't think that Nintendo can maintain the market alone; We are aiming for creating a situation where software publishers will be willing to cooperate. As for commenting on such things as the performance, I already stated in the beginning that I would not mention any specific plans. Thank you for your understanding.

[Vampyr]

Nice, I think Nintendo is really being smart about this.

I think they recognize that a lot of the "casuals" who bought the Wii may not go for this next console. They have a Wii, which does what they want it to do (casual party games), and may not see a new console as necessary.

If they play this right they can create a new system that caters more to their original fan base (who they haven't lost, even people like me who feel jaded by the Wii will come running back at the news of a more traditional console that I can play Mario and Zelda on). If they cater to their more traditional fan base for a few years they can generate third party support and sell more software.

[BreakABone]

More rumors... including another name to throw on the fire....

Exclusively for Loading.se, A source close to Nintendo has all the information regarding the company's next home console.

June 7th is the date that everyone has been waiting for. Nintendo unveils their next home console at E3 in Los Angeles. But Loading can already now reveal some of the hottest (and most trustworthy) rumors about the machine. This is all we got to know about Nintendo Feel.

Our source, who has a close connection to the company, speaks about the console in a conversation with us. We choose to deliver the information unedited and untranslated [from Eng to Swe]:

– Nintendo wants to change the way we play – again. The success of Wii was essentially proof that the controller is every bit as important as graphical technology. When Nintendo unveils its next piece of hardware on June 7th, the presentation will be as much about the feel, as the look, of its new games. The revolutionary aspect will once again be found in the controller itself.

After Touch comes Feel
We already know Nintendo is developing a controller with a built-in screen. Since that info got leaked there have been paralels between Apple's iPad and how Nintendo used the GBA as a controller for a few Gamecube-games. But this new "Screen-controller" brings another dimension - Feel. Our source uses the name "Nintendo Feel"

– Haptic technology is a form of tactile feedback used to simulate the experience of touching different objects shown on screen. The player can move their fingertips across a surface and clearly feel the difference between soft, smooth or rugged textures. Electronic companies across the world have been conducting research in this field for years. It’s been rumored that Apple is close to patenting a similar technology, and we’ve seen the Toshiba demonstration of ‘New Sensation UI Solution’, that applies a thin film over a screen in order to achieve a haptic effect. In Nintendo’s case, this is a natural progression of both the Nintendo DS touch screen and the Wii technology.

Hardcore meats Casual
After having recieved the information on Nintendo Feel from our source we have gotten confirmation that the technology exists. Toshiba seems to have shown it to the public and we have had a Novint Falcon in the office for a long time. Novint was one of the first companies to introduce haptic feedback to the gaming world.

According to our source the work for the new console has been going on for a few years, and throughout this whole time the goal has been to create an as direct and easy-to-understand concept as the Wii.

– You have to try Nintendo Feel to really understand. But the idea itself is very easy to sell, no matter if you are aiming for hardcore players or the wider audience that was first introduced to games through DS, Wii or Kinect.

And sure, anyone can suddenly realize the feeling of fur agains the fingertips would do for Nintendogs. You don't have to be unfamiliar to The Legend of Zelda to understand the epicness in drawing patterns in a desert, feeling the breeze from a lake, the burning sensation from lava or realizing the structure of a very old tree.

At the same time, Nintendo Feel is an experience that doesn't want to explain itself in words, but rather tell the player through his hands. Which is probably why Nintendo will bring playable demos to E3, even tho the finished console won't be available until 2012.

All visions in one

Nintendo Feel is on many levels a summary of all the grand visions Nintendo has had during the latest gaming generation. Starting with the Rumble Pack for the Nintendo 64, Nintendo gave the player physical feedback through the controller, and 2006 they started the concept "Touch Generations" to marked the Wii and DS to a whole new audience. If we get to see a "Feel Generations" marketing remains to be seen, but one thing is sure: The new console is an extension of the idea of more intuitive controllmethods.

Also the individual screens revived the "Connectivity" concept launched during the Gamecube/GBA era. A concept that never got the impact Nintendo was hoping for. Our source says:

– Remember Vitality Sensor? It will most likely make a comeback at this year’s E3, though not as a peripheral for Wii, but as a key feature of Nintendo Feel.

And yet another puzzlepiece.

http://loading.se/news.php?pub_id=15144

[Angrist]

Bullocks, fake.

[Vampyr]

This does seem rather fake.

What I expect is a console that lets you use your 3DS as a controller. If you don't own a 3DS, you can also purchase a more simple, scaled down version that just has the screen and buttons (one of these will come with the system).

I see the console games letting you take small "pieces" with you on your 3DS to continue playing with.

I think this sounds like a pretty sweet system...I hope I'm right.