Before I get going, bear in mind that this is not news in any way, shape, or form, it is merely an idea I’ve been throwing around and want to hear what you guys think.
I, as I’m sure many of you other „hardcore“ gamers out there have, have become increasingly frustrated with the Nintendo Wii’s software offerings. Through the continuous flood of casual crap designed with either your 7 year-old sister or your 70 year-old grandmother in mind, those of us who prefer the more traditional videogames have felt left out in the cold. Nintendo continues to insist that it has not forgot about the audience that has essentially got them to the point where they are today, but they have yet, in my opinion, to prove that. Yes, Zelda was outstanding, Metroid is great, and Super Paper Mario was good. After that? Well Mario Strikers was pretty fun I guess...And what do we have to look forward to? Smash Bros., Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart, and...um...that half-assed Resident Evil spin-off? Now some of you (namely those of you with limited funds) will be satisfied with these offerings, and in all honestly they warranted a purchase of a Wii on my behalf, but compared to competitors’ offerings it is rather pathetic.
So what solution could there possibly be? Well, Nintendo has stated several times that the Wii is not meant to be a competitor to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Well, why not make one? There is clearly a demand for one. The Wii seems to have a bit of an identity crisis trying to cater to both the casual and hardcore crowd, but it delivers on neither. So why not create a videogame console for each audience?
One would be designed purely with the casual or “non”-gamer in mind: affordable, minimal specifications, and user-friendly. Nintendo could cram this console with all the Cooking Mamas, Wii Plays, Brain Trainings, and Wii Fits they can possibly fathom. This would be a popular platform for companies to put their money-printing movie-based kids games on as well. This would also be a great place for third-parties to create low-budget titles to make lots of money they can later use to take risks on making new big-budget titles for other consoles. The console would no doubt sell well due to its wide appeal to people of all ages who do not traditionally play videogames.
The second console would be designed as a direct competitor to the technology-oriented competition (i.e. Xbox 360, PS3). It would be considerably more expensive, but would include high definition visuals, hard drive, state-of-the-art graphics, plenty of horsepower, and real online capabilities. It doesn’t have to go back to the traditional controller, in fact it would be better to include a unique gameplay style similar to that of the Wii, albeit on top of the previously listed capabilities. The platform would mainly support those games that the real Nintendo fans crave: Zelda, Metroid, Mario, Fire Emblem, Battalion Wars, Pikmin, (a real) Donkey Kong, Kid Icarus, Smash Bros, F-Zero, Mario Kart, and on and on…all with the hardcore gamer in mind (and hopefully some original hardcore IPs). Here they can also encourage third-parties to create both multi-platform and exclusive content that they are currently hesitant to make for the Wii due to the large young and casual audiences. Silent Hill, Final Fantasy, Devil May Cry, Resident Evil, Sonic, Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell, etc are examples of games well-suited to this type of platform.
Now I know many people will suggest that there is no need for such a concept given the monumental success the Wii has already achieved. However despite the impressive sales, I am more curious to know where consumer satisfaction is at among Wii owners. Personally I can only give the Wii a C- grade due to aforementioned reasons: dozens of third-party duds, too much focus on casual wares, poor technical performance, few AAA titles, etc. There have been an increasing number of reports on the accumulation of dust on the Wii in many homes...
There is no doubt in my mind there would be a market for two Nintendo consoles, with the added numbers from people who never played games before that would buy into the casual console, on top of 150 million plus people who buy the core consoles each generation.
It will probably never happen, but in my opinion it would be a solution to appease the current apathy from the Nintendo fans that own the Wii, while continuing to reach out to new demographics. Nintendo has plenty of money and plenty of talent to make both work. Thoughts?
Not a terrible idea in speculation, But i think in practice it would be a lot more difficult, think about how of there focus on console items would be split in half. i dont know about two separate consoles, but maybe to separate versions of the same console, make one for easy going stuff, and then make an upgraded system with faster processors, HDTV, and all the other things that we harder games want. But also, think about the effect on 3rd party developers, are they going to be so eager to make a game that only half of the Nintendo buyers can buy.
like i said, i actually really like the idea, but i would never see it happening.
GOOD IDEA. BUT YOU HAVE TO RELAIZE THE COST OF SUCH TECHNOLOGY AND TO START UP SUCH A SYSTEM. NINTENDO AT THE MOMENT COULD EASILY DO IT WITHOUT TAKING MUCH OF A HIT DUE TO ITS SALES WITH THE DS AND THE WII, BUT THE RISKS ARE EXCEPTIONALY HIGH
[whao... wasnt looking at the CAPS LOCK]
what if this 2nd home console fails? thats a ton of reasources that have been wasted, developers time wasted due to the new games that this system would need intially at launch, and the money. Nitnendo would be in a bigger hole then they would when the GB Micro was releassed in the US [if it wasnt for JPN sales.. the micro would be a major flop]
hoenstly i would love to see them do it.
Yes, it's a good idea, but when it comes down to it, Nintendo can't beat Sony or Microsoft on horsepower, especially at this late stage. Also would many companies support this console?
Yeah not a bad idea at all, don't see it happening though. Its just to risky for nintendo to undertake, that and I don't know if i'd want a seperate system just for hardcore games cause there is the occasional casual one that i like.
I have to agree with everyone else, brilliant idea it has worked well for microsoft and sony, but for nintendo at this stage when they are struggling to make enough of one console then i think it slightly impossible for them to make two consoles
not only are you asking for two different consoles, but youre asking for a 4th console for developers to make their games. with all the difficulties that some consoles have caused them and the poor support theyre getting from nintendo, do you really think 3rd party devs would really develop games for a new nintendo console that the 360 and PS3 are also capable of? this new console will not survive if all it has are nintendo's first party games.
it's funny that the "hardcore" games you listed that would be in this new console are the ones that would not benefit from a higher fidelity in visuals or audio. not only that, but most of those games are considered, whether you like it or not, kiddy games. i dont think you'll ever see mario bump-mapped up the a' like gears of wars or other similar games. thats like asking disney to redesign mickey mouse.
if youre looking for better graphics, audio, online play and storage, you already have two other options; a PS3 or a 360. i feel that if you owned another console alongside the wii, this wouldnt even be an issue. at the end of the day, it's all about what games you want to play with what functionality. if the wii's not cutting it, dont whine about what the wii should have had and then just sit there and wait/hope that their next console has what you want. while you loyalists continue to play SSBB 3 years down the line, the rest of the gaming community would have played hundreds of other/better games. if you dont like the direction nintendo's heading, it's easy... stop supporting them.
Couldn't of said it any better.
The reason why I bought my 360 is because Wii wasn't satisfying me enough. Maybe because of its lack of amazing games and online modes etc. But my Wii isn't going anywhere. Smash and Galaxy are keeping it where my Wii is.
one company + two consoles = bad idea.
sorry greaserlee, u said that well but i have to disagree with you on a number of points, first for the 3rd party dev's. the whole point of a second system is that they would make a game for one system instead of the other. so if they wanted to make a new Gears for example that was gonna be available across all platforms, they wouldnt make one for the wii and the new system, they would pick which on they were gonna make it for and stick with that.
As far as wanting better things like "graphics, audio, online play and storage" what if i dont want to go to those other sources. i like the game style of the wii, i like nintendo as a whole, maybe im just not quite satisfied with the current bunch, doesnt mean that i should turn to a whole new product from a different manufacturer. sorry, im not trying to pick a fight, and as much as i am defending the other posts, im not saying that this seems like a real possibility, i just dont think its unreasonable for us to have ideas about what we would like out of the current crop from Nintendo.
oh and nobody is whining, were just stating a cool idea. the guy started out by saying this is purely his idea and not a news piece or anything of the sort.
not only are you asking for two different consoles, but youre asking for a 4th console for developers to make their games. with all the difficulties that some consoles have caused them and the poor support theyre getting from nintendo, do you really think 3rd party devs would really develop games for a new nintendo console that the 360 and PS3 are also capable of? this new console will not survive if all it has are nintendo's first party games.
it's funny that the "hardcore" games you listed that would be in this new console are the ones that would not benefit from a higher fidelity in visuals or audio. not only that, but most of those games are considered, whether you like it or not, kiddy games. i dont think you'll ever see mario bump-mapped up the a' like gears of wars or other similar games. thats like asking disney to redesign mickey mouse.
if youre looking for better graphics, audio, online play and storage, you already have two other options; a PS3 or a 360. i feel that if you owned another console alongside the wii, this wouldnt even be an issue. at the end of the day, it's all about what games you want to play with what functionality. if the wii's not cutting it, dont whine about what the wii should have had and then just sit there and wait/hope that their next console has what you want. while you loyalists continue to play SSBB 3 years down the line, the rest of the gaming community would have played hundreds of other/better games. if you dont like the direction nintendo's heading, it's easy... stop supporting them.
First of all I do own an Xbox 360 for that exact reason. But my point is, why should I?
On your first point about no third-party support I disagree. The industry is going increasingly multi-platform and if there is a decent installed base of gamers on the theoretical hardcore Nintendo console there is no reason why they wouldn't create a third version of the game like we saw with many titles in the last generation.
You're second argument makes absolutely zero sense. Those games wouldn't benefit from high-tec capabilities? Clearly you haven't played any of them. Who wouldn't want a Metroid with visuals comparable to Gears of War? Or a Zelda with environments as beautiful as Heavenly Sword? How about 16 or 32 player online F-Zero and Mario Kart complete with voice chat, rankings, and all the other online goodies the Wii doesn't have? How could you argue with a high-def Smash Bros.? Maybe a Donkey Kong platformer with as lush visuals as Ratchet & Clank. I could go on and on...
If you don't like the idea fine but at least come up with a reasonable argument as to why its a bad idea.
And a at least a 30 player online F-Zero is possible since that's the number of racers in the single player mode in previous game and they could add new racers so it could be 32. MoH: 2 is 32 why not F-Zero.
it's funny that the "hardcore" games you listed that would be in this new console are the ones that would not benefit from a higher fidelity in visuals or audio. not only that, but most of those games are considered, whether you like it or not, kiddy games. i dont think you'll ever see mario bump-mapped up the a' like gears of wars or other similar games. thats like asking disney to redesign mickey mouse.
if youre looking for better graphics, audio, online play and storage, you already have two other options; a PS3 or a 360. i feel that if you owned another console alongside the wii, this wouldnt even be an issue. at the end of the day, it's all about what games you want to play with what functionality. if the wii's not cutting it, dont whine about what the wii should have had and then just sit there and wait/hope that their next console has what you want. while you loyalists continue to play SSBB 3 years down the line, the rest of the gaming community would have played hundreds of other/better games. if you dont like the direction nintendo's heading, it's easy... stop supporting them.
Most if not all of the Nintendo franchises could benefit from a higher quality graphics and audio. Just because they aren't in a realistic setting or characters doesn't mean anything. Look at Rachet & Clank Future, basically the same thing and it looks amazing.
I don't consider Zelda, Mario, Metroid, DK, Kid Icarus, F-Zero kiddy games. They are franchises that have been able to reinvent themselves over over again with new challenges and innovations far beyond what some kid can comprehend. Especially since F-Zero is has a significantly higher difficultly level than Mario Kart could ever hope to have. Mario Kart is for everyone and who doesn't enjoy a good Mario Kart game, it doesn't matter what kind of gamer you are.
As for graphics Wii is capable of quality graphics. It may not be up to PS3/360 standards but they're still quality. Look @ MP3, SMG, MoH: Heroes 2, SSBB, Zack & Wiki (even if it's cel-shaded). Developers have just been lazy and now they're starting to improve.
First of all I do own an Xbox 360 for that exact reason. But my point is, why should I?
On your first point about no third-party support I disagree. The industry is going increasingly multi-platform and if there is a decent installed base of gamers on the theoretical hardcore Nintendo console there is no reason why they wouldn't create a third version of the game like we saw with many titles in the last generation.
You're second argument makes absolutely zero sense. Those games wouldn't benefit from high-tec capabilities? Clearly you haven't played any of them. Who wouldn't want a Metroid with visuals comparable to Gears of War? Or a Zelda with environments as beautiful as Heavenly Sword? How about 16 or 32 player online F-Zero and Mario Kart complete with voice chat, rankings, and all the other online goodies the Wii doesn't have? How could you argue with a high-def Smash Bros.? Maybe a Donkey Kong platformer with as lush visuals as Ratchet & Clank. I could go on and on...
If you don't like the idea fine but at least come up with a reasonable argument as to why its a bad idea.
^ ^ ^ ^
I like Him!!
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lol
Silent Hill, Final Fantasy, Devil May Cry, Resident Evil, Sonic, Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell, etc are examples of games well-suited to this type of platform.
I like how you snuck Sonic into that list.
Nintendo's making an assload of money pumping out shovelware to old people and babies, why would they bother giving something back to the hardcore gamers who made them what they are today? Aside from the occasional Mario or Metroid of course!
sorry greaserlee, u said that well but i have to disagree with you on a number of points, first for the 3rd party dev's. the whole point of a second system is that they would make a game for one system instead of the other. so if they wanted to make a new Gears for example that was gonna be available across all platforms, they wouldnt make one for the wii and the new system, they would pick which on they were gonna make it for and stick with that.
ok, let's see. the wii's install base is already huge. why would developers want to create a game on this new nintendo console that would assumingly be on par with the other two and no install base? what's the incentive?
As far as wanting better things like "graphics, audio, online play and storage" what if i dont want to go to those other sources. i like the game style of the wii, i like nintendo as a whole, maybe im just not quite satisfied with the current bunch, doesnt mean that i should turn to a whole new product from a different manufacturer. sorry, im not trying to pick a fight, and as much as i am defending the other posts, im not saying that this seems like a real possibility, i just dont think its unreasonable for us to have ideas about what we would like out of the current crop from Nintendo.
oh and nobody is whining, were just stating a cool idea. the guy started out by saying this is purely his idea and not a news piece or anything of the sort.
First of all I do own an Xbox 360 for that exact reason. But my point is, why should I?
if you dont want to play on another console, then youre pretty much stuck with whatever nintendo gives you. nintendo could have easily created a wii with all the functionality that the other 2 consoles have. they should have seen the success of the xbox's built-in HDD, and the online gaming as a precursor to what gamers and developers were looking for in the next-generation of consoles. they went the other way and decided to focus on mini-games that take advantage of their new controller. nintendo always does that; they create the controller/hardware first and then create games around it.
gluegun, why should i have to buy a wii if i want wii functionality on my 360 or PS3? (side note: i dont, i'm just showing you the other side of the coin) why cant i use a PS3 controller on my 360? does that make any sense? of course not. so why is it that you want a 360 or PS3 shoehorned into a wii? it's odd for a ninty fanboy to ask for better graphics and audio when "it's always been about the gameplay."
On your first point about no third-party support I disagree. The industry is going increasingly multi-platform and if there is a decent installed base of gamers on the theoretical hardcore Nintendo console there is no reason why they wouldn't create a third version of the game like we saw with many titles in the last generation.
the R&D to learn this new console versus the months and years they already have on the current gen consoles is one reason. look at the latency of game released on the PS3 and 360. so lets assume that a game is made for all three consoles. the 360 and PC versions come out. the PS3 comes out 2 weeks later, and the hardcore wii versions comes out another 2 weeks after the PS3 version. if you already own a 360, why would you wait a month to play this game that plays identical on all platforms? that is, assuming this game is a must-have AAA title.
sorry, but i dont see this theoretical hardcore wii begin successful or supported by other developers. not while nintendo is still making wiis.
i think is a good idea....but its too late now....the only way i would have seen this working was if it would have been released at the same time the Wii was....so the "hardcore" gamers would have had a choice....releasing this console now would only make a lot of hardcore gaming Wii owners mad...
I dont think a lot of wii owners would be mad, i would bet that most hardcore Nintendo fans would probably buy the wii and this imaginary device.
ok, let's see. the wii's install base is already huge. why would developers want to create a game on this new nintendo console that would assumingly be on par with the other two and no install base? what's the incentive?
i still disagree, 3rd party Developers would choose this other devise instead of the Wii. and what insentive would there be? if Nintendo made a hardcore gaming machine, people would buy it, and then they would buy games for getting that system. its not like these 3rd party companies would be making the same game for 2 Nintendo systems, they would just be shifting there focus.
if you dont want to play on another console, then youre pretty much stuck with whatever nintendo gives you.
why should i have to buy a wii if i want wii functionality on my 360 or PS3?
all were doing is stating a few things that we would like to see in the wii or in some other Nintendo item. is it going to happen, most likely not. but, what the heck does it harm for us to say what we would enjoy? isnt that the point of this forum? or maybe we should all just agree on whatever is already there, even if we have other wishes? i also didnt say i dont want another system. i plan on buying a 360 in the near future, mainly because of halo and how good of an online setup it has, now is it a crime for me to say that i wish nintendo had as good as an online setup? or should i just never say anything about it again sense were obviously stuck without it?
and sense i feel like this is borderline ranting, my last point is this...
so lets assume that a game is made for all three consoles. the 360 and PC versions come out. the PS3 comes out 2 weeks later, and the hardcore wii versions comes out another 2 weeks after the PS3 version. if you already own a 360, why would you wait a month to play this game that plays identical on all platforms?
i could think of lots of reasons to wait, maybe i dont own one of these other consoles, maybe i like how the game looks on the wii more (i know even i laugh at that) maybe i like using the wiimote more then a normal controller, maybe its cheaper on the wii (like most of the games are) maybe im just a fan boy and just want to support Nintendo rather then stupid ugly Microsoft.
on a more complementary note though, i do have to commend gluegun for making such an interesting topic. lol and sorry for making this so long.
it's odd for a ninty fanboy to ask for better graphics and audio when "it's always been about the gameplay."
First of all, I resent being called a fanboy so don't do it again. Let me put it simply: I want Nintendo games to look as good as they possibly can, and play as good as they possibly can. Many people do. The Wii has not delivered on either. It's disappointing. So I am suggesting a remedy.
Tell me since you're the resident Xbox fanboy, would you not be more than a little disappointed if in the next generation Nintendo and Sony took a big technological step while Microsoft decided not toand you, having enjoyed the Xbox brand for many years, are forced to play a Gears of War or a Halo 3 or whatever it is that floats your boat that looks ugly and dated in comparison?
PS. The idea does not necessarily pertain to this generation, but to any future generation. I was just using this gen as an example.
I think it would be cool if u could go to future shop or e.b. and get an hd super processor speed increase of an upgrade for like 100+$ i would buy it u?
yay 100 th post!
It's not a bad idea but I think Nintendo should just pull their finger out and bring us some good hardcore games on the Wii, it would be much easier than making an entirely new console.