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Wii Entertainment Games

HD Wii By 2011? 245

1Up noticed an interesting post up at WhatTheyPlay which put together some public information with more from private sources suggesting that the next version of the Wii console is planned for 2011. Quoting: "Unlike previous console transitions from Nintendo, the new system will be presented as a true successor to the Wii, and is being dubbed by those that have seen the presentation as 'Wii HD.' There is no indication if this will be its eventual name, but the nature of the transition has been characterized as similar to 'the shift from Game Boy to Game Boy Advance,' where familiar, key elements were left intact while the core hardware was made more powerful. It is expected by all those that we have spoken to on the subject that the new device will retain the Wii name in part."
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HD Wii By 2011?

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  • by Malevolyn ( 776946 ) <signedlongint@gmai[ ]om ['l.c' in gap]> on Wednesday October 01, 2008 @12:14AM (#25214535) Homepage
    The HDii? Hurr hurr.
    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by philspear ( 1142299 )

      As of today, it is now standard operating procedure that the first post gets modded as troll.

      Back on topic, as much as I liked the name "revolution" (the name before "wii"), it's probably a good thing they didn't go with that. It still would have sold the same, they still would have wanted to capitalize on that by keeping the name on their next one, and you can't serialize that. The next revolution? Nintendo super revolution? Second generation revolution?

      My money is on "Evewiione." "Wii" was supposed t

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by ShakaUVM ( 157947 )

        My vote is for the Nintendo "About Fucking Time".

        Seriously, the Wii is only good for party games; the graphics are so ugly that I can't bring myself to buy anything for it that isn't for 4 people.

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by Solra Bizna ( 716281 )

          Personally, I find 480p quite sufficient, and I have a screen almost as big diagonally as I am tall.

          Then again, I play Unreal at 320x240 on a system with a Radeon 9800, on purpose. So, maybe I'm just insane.

          -:sigma.SB

          • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

            by Anonymous Coward
            Maybe there's something wrong with your eyes.
          • "Maybe"? No, you are insane. ;) Unreal is absolutely beautiful at 1280x1024 (the max my monitor can display) on a Radeon 9000, if you overlook the low polygon count.
    • The name for the second Wii?

      Yuu.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Neeth ( 887729 )
      Easy one. The WiiII it will be.
    • by nmg196 ( 184961 )

      They should have called the first one the "Wi". That way the successors would be more easily namable:

      Wi
      Wii
      Wiii
      Wiv
      Wv
      Wvi ...

      • Or they could have used a U for the first one, and a Double-U for the second one. It would go:

        Uii
        Wii
        Wuii
        Wwii

        Actually, on second thought, the Japanese might not want to release a console called the WWII.

  • Dear Nintendo (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Yvan256 ( 722131 ) on Wednesday October 01, 2008 @12:16AM (#25214543) Homepage Journal

    As long as you have good Zelda and Metroid games (even though the last ones have been made by Retro Studios) to go with your new console, I'll buy it.

    • As long as you fail to have turn-based RPGs (like FFVII) that are actually good, Microsoft or Sony will continue to get my money.

      • by skam240 ( 789197 )

        Final Fantasy? Blech. Definitely not anything I'm interested in. Give me a good Bungie RPG over overly linear, menu driven nonsense anyday. Of course that still means I need to be playing non-Nintendo systems. Especially when one considers that the latest Paper Mario was bullshit in regards to satisfying fans of the series. Maybe I've missed something but Nintendo doesn't seem to be a very good place for RPG players right now.

        • The Wii is pretty poor in the good RPG area (though it does have Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn). The DS has quite the selection, though.
      • /me want Fire Emblem and Luminous Arc.

        FF franchise games are too boring. Story is good, visuals are excellent, sound is good - but the game core ... suck. Not terribly - but enough to bore me to not to play them.

    • by aliquis ( 678370 )

      Retro studios is 100% owned by Nintendo.

      • by Yvan256 ( 722131 )

        I was just mentioning that fact to prevent "Retro Studios coded the Metroid Prime games, not Nintendo" replies.

  • Storage? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by TubeSteak ( 669689 ) on Wednesday October 01, 2008 @12:22AM (#25214575) Journal

    Is this version going to come with a hard drive standard?
    I can't imagine their 'next' generation console will get left behind in the console download race.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      From TFA:
      High definition visuals are assured, as is a greater emphasis on digitally distributed and backwardly compatible content, indicating that the new system will feature some form of local storage medium such as a hard drive or large flash memory solution.

    • Re:Storage? (Score:4, Informative)

      by _xeno_ ( 155264 ) on Wednesday October 01, 2008 @01:18AM (#25214863) Homepage Journal

      On that note, it'd be great if Nintendo would fix up their save-game system.

      I mean, seriously, save slots? Still? Sure, it made sense when using carts where there was a limited space tied to the cart. It kinda stopped making sense when you had memory cards and most certainly stopped making sense when the console has built-in storage.

      I'm assuming it's some Nintendo requirement because even third-party games will have a limited number of save slots stored on the Wii. Based on the memory browser, it looks like Wii games are allowed to say "I need this much space for saving" and then get a single chunk of space, which then gets divided into save slots. Which is ridiculous.

      While they're at it, poach the whole user profile thing that Sony has on the PS3. You can create multiple "users" on the console, and each "user" gets their own collection of save games. It's very nice to be able to share a console without worrying about accidentally overwriting someone else's save. I'd imagine the Xbox 360 has something similar (although I don't know).

      'Course, presumably this is possible to do on the Wii, although it might require a firmware update or something...

      • I mean, seriously, save slots? Still? Sure, it made sense when using carts where there was a limited space tied to the cart. It kinda stopped making sense when you had memory cards and most certainly stopped making sense when the console has built-in storage.

        You do realize that Wii games use the built-in storage? The save-slots are for backward compatibility with the GameCube. Nintendo isn't emulating anything there, so it was easier to add a couple slots rather than work out how to intercept GameCube MemCa

      • by Yer Mum ( 570034 )

        Each game can save a block of data of whatever size it wants in internal flash memory (if you look in the memory management screen you can see some use 1 block, some use 4-5-6), but it's up to the game how that is presented to the user.

        E.g. Zelda has 3 slots, Mario Kart has 4 driving licenses, Pop can store about 10 players.

        I suppose it's convention more than a Nintendo requirement.

      • by aliquis ( 678370 )

        "made sense then using carts where there was a limited space tied to the cart"

        "stopped making sense when you had memory cards"

        "stopped making sense when the console has built-in storage"

        Uhm, no?

        Space is still limited. There is a difference in a save which takes a lot of storage vs one which only takes a little. So how is this irrelevant?

        But yeah, I guess they could mention kB, or not mention it at all but then how would you know which kinds of saves takes up all your space? So I'd prefer some size reportation.

        I'm assuming it's some Nintendo requirement because even third-party games will have a limited number of save slots stored on the Wii. Based on the memory browser, it looks like Wii games are allowed to say "I need this much space for saving" and then get a single chunk of space, which then gets divided into save slots. Which is ridiculous.

        Ah, reserved space for the whole title and not for each save does indeed seem retarded.

      • Save slots? What is this 1989? Why is stuff still measured in 'blocks?' Whats a block anyway?

        Seriously, flash memory is dirt cheap. Nintendo just needs to drop 2 or 3 gigs worth and you'll be able to save everything for the life of the console. Let us save these files to a backup SD card and we're golden.

  • Digg (Score:5, Insightful)

    by tsa ( 15680 ) on Wednesday October 01, 2008 @12:32AM (#25214615) Homepage

    Please, this isn't news, speculation can hardly ever be taken serious, and this belongs on Digg, not Slashdot.

  • Wii Too (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01, 2008 @12:49AM (#25214695)

    Wii Too
    Wii Two
    Wii Wii

    But, Given Nintendo's history, it is likely to be called the Super Wii, Ultra Wii, or Wii Advance.

    If Sega were involved, it would be the Mega Wii. :)

    • by deniable ( 76198 )

      Roman numerals:

      Wii II, Wii III...

    • Re:Wii Too (Score:5, Insightful)

      by neokushan ( 932374 ) on Wednesday October 01, 2008 @01:11AM (#25214803)

      Nintendo loves their postfixes, that's for sure, so why isn't it feasible that they wouldn't just call it exactly what it is - the "Wii HD"?
      Anyone who looks at it, even "Casual" gamers, will know exactly what it is thanks to all the marketing both Sony and Microsoft (and to a lesser extent, Toshiba) put into the whole "HD" thing.

      • Nintendo loves their postfixes, that's for sure, so why isn't it feasible that they wouldn't just call it exactly what it is - the "Wii HD"?

        Nintendo likely won't call it the Wii HD for the same reason the Wii isn't called the GameCube Plus, even though that's what it is.

        • What, that the brand power/name of the Wii isn't big or good enough to launch a revolutionary new system?
          Oh, wait...

    • If Nintendo gets some help from 3d realms: Wii Might As Well Forget It.
  • I'd be amazed if in 2011 we didn't see something new from Microsoft and Sony as well. Console lifecycles aren't measured in decades, after all.

    • Tell that to Sony and their self-professed 10 year life cycle for the PS3. I jest but admittedly the PS2 is nearing that age, at least in Japan.
      • I can believe that PS3s will function for 10 years. I have a PSone that still works!

        • by aliquis ( 678370 )

          I have a NES which still works (I belive), that don't mean the NES era is now :D

      • I think the PS3 will become the N64 of this generation. It will sell, but it will get no where near the penetration that the PS2 had. The PS2 basically had the weakest hardware of the last generation and yet has had incredible longevity. Ironically, Sony is saying that because the PS3 has the most powerful hardware it will last for 10 years...even though past experience shows the opposite may be true.
        • by rm999 ( 775449 )

          Up to now, Sony has lost a lot of money on the PS3. If this trend continues, I think there is a chance that the PS3 will be remembered very differently than the N64. Nintendo started making money on the first N64s they sold.

          Also, PS3 needs to find its Goldeneye or Zelda Ocarina - without the games, the console means nothing. While N64 was not the leader of its generation, it was still a success. That is still yet to be true for the PS3.

      • That doesn't mean that the PS4 is coming out in 2016 however. Sony are quite happy to overlap their console releases and have a low-end console that's cheap and cheerful with loads of cheap games, and a high end console with the premium content. PS4 will probably come out in 2011 or 2012.

    • I'd expect it from Microsoft but not Sony.

      PSX - Debuts in 1994 (6 years)
      PS2 - Debuts in 2000 (6 years)
      PS3 - Debuts in 2006 (5 years if the PS4 is released in 2011)

      Xbox - Debuts in 2001 (4 years)
      Xbox 360 - Debuts in 2005 (6 years if the next Xbox is released in 2011).

      I'd say we could expect one from Microsoft. But the only way I see Sony putting out one early is if the PS3 flops. It certainly hasn't yet.

  • While this story seems to be purely speculation, if it is true, that's kinda disappointing. I would home Nintendo at least tries to be innovative, even if it means failing.
    • When you think about it, Nintendo was never really "innovative" in the home-console field before. The SNES was just a more powerful NES by most counts (Hence the name) and the N64 was, yet again, another Cartridge system when everyone else was using optical media, it was just a bit more powerful. Then you have the Gamecube, the only real innovations they made there were the odd pad (That many people loved, but personally I couldn't stand it), the "box" shape with the handle so you could carry the console ar

      • Nintendo was never really "innovative" in the home-console field before. The SNES was just a more powerful NES by most counts (Hence the name)

        Yes, the Super NES CPU (65C816 at 2.68 MHz) was more or less an overclocked NES CPU (6502 at 1.79 MHz) with a 16-bit ALU, roughly on par with the TurboGrafx-16 CPU (65C02 at 7.16 MHz). But unlike all other consoles of that generation, the PPU (video processor) had a display mode that allowed "2.5-D" graphics on a texture-mapped plane. Genesis didn't have mode 7, and neither did Neo Geo; racing games for those had to use either an overhead view like RC Pro-Am and Micro Machines or the same 2D image-warping t

        • I think you missed my point, I wasn't saying that the SNES wasn't powerful (At the time) or anything, I was just saying it wasn't really all that innovative. Sure, Mode7 was cool and some people made great use of it, but it's hardly a system-selling advantage in the market (In the same way that a CD-Player sold the PS1, a DVD player sold the PS2 and a Blu-ray drive is currently selling the PS3, or alternatively, a Hard drive sold the original Xbox and so on).

      • by poot_rootbeer ( 188613 ) on Wednesday October 01, 2008 @09:04AM (#25218023)

        The SNES was just a more powerful NES by most counts

        By most counts, yes, but not by some of the counts that matter the most. The SNES was the first console to have shoulder buttons on the controllers, the first to have the diamond-shaped 4-face-button configuration still found on PlayStations and Xboxen today, the first major home console to use wavetable synthesis for audio and bitmap scaling/rotation for graphics.

        the N64 was, yet again, another Cartridge system when everyone else was using optical media, it was just a bit more powerful

        It also introduced analog controls back to the home console for the first time since the Atari 2600's paddles. (Yes, Atari 5200 and Vectrex had analog joysticks standard issue, but you can count the number of titles that used the analog capabilities on one hand.)

        I'm actually kind of surprised at how little credit for innovation you're willing to give Nintendo. I don't think most gamers see it the same way you do.

  • I don't mind the Wii, but one thing that really bugs me is that it looks like shit on my 46" LCD. I would gladly pay extra to get a Wii that renders the same 3D scenes at 720p.

    It's not totally far out, people upgraded their GameBoy Advance to the SP and their Nintendo DS to the redesign, but I doubt enough people have large HDTVs to make it a viable market before 2011.

    • FWIW, you aren't going to be getting HD on existing Wii games any time soon. The software isn't designed with that kind of forwards compatibility in mind. HD will require HD specific games.

    • by StarWreck ( 695075 ) on Wednesday October 01, 2008 @01:54AM (#25215011) Homepage Journal
      Have you tried buying the upgrade Component cable to get the full 480p out of the Wii? Or are you using the composite cable that came with the Wii? That only lets you get 480i.
      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        I did indeed buy one. The biggest problem I have with the image is the crazy amount of staircasing all over the place. I actually turned it back to 480i because the deinterlacer on my Bravia produces a smoother image overall even if there's less detail (my guess is that it averages the scan fields at a higher resolution). It also eliminates the lame 16bit alpha dithering that some games have.

  • Nintendo has already said they want to go to shorter release cycles. This would put the Wii at four years. I actually expect a new Wii a lot shorter than that.

    Although I do expect a WiiHD is going to be a lot harder sell. They had a lot of hype with the Wii and sold--and still selling--based off of it. But a lot of these Wiis are now sitting around collecting dust waiting for decent games. A couple cult following titles and a few lackluster first part titles. They have been been greeted with a lot of hope,

    • by vux984 ( 928602 ) on Wednesday October 01, 2008 @04:05AM (#25215663)

      Nintendo has already said they want to go to shorter release cycles. This would put the Wii at four years. I actually expect a new Wii a lot shorter than that.

      Beats me.

      Although I do expect a WiiHD is going to be a lot harder sell. They had a lot of hype with the Wii and sold--and still selling--based off of it.

      Right, the Wii is just a fad. Keep telling yourself that.

      But a lot of these Wiis are now sitting around collecting dust waiting for decent games.

      An asinine observation. Its true of EVERY system, and everyone's definition of 'decent games' is different. A lot of PS3 are collecting dust too, and xbox360s too.

      That said, consider the Wii Fit is still a total sell out after moving 2 million units. To me that pretty much blows your theory that everyone is waiting around for something to buy.

      A couple cult following titles and a few lackluster first part titles. They have been been greeted with a lot of hope, and some good reviews from some Nintendo friendly reviewers. But I don't know a lot of people still playing their copies of SMG, MK, or even Brawl.

      Same could be said of any of the franchise games for any of the consoles.

      I just think it's going to be a hard sell the next around of systems, where they are going to have to show some major titles with some real lasting appeal are going to come.

      Like what? Halo 3? Call of Duty? Complete with an achievement system so they can be ranked against 15-year-olds around the world? Yeah, the casuals are going to be lining up to get on that bus. Get real.

      Does anyone really think the "casual" gamers who got on board with Wii Play and Wii Fit are going to go buy another system for Wii Play 2 and Wii Fit 2 when they bought the first ones and it sat in the corner a couple of weeks after they had it?

      If they think it will be fun and entertain them for a while? Yes.

      They don't need to play it 10 hours a week every week to feel they got good value. Even if they pull it out once a month or so for parties or when the grandkids come over, or they play the odd game of tennis, they're happy with their purchase. When the next version comes out, if it has something they want, they'll buy it.

      It really is that simple.

      Finally, if current trends are an indication: if they launched a "Wii 2" today, they'd sell a quarter million a week easily, and that's assuming the 30 million people who already have a Wii DON'T upgrade. They don't even NEED to 'convert' Wii owners, the untapped market is still large enough.

      Of course, they will market to Wii owners as well, and some significant percentage WILL upgrade. A LOT of people are more than satisfied with their purchase. Hell, if they manage to sell a Wii 2 to just half the Wii 1 owners and don't sell a single unit to anyone else, they'll still outsell the PS3.

      • That said, consider the Wii Fit is still a total sell out after moving 2 million units. To me that pretty much blows your theory that everyone is waiting around for something to buy.

        It isn't everyone that's waiting for something to buy. Plenty of people have bought what they want (WiiSports, WiiBowling, WiiFit). Its the gamers who want something to buy beyond Zelda or Mario.

        • by vux984 ( 928602 ) on Wednesday October 01, 2008 @05:59AM (#25216247)

          Its the gamers who want something to buy beyond Zelda or Mario.

          meh, there's lots to play out there. Radiant Dawn, Mercury Meltdown, Zack&Wiki, Metroid3, Godfather, ...

          I dunno, there are easily 20+ games that are more than difficult enough to be a 'gamers' game. And there are several 'casual' titles that are worthy of play too, and then there's plenty to to be had on the Virtual Console/WiiWare. I just can't be that sympathetic; there is plenty of value there.

          And honestly, if you are consuming titles at such a high a rate that the Wii library is 'woefully inadequate', you've already got at least 1 of the other consoles in addition to the Wii, and possibly a DS or PSP to boot.

          If that is you, and you are still complaining about the lack of titles... then your expectations are out of whack, or you are skipping tons of good quality games... probably both.

          • Its the gamers who want something to buy beyond Zelda or Mario.

            meh, there's lots to play out there. Radiant Dawn, Mercury Meltdown, Zack&Wiki, Metroid3, Godfather, ...

            I dunno, there are easily 20+ games that are more than difficult enough to be a 'gamers' game. And there are several 'casual' titles that are worthy of play too, and then there's plenty to to be had on the Virtual Console/WiiWare. I just can't be that sympathetic; there is plenty of value there.

            And honestly, if you are consuming titles at such a high a rate that the Wii library is 'woefully inadequate', you've already got at least 1 of the other consoles in addition to the Wii, and possibly a DS or PSP to boot.

            If that is you, and you are still complaining about the lack of titles... then your expectations are out of whack, or you are skipping tons of good quality games... probably both.

            Yes. Between the Wii and DS, my list of games I want to play is long enough that the WiiHD will come out and I won't have gotten to them all (just as finishing Metroid 2 is still on my list of things to do). There was a 9-month backlog of games while I was struggling to get the console in the first place. I know there are gamers out there who (aren't working on their comps and dissertation) burn through new games in a couple of weeks. But I, and most of the other Wii owners, don't.
            Before I get to any of the

    • Actually Nintendo have said they want longer release cycles. The Wii Remote was originally a GameCube add-on to extend that machine's lifespan to ten years or so. So while this rumour makes some sense, I strongly suspect that any new machine would be a "DS Lite" to the Wii's "DS". Adding extra horsepower to play games in HD modes, and perhaps bundling Motionplus and some non-half-assed storage system wouldn't necessarily break compatability with the old Wii.
  • I love the console but come on.. an xbox can put out 720p. A decent sized television makes the wii look very average.
    • Re:480p Wii Sucks (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Secret Rabbit ( 914973 ) on Wednesday October 01, 2008 @03:24AM (#25215457) Journal

      That resolution is really only necessary if you're going for realistic. And this is exactly where Nintendo isn't. The XBox's and PS's are, but not the Wii. High resolution just isn't necessary for cartoon-y stuff. So, don't criticise them for choosing technology that suits there needs, but doesn't live up to what /you/ *think* they should be doing.

      Btw, I have a 32" LCD HDTV and Metroid looks amazing and Zelda looks good as well (though Zelda is _not_ supposed to look as good as Metroid).

  • by plasmacutter ( 901737 ) on Wednesday October 01, 2008 @03:40AM (#25215537)

    Sorry to say this, but the majority of households still don't have an HDTV.

    Despite the fact most electronics stores carry them exclusively, relatively few can afford to spend circa $1k on one of these things.

    The overall market share is still small.

    Explain to me why anyone should be paying for resolution they won't see until panels drop to the 300 dollar mark some 5+ years from now?

    • Because the $300 LCD panels won't have much quality to them - you will not see S-IPS or even PVA quality, just TN. Failing that, just use it as a monitor if it's not too big, and is 1080p.

    • by tepples ( 727027 )

      Explain to me why anyone should be paying for resolution they won't see until panels drop to the 300 dollar mark some 5+ years from now?

      Unlike existing CRT SDTVs, a new TV can receive VGA and ATSC signals. If you don't buy a new TV, you'll still have to spend over $100 to keep your TV working with new sources:

      • $80 for a VGA-to-composite scan converter, so that you can watch YouTube on a decent size monitor and play multiplayer PC games without buying three more PCs.
      • $50 for an ATSC decoder so that you can get the digital subchannels (such as The CW, weather radar, three more PBS SDTV channels) that your cable TV provider chooses not to offe
      • Unlike existing CRT SDTVs, a new TV can receive VGA and ATSC signals.

        I suspect many people will just buy the ATSC converter or buy a new STDV. I wonder how many people will buy an HDTV before February only because they don't understand the difference between HD and digital?

    • by Eivind ( 15695 )

      About half of all household have atleast one HDTV here.

      About 75% of all households who own a last-generation-console have atleast one HDTV here.

      Okay, so USA is a bit behind due to the lower wages (particular for the lower classes), but I'm sure the majority of US-gamers will have a hdtv inside of a year or two.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by elrous0 ( 869638 ) *
      The majority don't have them NOW. But if Nintendo releases a new console without HD support in 2011 (intending it to last until 2016 at least), it will be a sad joke. It would be like someone pitching a prime time TV show in 1968 and telling the studio "Oh, and we intend to shoot it in black and white for its entire ten-year run, since most people don't have color TV's yet."
    • You don't need a 40" TV to get HDTV -- and you shouldn't need to spend $1000 to get high definition.

      HDTVs here are selling from about $300.

      Of course, we have better broadband access too.

      --
      I am ... [iam.ca]

  • While this is great news for the soccer mums and the zelda fans, I'm disappointed that there isn't any news of Nintendo seeking to compete with Sony and Microsoft in an attempt to get the majority of the gamer market back.

    As a (traditional) RPG fan, the Wii is just a non-competitive console for me, with it only having 4 games I'm interested in:
    * Breath of Fire 2 (port)
    * Phantasy Star II (port)
    * Phantasy Star III (port)
    * Phantasy Star IV (port)

    With all those ports, it just hasn't convinced me.

    Whereas the PS3

    • by elrous0 ( 869638 ) *
      Yeah, but if you're looking for cutesy minigames, the Wii is THE SHIT!!!

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