Next Gen Nintendo Console Reveal?

Oh the smell of rumors is in the air! E3 is just around the corner I love it!

I think there is a chance we see Wii 2 this year at E3, with the price drop of the Wii in America and rumors all over the net, something must be stirring.

UPDATE: CVG reports brand new controller with built-in HD screen.

DO NOT LIKE! This means controllers are going to be going for round the same price as the current Wii motes, not cool.

I agree mostly with Martin has been saying, the Wii 2 will definitely be more powerful than the current HD consoles, but how much more powerful I don't know. If I had to take a guess I would it will be twice as powerful (if not fours times more powerful) than the current 360, we have to take into consideration that the technology in 360's is about seven years old at this stage.

Both the Kinect and PS Move are supposed to prolong the life of each console respectively, the Wii has nothing. There's no doubt in my mind that Nintendo will be the first to bite the bullet and announce the launch of a new home console. I'm also sure Microsoft won't be too far behind them, they know if Nintendo gets the heads up on them that they will be fighting a losing battle, I'm predicting the Wii 2 to dominate the market. Sony will stick their head in the sand and hold onto their PS3 for as long as they can it will be their undoing.

I'm really hoping that Nintendo clean up their home consoles online functionally though, it's a fucking mess.

God, why is the internet so full of idiots so convinced they are right. It's like if you speak with a cynically authoritative tone everyone in the forum will think you're a god.

KingDom posting here first time in years nearly posted a few times before in rage but decided not to get involved.

512MB of ram is an insane amount for a console. You're wrong.

PCs have always MASSIVELY outclassed consoles in terms of raw power. Whats amazing about this generation is not the decline of the PC but the huge jump Xbox and PS3 took. The Gamecube had, what, 36MB of ram or something? The whole point is that PCs are shit because the idea of writing an OS for a billion different configurations of hardware is a tall order. A PC is like a country crippled by civil war a console is like a streamlined well trained army.

The amazing thing about this generation is that sony and microsoft built armys as big as a country. So yes graphics has kind of stagnated on consoles because they spectacularly blew away the PC sector. Please don't tell me 3ghtz or whatever on a console isn't spectacular the original xbox had what 700MHz.

Lots of idiots think the FPSs that migrated and stagnated on consoles are good and that graphics matter. Those people are retards.

If you compare the stats of the previous generations consoles to the PCs of the day.

Look I can't be bothered to fucking explain. Martin you're fucking wrong. 512MB is insane. The OS is costing it nothing compared to windows

0.1:2000000 seriously no exaggeration.

I'm crying here, really, I've been crying for 5 years. Why? Why do people throw their money at these shit HD games? How are they so convinced they are right. Why is all the money going into these consoles, why are people so fucking dogmatic and easily swayed (I know oxymoronic right?). Idiots. Don't you see, the games are exactly the same as they were 10 years ago. Nintendo are seemingly the only company that see the link between quality and profit. Thats almost fucking communist what an amazingly ethical and well intentioned company all the others are american and have no problem with ripping you off.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

PCs are shit and you're a knob. Also disgusting way to talk about a woman. Not funny.

Lol, KingDom, you really don't know what you're talking about, yes Windows take up more memory than the console OS', but my graphics card alone has more memory than the 360, PS3 and Wii's combined, not to mention it's a heck of a lot faster, if that was used to it's full potential, PS3 games would really look crap compared to PC games, it's just that developers aren't developing those graphically enhanced games, because that's not where the market is. And my PC's got an i5(quad core) with 4GB of RAM, it's no where near top spec (it's about mid-range) and it can churn out Crysis in 1080p with everything on full everyday with ease.

And that's how far behind consoles are, it's not about the GHz, it's about the architecture, that's how Computer tech advances, as well as the software to go with it.

Even if Nintendo made their console to the spec of a Basic PC it would outmatch the 360 and maybe the PS3(which is bottlenecked by its GPU).

EDIT: Almost exact copy of my post above, for some reason it was taking very long for the site to process my post.

I posted a comment but for some reason it disappeared? Anyway. I agree mostly with what Martin has been saying. Wii 2 will be at the very least twice as powerful as the 360 if not four times more powerful, I'm reckoning Microsoft and Sony next iteration of consoles will be 4 times more powerful than their current consoles. Nintendo doesn't even need a "Next Gen" console as such, all they need is to get their next home console out quicker than their competitors and a major hardware boost. This console will be going toe to toe with the 360/PS3 and very early days of other 8th gen home consoles, giving the Wii 2 a major lead already. I'm sure though when Nintendo bites the bullet and announces their next console, Microsoft won't be very far behind. They won't allow Nintendo such a lead.

We will be hearing about the Wii 2 this E3 but I don't think we'll see it, well not all of it anyway. Next E3 we will be playing demos while Microsoft will have announced it's next console by then. I'd say Sony will stick their heads in the sand (as usual) and keep rolling with their PS3 for at least another half a year.

Lets just hope Nintendo cleans up the online functions of it's home console this time round...

we'll hear about the release of the Vitality Sensor this year.

You can't be serious, that has DOA written all over it. lol



( Edited 16.04.2011 14:49 by Birdo Is A Tranny )

At Birdo: Nah, your post is there, but something's messing up somewhere. I can't access the second page of comments without manually typing 2 in the url.

It's a shame I don't know or give much of a crap about in-depth specs of consoles/PCs. All I'm bothered about with Nint's next console is hi-qual games that look the part (I miss the days of the GameCube where I was left open-mouthed at Star Fox Adventures, a first-year game), a damn good online infrastructure that really connects us worldwide through all sorts of leaderboards, matches, voicechat, etc, a kick up the arse with the virtual console (why not just release all first party games for every Nintendo console, including GB, GBA, at affordable prices?), and of course other crap that sets the system apart from the others (they'll surely need something else to attract people).

Back when it was all about the Revolution, I was your typical Nintendo fanboy, sticking by them, and going along with their 'gameplay over graphics' approach. It's obviously still true to an extent, but now that I've experienced the PS3, and online gaming, I felt unfortunate that I wasn't playing 30-player online races in F-Zero, or shooting down Slippy in an online Star Fox dogfight. Mario Kart Wii is about the only game I play online on Wii, and the one thing lacking there is voicechat.

I really want Nintendo's next machine to swing me back over. I've still got faith in them, but I just hope they can show it.

( Edited 15.04.2011 14:12 by Azuardo )

God, why is the internet so full of idiots so convinced they are right.

..Its ironic that you say this before your rant.

Look I can't be bothered to fucking explain. Martin you're fucking wrong. 512MB is insane. The OS is costing it nothing compared to windows

Sure, 512 MB totally dedicated to gaming is a decent sum. My friend just put 8 GB in his machine, and he has a graphics card with 2 GB dedicated to it. You really want to convince me that the 512 MB in the current gen systems is going to outclass him?

In this case, Martin is totally right. 512 MB really isn't much these days. I believe there are cell phones being released with that amount now.

Nintendo are seemingly the only company that see the link between quality and profit.

More irony...quality as in software? Nintendo's first party titles have been solid for the Wii, but if you want decent 3rd party games, you've had to for the most part look to the other systems.

A PC is like a country crippled by civil war a console is like a streamlined well trained army

I don't think there's a single person on this forum who doesn't understand that consoles are good at what they do because they're optimized for the job.

However, in the last five or six years serious advances have been made in hardware. PC's now far outclass consoles, if only there was a market and a company willing to take advantage of the new hardware.

PCs are shit and you're a knob.

Are you just trolling? I think that's probably the case.

I think you're kind of missing Martin's point. He's not saying that the consoles weren't a massive leap for the time, or that they weren't once very powerful "armies". Just that time is catching up, and what was once very impressive is now a bit old.

If Nintendo don't make it a priority to
make sure their system a similar level to what ever Microsoft and Sony will be working with for the next five years than they might as well give up now. Having said that, it didn't really help the Gamecube that much.

I'm over the moon they want to recapture their hardcore audience though - I'm not going to pretend that a full blown Zelda and Mario running on a system more or as powerful as the PS3 is a pant-kissing prospect. Also a HD screen in the controller would be very cool - Especially if it's a touch screen.

Jim Reilly, IGN:

Dual analog sticks on the controller. Can stream game content from the console. Not sure if it'll be full games, mini-games, or apps.

And...

There will be first and third party "Wii 2" games at E3. No clue if they'll be playable.

Surely they wouldn't be spouting out all this 'info' if it was bullshit, right?

Keep saying the same rumour long enough eventualy it might be true.
Come on - we have been hearing it since the wii launched and its all bloody obvious.

That said - I dont see any bump in horsepower by *any* games company going to make stuff look "significantly" better then ps3/360 stuff. Games developers are going broke as it is with the current gen, you cant push even more detailed graphics from them - budgets wont allow it. (and it wont be that noticable onscreen either).
We need to switch software more then hardware - more procedral textures for one thing (smaller space, infinite res, much more reusable).

" I meant we need a control setup in the box that supports traditional games as well as motion games. "

Sure, just add a second analogue stick and the current wiimote/nunchuck can do exactly that.
No need for another controller.


( Edited 15.04.2011 19:47 by Darkflame )

It's time for a new Nintendo system. The Wii has tailed off significantly, and there's probably not really any 'saving' it at this point. It's not dead in terms of sales, things have just levelled out to more normal levels after the insanity of a few years back, but the technology is definitely looking dated (though I still think certain Wii games look fantastic despite everything - good art styles have saved plenty of titles). Not convinced we'll see a full reveal at E3, maybe a teaser, but we'll see. If we see it at E3 properly, early 2012 release; if not, then late 2012. Likely will give them a year’s head start before Microsoft and Sony join in; they’ll be wanting to get more out of Kinect and Move.

Pulling together everything we've heard, I've come to some (reasonably sane) conclusions about what I think 'Nintendo 6' is. No mental technology, just existing technology refined to their purposes. Doubt it's going to be called 'Wii 2'. I do think that it's going to retain the Wii Remote style for the controller, pointer et al, and I reckon it'll be a PS3.5 in terms of power - a decent leap that will probably leave 'N6' in the same situation as PS2 last generation. Can't see Microsoft and Sony wanting a mega leap forward after their strategy was stomped over by an under-powered Wii.

I think it's doubtful that the Vitality Sensor will come to Wii, and I'll be a bit disappointed if it does. The concept of using heart rates, etc., has plenty of potential - games adjusting difficulty according to how stressed you're getting, for example; I'm sure creative sorts could come up with some interesting uses - and to see it used on one game, the mentioned 'Wii Relax', would be a waste. Instead, I imagine the 'Vitality Sensor' is actually a part of the new controller. Could be built into the casing itself, data read off fingers, similar to gym equipment, or perhaps on the wrist strap.

That's where I believe the screen comes in - it displays the heart rate information. I think it'll be a pretty small screen that is meant to be tapped to flick between different statistic screens - some game-related, some 'health'-related. Probably some cool use that I’ve not thought of related to gameplay.

We had a rumour of a projector in the Wii successor, and recently the patent of Wii Light was discovered. I guess that the rumour originates from the same source and Nintendo will be using technology similar to Philips' Ambilight in an enhanced sensor bar, 'projecting' colours to increase immersion. May mean that the way the pointer works has to be altered.

Motion control will inevitably be improved, though how they do that I'm not sure. Probably won’t use a camera, it’d be too easy to copy Sony and Microsoft. Nunchuk goes wireless as standard. What I'd really like to see is haptic feedback, where the controllers actually resist you properly, pushing back with rotating motors like those exercise gyro-balls if you swipe forward, rather than just rumbling, but then again I wanted that with Wii and I didn't get it then either. It's the natural evolution for force feedback.

I can also see it being able to connect to 3DS, maybe even borrowing its StreetPass data.

Nintendo's strategy this time will be extremely interesting, and I don't think it's too much of a stretch to think that they will be wanting to make a stride towards the hardcore market. Their entire move towards casual gaming last time was because they spied an opportunity that nobody was exploiting aside Sony with SingStar, Buzz!, EyeToy. This time round, everybody has moved into that space - the rise of casual games on Facebook, smartphones, iPods was what began to eat away Wii's sales, and Kinect have added to that, with Microsoft now making a firm attempt at the casual space (and to a lesser extent, Sony and Move).

The casual market was the 'blue ocean', but it's now the 'red ocean', where everybody's crammed together competing for the same customers. Nintendo still have authority in the casual space, but if they could keep a hold on that with Wii Fit / whatever other casual titles they can come up with while simultaneously developing hardcore titles, courting third parties with a more powerful system, they could be aiming to shift to somewhere between the two markets.

( Edited 15.04.2011 20:50 by Mason )

I'm always trying to predict what Nintendo will do prior to a new console release, as a matter of fact, a friend and i came to the conclusion the pad/alternate device would have a touchscreen just days ago, it must be true! I'm hoping the new controller is for real, though i believe it wont be the main controller, just a portable device that mimics GBA-GC, DS-Wii connectivity. Maybe they will dub it the new Gameboy where you can view/messege your friends from work/school.
To save canninalising their handheld market, the device wont have interchangeble games but perhaps DLC. Ive been playing Nintendo since game and watch and 'feel' the time is nigh for a new surprise besides 3DS.
Id like to add that the new machine will be very powerful, otherwise why release it at all, wouldnt that be illogical to release a novelty machine when the Wii already exists? Why would they? They already have that going on. If Wii, 360 and Ps3 can co-exist, then why not Wii, 360/ps3 (delete where appropriate) and Wii2? (Currently known as 'Project Cafe'.)

( Edited 15.04.2011 22:18 by Uzi Suicide )

I'm thinking the vitality sensor is going to be incorporated into the controller as well. I think releasing the thing for the Wii now is going to have little impact on the system with very few games able to make use of it; it would be much better off as a feature of the controller for N6 (man, I remember the days I used to call the next Nint machine the N5, before the Revolution was even brought up) and therefore have the advantage of being used by devs right from the start for many games. I'm sure the sensor could have a number of different uses.

Also liking the idea of resisting feedback. My dad got one of these balls that you put in your palm which works your muscles in some way (I forget; only used it once), but I remember it was insanely difficult to push your weight into it; it would force you in other directions. It kinda made you move with the thing. To have this sort of feature combined into your controller in some way would be pretty cool.

I still think that even if these 2 features were announced though, that wouldn't be it. I feel there would have to be something else up their sleeves to set them apart from the others. Even if the console had uber graphics and insane specs... Even if it had the best online infrastructure of all consoles... I still feel that it would't quite be enough for Nintendo. I reckon there's something else they're doing with it that we haven't thought about at all yet.

Agreed. For all my speculation, for all everybody's speculation...I'd be surprised if something wasn't rolled out of the bag that nobody has touched upon.

More from Jim bloody Reilly, IGN:

New Nintendo controller allows players to stream entire games to the device from the console - like a miniature television.

NeoGAF thread on the speculation has said a 6" touch screen controller.

I'm not believing anything anymore. Wish Nintendo could just come out with it now.

Still, it's fun to speculate and chat about this sort of thing. Haven't felt like this in years. Just like the pre-Wii speculation

I usually like to speculate too but I think I've kinda reached a point now where I don't really care anymore. We have practically no idea what Nintendo is going to do after all and some of these rumours are just totally ridiculous. I think I'll just sit back and see, until we actually have a solid basis to speculate about, like a few details announced at E3 or something.

Azuardo said:
I'm thinking the vitality sensor is going to be incorporated into the controller as well. I think releasing the thing for the Wii now is going to have little impact on the system with very few games able to make use of it; it would be much better off as a feature of the controller for N6 (man, I remember the days I used to call the next Nint machine the N5, before the Revolution was even brought up) and therefore have the advantage of being used by devs right from the start for many games. I'm sure the sensor could have a number of different uses.

Also liking the idea of resisting feedback. My dad got one of these balls that you put in your palm which works your muscles in some way (I forget; only used it once), but I remember it was insanely difficult to push your weight into it; it would force you in other directions. It kinda made you move with the thing. To have this sort of feature combined into your controller in some way would be pretty cool.

I still think that even if these 2 features were announced though, that wouldn't be it. I feel there would have to be something else up their sleeves to set them apart from the others. Even if the console had uber graphics and insane specs... Even if it had the best online infrastructure of all consoles... I still feel that it would't quite be enough for Nintendo. I reckon there's something else they're doing with it that we haven't thought about at all yet.

Yeah. I should get it out again and have a play of it. True, it may be a bit much for youngsters, but a slider to change the level of it could fix that.

The vitality sensor would work wonders in Eternal Darkness or Resident Evil. I bet Capcom would jump on it straight away. An Eternal Darkness 2 would be brilliant. Hope it does happen.

Although... what about those that genuinly don't get freaked out in games? I used to shit myself in RE games and Eternal Darkness, so if things get worse in-game the more freaked you are, it'd work on me. But for those that don't... they'd be missing the point of it. Still, that's only horror games. I don't know the ins and outs of what else could be done using the vitality sensor, so I'm sure lots of other interesting things could be done for all types of games.

Azuardo said:
Yeah. I should get it out again and have a play of it. True, it may be a bit much for youngsters, but a slider to change the level of it could fix that.

The vitality sensor would work wonders in Eternal Darkness or Resident Evil. I bet Capcom would jump on it straight away. An Eternal Darkness 2 would be brilliant. Hope it does happen.

Although... what about those that genuinly don't get freaked out in games? I used to shit myself in RE games and Eternal Darkness, so if things get worse in-game the more freaked you are, it'd work on me. But for those that don't... they'd be missing the point of it. Still, that's only horror games. I don't know the ins and outs of what else could be done using the vitality sensor, so I'm sure lots of other interesting things could be done for all types of games.

Haha! Like me you mean! Nerves of steel, though just because you can keep a poker face when you see a beautiful girl, doesnt mean you dont have a heart rate! Hopefully being aware or this interaction will aid the immersion, coupled with some clever Eternal Darkness style coding.
(Damn, i hope they dont put a lie detecter in...)


( Edited 15.04.2011 23:20 by Uzi Suicide )

Fed up yet? Thought so. Here's another pretty big rumour for ya'll.

CVG:

Note: The R700 is the Radeon 4000 HD series. The Xbox 360's GPU is based on the R500 (an upgraded Radeon X1900 variant with some R600 features) for comparison.
[info from Wario64's post at neogaf]

Wii 2 is 'Project Café', says report - tech specs, controller details claimed
Friday 15-Apr-2011 3:01 PM New console to be 'a bit more powerful than 360'

As if you haven't had enough today, the latest Wii 2 rumour report has emerged - and it's a big one, claiming tech specs and controller details for the not-so-secret-anymore Nintendo console.

French site 01net, which previously released the NGP specs long before any official announcement, has backed up widespread claims that Nintendo will reveal its next console at E3 this year.

It's also backed up CVG's scoop that the console's controller will feature a built-in high-resolution screen.

According to the latest report, 'Wii 2' is being internally referred to as 'Project Café', and sports architecture similar to that of the Xbox 360, "but a bit more powerful".

It says the console will include a custom IBM PowerPC CPU with three cores, a GPU from the ATI R700 family with a shader unit at version 4.1, and at least 512Mb of RAM.

This would of course make HD console ports very easy for developers, but 'Project Café' will also include backwards compatibility with both the Wii (including all peripherals) and GameCube games, it's said.

The controller has a six-inch touch screen, a front-facing camera, D-Pad, two bumpers, two triggers and "possibly more," and can allegedly be used as a Wii sensor bar.

Late 2012 is the release date, and another "big surprise" about the console is set to be revealed at E3, the report concludes.

As always consider this a strong rumour for now, but it's a good source indeed.

Azuardo said:
The vitality sensor would work wonders in Eternal Darkness or Resident Evil. I bet Capcom would jump on it straight away. An Eternal Darkness 2 would be brilliant. Hope it does happen.

Nintendo aren't the first to experiment with biometrics. Valve have tested it in L4D2 (obviously not at retail level). Not even sure if they were the first.

Valve have tested this technology with Left 4 Dead 2 multiplayer matches, making each player’s emotional state visible to both team-mates and opponents. Apparently this introduced a whole new tactical dimension as infected players would home in on stressed or frightened survivors- and avoid the angry (or stone-cold) combatants. Just imagine, as a hunter, stalking a player that you know to be frightened and paranoid. It’s an entirely unprecedented level of immersion.

SOURCE.

Azuardo said:
Although... what about those that genuinly don't get freaked out in games? I used to shit myself in RE games and Eternal Darkness, so if things get worse in-game the more freaked you are, it'd work on me. But for those that don't... they'd be missing the point of it.

I'm one of those people. I think the last game that really scared me at all was Aliens Vs Predator (PC, 1999). It could be that I was just 14 years old and very susceptible to being scared. I don't know.

I think it boils down to experience. Strange things that you can't explain will induce fright. Decades of horror films and horror-oriented games have standardized a range of horror clichés that all these products now use.

Because experience leads to understanding, there is no element of actual 'horror' int here for me. Just hilarity. If watching a horror film, I usually spend the whole film wanting the stupid American teens to be killed in the most awful way, rooting for the bad guy/monster.

In gaming, visuals are far, far worse than any film. The characters are not portrayed by real people (besides voices), storylines are typically quite bad in games, and every time something real stupid happens (which is often in computer games), my suspension of disbelief is shattered.

Answer me this - In any Resident Evil game, how come your character does not become infected? They get bitten just like all the other poor ex-humans in Raccoon City, but they do not turn? Now that's fucking stupid. The series doesn't even try to come up with some lame excuse why they don't. They completely gloss over it. Chris Redfield has been in contact with more zombies over the years than an actual zombie has.

Biometry readings from my person would simply read out how bored I am in the context of most of these games. Actually, along with AvP the last game to scare me was Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of The Earth on Xbox 1. A main character that is a simple detective, and remains totally unarmed for the first third of the game.

Because it's first-person, the sense of actually 'being that character' is greater than other horror games. Your character becomes panicky and scared, his vision becomes blurred, you can hear his heart pounding. This game would have been great with biometrics.

Azuardo said:
Still, that's only horror games. I don't know the ins and outs of what else could be done using the vitality sensor, so I'm sure lots of other interesting things could be done for all types of games.

I think the technology is yet to be proven. What if other factors in your playing environment influence the way you feel? For example, a horror game relying on biometrics might be completely ruined if, say, you have your pet cat on your lap whilst you play. Petting your little cat makes you feel happy/contented, thus fucking up the biometric readings. Or you get a text message from a good-looking woman. Etc.

Biometry has it's place, and I'd love to see how it could be used in games. Still, I think not ready yet. It assumes that 100% of your concentration is going into playing the game. That's barely ever the case, for me.

I've definitely had enough of reading all this speculation because anyone can say anything at the moment and report it as news.

I mean, with the 'codename' CVG have thought up, you'd think the next rumour would be that the console can make instant Tea and Coffee, and serve up a full English breakfast to go with it.

That L4D example was great. That's definitely one way to seriously fuck the player up.

I agree Stu, these rumours are getting pretty ridiculous, but I enjoy reading them. Makes for some good ideas about future gaming. Thing is though, nothing I've heard sounds like it won't be too far from the truth. I can see it happening.

I'll continue posting what I find, just for the sake of it and everyone interested

VG247:

The site [from the specs post] also concurs that the controller is a touch tablet, with moderate, sub-HD graphic output with a single-touch 6-inch screen, a front camera which acts as a Wii sensor bar, two d-pads, two bumpers, and possibly more than two triggers.

Edge:

Ubisoft studios have had development kits “for months”, motion-sensing “better than Move”; announcement at E3?

Sources have this morning confirmed reports that Nintendo has a successor to the Wii in the works, telling us that thirdparty studios including those of Ubisoft, Activision and Electronic Arts have had development units of the new hardware for months.

They have also claimed that the system retains motion control, with capabilities that are “better than Move”, meaning that they boast higher fidelity. We do not yet have word on whether or not its motion-controlled solution introduces a camera.

I'm happy about the controller, adding touch, adds more gentile controls that should bring about new gameplay possibilities, particularly in MP gameplay. Alongside more conventional things, such things as menu and pointer controls. I expect the new controller will have a mic also.

There's something else though, something huge we don't know about yet, this consoles real hook, and I can't wait to find out.



( Edited 16.04.2011 10:27 by Squidboy )

Stream "entire" Games to your controller screen:

https://twitter.com/#!/jimreilly/status/58991231140773889

( Edited 16.04.2011 09:27 by Squidboy )

^ Sounds a little bit VMU-inspired