Wii successor officially announced, playable at E3

[adam_grif]

PDF from Nintendo itself.

Over the past week or so rumors have been floating around, with numerous websites reporting information from sources in the industry, who had received development kits.

The story so far.

Summary:

Has a more traditional gamepad style controller with two analogue sticks, facebuttons, triggers etc, the main distinguishing feature being a 6" touchscreen embedded in it. Sources report that you will be able to use this screen instead of a television should you desire, as well as the obvious functionality (map screens on your controller instead of the TV, inventory management etc). Power of they system varies from report to report, some saying "a little better than 360", some saying "significantly better" than it. IGN reports ATi 4000 series derived GPU, which would put it two architecture generations ahead of the 360, but still not cutting edge. Blu-ray support not confirmed, backwards compatibility with Wii (and the ability to use Wii remotes or a revised controller similar to it) is speculated but also unconfirmed.

A french source (that accurately reported the PSP2's specs prior to release and successfully identified this new Nintendo system's codename as "Project Cafe) claimed that this controller mockup was mostly accurate, at least for the WiP devkits they are using:

[Manus Celer Dei]

I like the idea of a Nintendo console that has a PSP for a controller.

[Starglider]

Embedding a screen in the controller was annoying and pointless on the Dreamcast, I expect it to be doubly so on the Wii. It forces you to look away from the screen and refocus just to look at the map/status, trying to use it for control entry forces you to remove your fingers from the main controls and hence fails for any serious game. Plus of course it's inherently less comfortable to hold. Though I'm sure there will be plenty of novelty shovelware that uses it.

[DaveJB]

I'm guessing that's actually the Wii 2's version of the Classic Controller, only this time it's being treated as a main control option rather than an afterthought. It wouldn't be very suitable for motion control games, and I just can't imagine Nintendo dropping the very thing that made the original Wii such a success, so odds are there'll be an updated Wiimote to go with this thing.

[adam_grif]

Embedding a screen in the controller was annoying and pointless on the Dreamcast, I expect it to be doubly so on the Wii. It forces you to look away from the screen and refocus just to look at the map/status, trying to use it for control entry forces you to remove your fingers from the main controls and hence fails for any serious game. Plus of course it's inherently less comfortable to hold. Though I'm sure there will be plenty of novelty shovelware that uses it.

It's expected that many games will use it as an alternative to the TV, so you can play the game with the main video output being the controller instead (so other people can use the TV, or you can play in bed or whatever).

I also question the notion that shifting focus back and forth is unpleasant or difficult; I routinely take my eyes off the screen while gaming to do all sorts of things, looking at objects in the real world, talking to people, checking my phone, looking at a clock, etc. I look straight back at the TV and I'm instantly back into it. The Nintendo DS uses dual screens quite effectively in many games, and the 3DS has this to an even bigger degree since the aspect ratio of the two screens is different and one is in 3D while the other isn't. I still don't experience any discomfort going back and forth between those screens (although I know some people who have problems with 3D generally do dislike it).

In terms of weight, since this is not actually rendering scenes and doing meaningful calculations, just video output and display input, the mass of the controller should be far lower than a tablet or handheld system of comparable size. If you are worried about the bulk of the thing, using a PSP is not really uncomfortable, and the likely inclusion of handles/grips on the controller will improve ergonomics.

I should ask you to at least wait until we have pictures and impressions before judging the concept; you may be pleasantly surprised by how it turns out.

I'm guessing that's actually the Wii 2's version of the Classic Controller, only this time it's being treated as a main control option rather than an afterthought. It wouldn't be very suitable for motion control games, and I just can't imagine Nintendo dropping the very thing that made the original Wii such a success, so odds are there'll be an updated Wiimote to go with this thing.

Yes, some sources claimed that the system has "better motion sensing than move", which would make zero sense if it was a monstrous tablet controller. Shipping the system with one improved Wii remote/nunchuck combo and a tablet controller seems like a pretty good bet for what they're going for here.

P.S. it turns out I was right on the money for the next generation Nintendo system being at E3 this year followed by a 2012 release.

[Sharp-kun]

Hopefully it won't be like the original, which had a very nice new way to interact, then a very lackluster games library thats meant I never play it these days.

They reallly need to make the hardware comparable to other consoles of the same generation if they want the games library to be interesting, otherwise little will get ported to it.

[aieeegrunt]

This means I can have massive lan parties without the headache of all the TV's and other infrastructure BS!

[Magellan]

So when did people start calling this the Nintendo Stream?

[Mr Bean]

It's expected that many games will use it as an alternative to the TV, so you can play the game with the main video output being the controller instead (so other people can use the TV, or you can play in bed or whatever).

Great so I shell out two thousand big ones for the 3D 60 inch LED LCD only to ignore that and play everything on the six in screen in my big ass controller.

I also question the notion that shifting focus back and forth is unpleasant or difficult; I routinely take my eyes off the screen while gaming to do all sorts of things, looking at objects in the real world, talking to people, checking my phone, looking at a clock, etc. I look straight back at the TV and I'm instantly back into it. The Nintendo DS uses dual screens quite effectively in many games, and the 3DS has this to an even bigger degree since the aspect ratio of the two screens is different and one is in 3D while the other isn't. I still don't experience any discomfort going back and forth between those screens (although I know some people who have problems with 3D generally do dislike it).

There's a reason why on screen minimaps are so popular I'd hate to have a blank screen with all my heath and ammo in my lap which I have to look at.
Much like with motion controls it's going to depend almost 100% on how it is implented.
Waggle at screen to open doors is an example of adding it where it does not need as will say swiping on the touch screen to open doors as that means you have to take a thumb off buttons. My only issue is this thing does not look like it's conformable to hold for more than five minutes

I should ask you to at least wait until we have pictures and impressions before judging the concept; you may be pleasantly surprised by how it turns out.

Agreed, I'll hold judgement till I got one in my paws.

P.S. it turns out I was right on the money for the next generation Nintendo system being at E3 this year followed by a 2012 release.

Color me surprised at you being correct.
To me my first impression is this entire thing screams Virtual Boy.

But some might respond people said that about the Wii but look how that turned out!
To which I respond that yes the Wii was a success... but they did also make the Virtual Boy. You never know with Nintendo and I suspect that this is either a massive hop sideways and a tiny step forward OR a new Dreamcast, and when we see the Xbox 3 or PS4 which offers hard drive only with a Steam style game system where it's not just an option to get old games but brand news ones from the PSN network or Xbox live.

Needless to say recent events have demonstrated that Microsoft is the only company who could pull this off at the moment.

[Norade]

Needless to say recent events have demonstrated that Microsoft is the only company who could pull this off at the moment.

While thus far Sony is the only victim I don't really think that it's fair to say that Microsoft or Nintendo couldn't also be hacked if a group were to go at it with the same vigor as Sony has been hit.

[Mr Bean]

Needless to say recent events have demonstrated that Microsoft is the only company who could pull this off at the moment.

While thus far Sony is the only victim I don't really think that it's fair to say that Microsoft or Nintendo couldn't also be hacked if a group were to go at it with the same vigor as Sony has been hit.

Yes but if you had your choice between BP or Shell to dig a well in your back yard who would you pick?
Because Microsoft has literally decades of experience with hackers trying to take their servers down while Nintendo deliberately cripples their online system to try and protect you from pedo's . Microsoft is the only ones who can pull this off because they have the types and number of people required. And they have the money to say screw you Gamestop if Gamestop refuses to stock Xbox 3 games because you don't need the DVD after you buy it.

[Mr Bean]

Remember what I said about the Playstation people being unable to run a cloud style console at this time because no one trusts their internet services?
It's day 19 of no PSN and there's no ETA on when PSN is coming back up.

Tom's Hardware's piece

It’s Monday, May 9, and PSN has been down for 19 days. However, despite the fact that restoration of services was supposed to begin last week, Sony has yet to provide users with any update as to when PSN and Qriocity will be back online.

Zoom

Last Sunday, Sony sent out a press release detailing its plans for bringing the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services back online. The company said it planned to restore services in regional phases and that it expected to begin that process last week. Unfortunately, the company has missed its deadline, and no, it doesn’t have any updated timeframe for users.

However, the company does have some sort of explanation as to why it missed the mark:

"When we held the press conference in Japan last week, based on what we knew, we expected to have the services online within a week,” said Patrick Seybold. "We were unaware of the extent of the attack on Sony Online Entertainment servers, and we are taking this opportunity to conduct further testing of the incredibly complex system."

Seybold, Sony’s senior director of corporate communications and social media, also assured users in no uncertain terms that Sony would not cut corners in getting PSN back online

"As you’ve heard us say, our utmost priorities are the security of the network and ensuring your data is safe. We won’t restore the services until we can test the system’s strength in these respects."

"We will update you with more information as soon as we have it,” he added later in his blog post. "We apologize for the delay and inconvenience of this network outage."

Let me translate that for you from a network engineer's prospective

Patrick Seybold(Translation):We had no disaster recovery plan, we had no backups, we never thought we would face a hacking threat... hell we never even planed for it! We are not restarting the old PSN, we are trying to build a new one from scratch because we are fundamentally boned.. They got everything, cards... numbers... personal info... you likes... if we stored it they got it and we stored everything. We are fucked.

[Shinova]

Well in the same vein I don't trust Microsoft to build a console that won't fail within the first year. More importantly all the exclusives that I'm interested in are with the PS3.

[Lord Relvenous]

Well in the same vein I don't trust Microsoft to build a console that won't fail within the first year. More importantly all the exclusives that I'm interested in are with the PS3.

Xbox and Xbox 360 failed within the first year?

News to me.

[Magellan]

Well in the same vein I don't trust Microsoft to build a console that won't fail within the first year. More importantly all the exclusives that I'm interested in are with the PS3.

Xbox and Xbox 360 failed within the first year?

News to me.

He's referencing the red ring of death. Usually takes about a year for it to come up ... come on man. Think.

[Havok]

Mine took like 3 years, of like, constant play. Not too bad. Also considering I got it fixed for free and have been using it the same way (almost never turning it off) since. I'd say it's nothing to gripe about "OH NO!!! NO VIDEO GAMES FOR THREE WEEKS!!!" Go ride a skateboard for a minute fatty.

any serious game

It's the next fucking Wii, by Nintendo. "Serious game" isn't in their lexicon.

[Skgoa]

This german website has new pictures and a video. http://www.gamersglobal.de/news/36388/e ... endigt-upd

And here is an english language article: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/30 ... e-preview/ The pictures are a little dark, though.

[Mr Bean]

Another forum I frequent posted this up on the new size comparison credit to whoever made this.


Manus Celer Dei PSP as a controller was not far off except a little on the small size. Rumored battery life is three hours for the controller with Nintendo claiming six.

[Zac Naloen]

Colour me completely uninterested in this one,

I've never been into Nintendo's franchises so I have no desire for the first party content, and all the other games will be on the other consoles. But the likes of Onlive and apple have also now revealed TV to Tablet/Computer streaming so it's not like there is even going to be a unique selling point by the time the console is out.

Even more importantly, this reeks of dreamcast. Microsoft or Sony will release a console within two years that totally blows anything this one can do out of the water and Nintendo will be left wondering what went wrong.

The selling point of the Wii was motion controls, no one had those.

The selling point of the WiiU was supposed to be the tablet screens...and well... some of the competition will already have that and it's not like Microsoft or Sony couldn't copy it with the current gen yet alone with their next console.

[Mr Bean]

Interesting fact the Wii-U has a Blueray player in there that's not a blue ray player
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/wii-u-wiiu- ... 11451.html
Hardware websites are waiting to get their hands on the first Wii-U to tear it apart but according to Nintendo the specs on the Optical drive are for a crippled Blue-ray player which won't read Blue-ray movies but can read single layer discs... That's an interesting decision to say the least...

Perhaps Nintendo does not want to do the whole media center console yet so this is a means to avoid that, but I can't image the cost savings per unit is huge not to simply use off the shelf blue-ray players instead of this odd almost a Blue-ray player thing.

[DaveJB]

Even more importantly, this reeks of dreamcast. Microsoft or Sony will release a console within two years that totally blows anything this one can do out of the water and Nintendo will be left wondering what went wrong.

The Atari 2600 and NES were blown out of the water by the ColecoVision and the Master System respectively, and they were still the biggest hits of their console generations. Moreover, the 360 would probably have won this generation if Nintendo hadn't blindsided everyone with the Wii. Getting in first can quite often be an important advantage, and the main reason it didn't work for Sega was because they totally screwed up the Saturn's launch, and that in turn soured a lot of people on the Dreamcast before it even came out.

[Norade]

That and the Dreamcast had little to no copy protection for it's game which meant that most people had more pirated games than real ones...

[Manus Celer Dei]

So when did people start calling this the Nintendo Stream?

Don't be silly, Nintendo would never name their console something idiotic like that.

It'll be called the Nintendo Pii.