Oh, pachter...

Not everyone is convinced that a new Wii would even sell all that well if it did hit store shelves in 2011. In an interview with IndustryGamers earlier this year, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said that the chances of the Wii 2 succeeding after a late 2011 launch would be slim. One of the key additions would be HD suppport, which the Xbox 360 and PS3 have had since launch. Pachter sees Nintendo as jumping aboard that train much, much too late.

"I just think Nintendo's blown it; I think by the time they launch [their next console] if it's Christmas 2011, it's two years too late, and for sure one year too late," Pachter said in the interview. "So it's over--I don't think they can ever recover. Wii sales will continue to decline and I think Wii 2 will not sell well."

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20056046-17.html (right at the end)

Given that history has shown Michael Pachter to say the complete opposite of the truth, the logical conclusion would be that Nintendo will not release a new console until at least next year, that they're right on time with releasing an HD console (or perhaps a year or two early), that Wii sales can expect a drastic turnaround, and that the Wii 2 (Project cafe) will sell fantastically.

At least he's not calling it a Wii HD.

Wii2/Project Cafe

What is Wii 2/Project Cafe? Here's a starter.


This is exactly what happened with the 3DS, Nintendo leaked information about a new console, it was showcased at the following E3, and came out the following year.  I expect something similar here.



Those who speculate a release for late this year are probably blind, stupid, misinterpreting the facts, misinformed, or purposefully misinforming. (I'll let you decide.)

People are funny #5, "Biggest innovation in gaming this generation"

http://www.vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=102705&page=1

There is, at least some semblance of sanity on the internet, even on what I would expect to be a haven for 'hardcore.'

However this thread and the people trying to defend their points are borderline hilarious.

Let's look at our options for 'biggest innovation':


Online Multiplayer:Oh, yes, because this definitely hasn't been around for thirteen years or anything like that.


Achievements: Right, because high scores haven't been around since arcades or anything like that. 

The same people today that obsess over achievements and gamerpoints would be the same as the kids years ago at the arcade, except instead of being the "1337 Haxx0rz" "p0wning n00bz" with their "N1nj4 Sk1llz," they were "da bomb," wasting the wannabies big time with their totally wicked badness.  I kid you not.

Technological Leap:  Bringing PC graphics of 10 years ago to a console! Such an innovation!  Don't believe me?  Computer graphics have been capable of 1280×1024 resolution (enough to display 720p) since 1998.  1920x1080 (1080p) was emerging around the time sony announced the PS2.  Such innovation.  What, you mean the resolution of the games?  Computers have always had better graphics in their games.  (not to mention that the nature of PCs make it so you can adapt the computer to your game, and games are made to let you adapt the game to your computer)

Not to mention that "Technological Leap" is pretty much what defines a generation from it's predecessors (8-bit generation, 16-bit generation, 64-bit generation, and so on), so the 'technological leap' isn't so much your biggest innovation, since it's kind of expected.  If that's you're only innovation, then there is something horribly wrong.  I'm looking at you, PS3.

It's like what Iwata says about the rumored "WiiHD" or "Wii2,"  Of course it's going to be HD, what else are they going to do?

DLC: Downloadable content?  Like, stuff from the developers that I download enhance my game?  Like a patch?  A map pack?  Expansion?  Or the stuff you got with the Dreamcast?

Hm, it seems there hasn't really been any defining innovations this generation.  So sad that the Video Game Industry has run out of ideas.  Wait, did I miss one?  What was it again?  Oh, yes.

Motion Control:  Oh, yes the Wii remote!  A computer mouse fused with a remote control!  Gyroscope technology, first invented in 1817!  Peripherals for the Wii just like in the NES days!  The Miis, planned for the NES!  Motion games that totally have never been done in arcades and the like!  So innovative! 

What? You're shocked?  You thought I was going to pick motion controls?  Why would you ever think a thing like that?

There is, of course, the final option.

Other: The real innovation this generation comes from the Wii, but is not motion controls.  If it were, than Microsoft and Sony would stand a legitimate chance with Natal and Arc, respectively.  It is not a graphical or technological achievement.  It is not a feature. To modify a quote: "It is not what they are on the inside, but what they do, that defines them."   It is not the Wii, it is not the Wii remote, but what they represent.  It is the revolution. 

The revolution is more than a discarded name for the Wii.  It is the gamer, playing his shiny, expensive HD (or 3-D) game, with all its 'art' and 'story' who has the ability to say "this sucks" and shut it off.  Maybe he turns to an arcade-style 'old-school' game and has some fun.  Maybe he makes his own game.  Maybe he goes out and does something else with his time.  Maybe all three.

It is games like Wii fit, a game where I stand on a scale and shift my weight around (whee?)  and actually have fun doing so.  It is games that push the boundaries of what a game is.  It is games which, rather than say "look how awesome I am, look at the one who made me and how awesome he is," turn around and say, "Forget about me, forget about that guy, look how awesome you are!"

It is a change in the perception of the game.

Nintendo appears to understand this; they did, at least, through the development and launch of the Wii, but the lack of complete, solid Motion Plus games does not bode well.  Malstrom says that Nintendo pushing their "Super Gamecube" games at first opportunity is so that they can announce true Motion Plus games at E3.  'Gaming' sites and analysts say Nintendo is pushing the last of their 'core games' so they can announce a new console.

Honestly, looking at Nintendo's recent actions and the news/buzz, I don't know which to believe, though I hope Malstrom is right.  Whatever Nintendo is planning, they obviously think it's big.  We shall see.  Only time will tell if Nintendo will ride the revolution they started or grow content and let it crush them.

People are funny

Y'know, I think all the 'Hardcore' and 'Industry' people have finally realized that the Wii isn't a fad, and isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Why else would there be all sorts of hubub about the Wii2 or WiiHD? Why do people insist that it's always coming out next year despite Reggie and Iwata saying otherwise? Because they've changed tactics. "Wii is a fad" and "Nintendo is going 3rd party next year, all hail the year of the Playstation" have become "Wii HD will come next year, the PS4 will come to deliver us from evil." Xbox 360 and PS3, despite doing reasonably well, have bombed (especially compared to the Wii,) so everyone's given up and is instead looking forward to the "next gen" consoles, the "Xbox 720," the "PS4" and the "WiiHD" (which is the same thing, just HD, because Nintendo's a generation behind, of course. I have no idea what 'next gen' Xbox/Playstation systems would even have to offer; they're already HD, would they just be complete computers now, except you have to pay for everything you get free on a PC?).


Nintendo is making a new console? I'm so shocked, especially since history has shown that they start working on the next console virtually on release day of their latest one. You mean we can assume that they did the same with this one? I mean that's what they do with their games; Mario Galaxy 2 was in production just after Mario Galaxy launched. Zelda Wii was in production almost as soon as Twilight Princess was out the doors. Nintendo just likes to keep things secret, so that we're oblivious through the 2-4 years it takes to make a game, rather than demanding it get released Tomorrow. You mean they have the same policy when it comes to their consoles?



Everyone loves to hate on the above video with "dyr hyr, Reggie sez peoplez don't want HD again, LOLXORZ!!11!" or their other such nonsense, but it seems nobody seems to have heard (or didn't they didn't want to hear) the part where Reggie says this:

"We've gone on record to say that the next step for Nintendo in home console will not be to simply make it HD, but to add more and more capability, and we'll do that when we have totally tapped out all of the experiences for the existing Wii, and we're nowhere near doing that yet."

Now, what I've italicized, and especially bolded, does that sound to you like someone who is planning to announce a new console in two months? I dare one of you out there to count how many people actually quoted and acknowledged that last part of Reggie's statement.

Moving on to what I haven't italicized, doesn't that sound like what that supposed 'leak' quotes Iwata with, that the next console would be more than just HD? How exactly do their quotes equal "New Nintendo console with more than just HD being announced at next Game Developer Conference"? Why would Nintendo do such a thing, despite what Reggie (and Iwata) says otherwise? What on earth would possess Nintendo to even consider releasing a new console, against all business sense, with the Wii and DS both still selling like hotcakes?

No, what Reggie's saying, what Iwata's saying, is that they don't plan to release a successor to the Wii (or DS) anytime soon. What they're saying is that they assume that by the time Wii and DS sales decline enough that they do release new systems that enough people will have HD TVs that HD will be the standard (and not just the standard of rich young adult males), so of course it will be HD. That will be expected. They're trying to think of something completely new to bring to the table (as they did with the Wii).

I understand now why Malstrom has so much fun laughing at these people.