Hogge

As far as I see it, Nintendo have three options for their next gen machine. 1) Straight up competition To fight Sony and Microsoft head-on. A powerful console with all the features of the competition, with a similar achitecture. Perhaps even a bit more powerful. Nothing to scare off any developers whatsoever. Problem here is that Nintendo already have scared third parties off. 2) Portable-stationary hybrid What everyone's been talking about for quite some time: a portable console you can hook up to your TV and get full HD graphics. A machine which supports wired network and external controllers. Perhaps the machine should utilise a dock for stationary use, containing a power supply, HDMI and an extra graphics card to enable it to pull off higher resolution and other high-end things that would be overkill on a tiny portable screen. 3) Dedicated games machine To put things simply: use every single megaherts of processing power and kilobyte of RAM for games. No online browser, no Netflix, no nothing. When you have a game inserted, it will boot up straight away when you start your machine, if you start it without, you get to choose whether you want to start an eShop game, enter eShop or change options (which are limited to system language, screen aspect ratio and player profile). An interresting idea I've had for quite some time is to utilise solid state cartridges. Why? Well, solid state technology has dropped in price. It's a medium where storage space can be increased with time. Also, such cartridges could make it possible for players to store patches and DLC right on the cartridge. Also, it would just make the console seem different. Thus Nintendo will be able to make something that's very user friendly and could give a high gaming bang for the buck. Problem is: will third parties want to support a console which would work differently from the competition? And will consumers want such a machine, or do people still believe that cartridges are inherently smaller than discs?

One BIG wish: I want Nintendo to stop wasting so much performance on the operating system. 100 MB is enough to run Ocarina of time 25 times over and should be enough to run a menu. Then game developers can have access to 1,9GB for their games, instead of just 1GB.

So at least swedish gaming press is now reporting that Nintendo are working on a machine for emerging markets. What this means exactly is currently unclear, but I still think it'd be nice to have a thread regarding the machine. What we know is that it's going to be cost effective and adapted to people who aren't used to gaming. I've got three ideas of what the systems could be like: Wii Just a Wii, with the Wiimote and everything, only made even cheaper. Wii U with controllers The Wii U without a tablet that we've been asking for for so long. Brand new machine A brand spanking new machine. Nintendo want to make their machine durable and difficult for piracy, using a solid state medium. Yes, probably cartridges. Perhaps it'll utilise Nintendos new button swapping technology, making the machine user friendly by limiting the buttons on the controller to what each game requires.

Nintendo stated in their report that they want to gain momentum this year. Atless they're just trying to fool their investors, they REALLY need to release a whole slew of games to fill the gaps in their lineup, both when it comes to the release schedule and when it comes to variety in their line up. It has been confirmed that there are more third parties making games based on their IP's, so hopefully some stuff will be shown at E3.

This has potential to be really cool. Hope they'll unveil games and "toys" at E3. If they do it right, I'll have a shelf full of Nintendo stuff. I've allways wanted to have Samus, but Zelda characters, the Arwing etc would be nice to have as well.

Not really. It's been out for a year and a half and at earliest it would be out in November this year. By that time the Wii U, which wasn't particularly powerful even back then, will be two years old. The PS Vita is a full year older and has performance comparable to the PS3. Imagine three years of technical advancements over the Vita. It should be possible to by now create a console that's every bit as powerful as the Wii U. The question is: at what price and what battery life. But at the same time, I don't see it to be particularly likely either. Espescially now that the Wii U has flopped so hard.

I wouldn't be surprised if the next portable Nintendo console is... the Wii U. To my knowledge, all Wii U games are purchasable in digital format. So... a two screen portable console where everything is stored on a built in hard drive or flash memory.

That's just everything Aonuma has said so far, plus some outrageous statements to make people excited (150 hours of gameplay?).

Naw, it's a bridge building for the Paver to fly underneath.

Here's a new screenie, showing a building in the environment. As you can see, the graphical level of detail is substantially much higher than before.

One exclusive core game a month for the Wii U for the next 18 months after E3. Titles include Zelda, 3D Mario, Waverace, Starfox, F-Zero, Pilotwins, 1080 and Excitebike. Nintendo buy back numerous Rare IP's from Microsoft (including Conker, Banjo, Perfect Dark etc), employ the people who made Rare so great back in the day and call the new team Scarceware. The teams first game is Goldeneye and Perfect Dark HD, because Nintendo now have secured all necessary rights to make it happen. Nintendo announce purchase of Slightly Mad Studios. Non-nintendo versions of Project Cars are canceled. World of Speed shifts focus from f2p supercar racer, to super-ambitious Gran Turismo killer, set for fall 2015 release. Rapid expansion of the Virtual Console announced. N64 and Saturn to be added "after this show", Dreamcast and Gamecube coming "this christmas". All 3D VC games will have the option of running in full HD. Online features fully restored. Retro Studios next game is an entry in the Grand Theft Auto franchise. The game takes place in Vice City and contains two sepparate eras: late 50's and late 80's. Runs on a strongly enhanced version of the GTA V engine. Miyamoto unveils his new, core-oriented game. Every game designer in the world facepalms and asks himself "why didn't I think of that?".

As stated before: if it's a new machine with its own architecture etc, then it's terrible. If it's just a 3DS which is slightly redesigned to be able to make phone calls (top screen always displayed and with touch features), and perhaps the added benefit to be able to use online features without wifi, then there's no problem: the "phone" has a large back catalogue and already has software coming out for it. It may or may not win over traditional smartphone owners, but people looking to buy a 3DS will think whether it'll be worth the extra 20 euro to be able to have these features (because that's probably what it'd cost to make). Many people will think it's smarter to pay the extra money, rather than to buy a phone separately (no, there's no such thing as a free or 1€ phone, you just pay extra in your subscription fees). In fact, some people will prefer to split their 3DS payments up, in a way similar to the subscription fees. Nintendo would never make a dent in apple's sales, but let's face it: phones have a one year life span on the market. When we're talking about flops, we're still probably talking about a few MILLION units sold.

That would add variety to the Wii U lineup. And that's just what the machine needs.

That would depend. It'd flop instantly if it'd be its own system which requires special games, sepparate devkits and so on. If it'd just be a 3DS that you can make phone calls with, no problem. The 3DS has the potential to do everything a modern phone does. Many people don't buy portable consoles because they find it pointless to own two portable devices that can play games. Espescially if one can make phone calls, has Spotify and is smaller, lighter, has wifi-free internet etc. I rarelly ever carry around on my 3DS, because it doesen't fit in my pocket and I rarely ever have time to play on the go. I think that mobile games suck, so whenever I do have the time, I regret not having my 3DS, but I don't play on the phone either. Allow me to buy a 3DS phone, and I'll start buying WAY more 3DS software. And I think a lot of people feel the same way.

Iwata made a statement that indicated that he's talking about entertainment. So perhaps it's an in-house film studio making movies based on Nintendo IP's? And of course: 3DS-phone?

I agree that there probably won't be any accessories for the Wii U. To me, the most natural and obvious product would be a phone version of the 3DS.

Omygosh, those could be so awesome! I want Link and Zelda. And Samus. And Donkey Kong. And Fox. And Captain Falcon. And then... I'll have no money. And be forced to hide half my room whenever I invite ladies over.

3 milion is hardly terrible. Espescially not for a console which, let's face it, had been gathering dust due to a game drought for over a year. As mentioned before, you need to separate games that sell well from games that sell consoles. Sure, millions and millions of people bought New Mario Bros, but noone really bought the Wii just to play it. It was bought by people who had Wiis and wanted something to play on it. Also, you need to remember that Zelda used to be the pinnacle of the game industry. Then Zelda sold well. If Nintendo can make a new Zelda that sells let's say three million units within a year, then that may not be brilliant software sales. But what if a third of those bought the Wii U just to play it. What if Nintendo could release an exclusive (first, second or third party doesen't matter) with that level of polish and hype? That would be an extra 6 milion consoles a year. That on its own wouldn't turn the Wii U into a new Wii, but it would be a bit of a game changer. It would mean that the Wii U has an early buyer-fanbase which promotes the console to friends in a more serious way. It would justify third parties developing games for it. And those two things would further boost sales. It could be an upwards-going spiral, rather than the downwards going spiral we've seen since the Wii U launch.

Agreed. 2016 is completely ruled out for a variety of reasons. Let's not forget that Skyward Sword was a 2011 release. 3 years is ample time to create a brilliant game, atless you're Rockstar. 4 years and they better release something ground breaking. 5 years and someone should get sacked. Aonuma also said that he was considering to show the game off at last years E3. Afterwards, he stated that we might still get a 2013 showing. The Wii U is in deep s**t. It desperately needs killer apps to shift units. The later these potential killer apps get out, the less likely that it's possible to turn the situation around and get third parties back. Besides, by christmas 2016 the console will be 4 years old already, and even if Nintendo would manage to turn the Wii U around, the next generation would be right around the corner. That being said, however, Skyward Sword was already too little too late for the original Wii, so Nintendo may actually do the same mistake again.

That was a perfect E3. After seeing that, buying a Gamecube was a no-brainer.

I'm very curious for how this will be a "new kind of event". In the end, the only thing that matters is the games.

I think the main issue is that there isn't 3DS support in Unity. Otherwise, I have a bunch of ideas that could be made quite cheaply for the eShop. The major problem here is always the devkit. Developing for the iPhone requires a 100 Euro per year developer license and an iPhone. If 100 Euro, a 3DS and a free and readily available and free version of Unity was all it took to develop for the 3DS, then I can tell you where our next game will end up.

Let's put it like this: Everyone likes Pizza. If you were fed nearly nothing but pizza for a year and a half, would you be particularly hyped if someone'd serve you a slightly differently flavored pizza than before? In fact, you would be infuriated and start demanding different food. A burger, a baguette, some fish, a sallad, some f**king meat and potatoes. That doesen't mean that the pizzas you are given taste bad. It's just that you've eaten pizzas to death, to the point that even the best pizza in the world will annoy you.

Predictions: Zelda U: It'll be announced and due to the dire situation, Iwata has told Aonuma to make this entry a killer app to attract fans and core gamers alike, rather than yet another experiment. New Sega exclusive: Sega announce a new Wii U exclusive game of some sort. Third party deals: Nintendo have made som previously unknown deals with third party developers. We'll see the results. Some franchise returns: Some franchise we haven't heard from in many years finally gets a sequel. Starfox? Waverace? 1080? Excitebike? Pilotwings? Who knows! Wishful thinking: Nintendo Remake Division: Nintendo announce they've started a new studio that prepares rookie gamedev talent for work on larger Nintendo projects. This is a step towards making more games and larger games. To practice and separate the golden eggs from the rotten eggs, this studio will solely work on remakes of older 3D Nintendo games. First game announced is Mario 64 HD for the Wii U. Grand Theft Auto: Vercetti Returns Nintendo have come to a Twin Snakes-style agreement with Rockstar, that allows them to make a Wii U exclusive entry in the GTA series, using the GTA V engine. Nintendo have given the task to Retro Studios. The game is set in Vice City, but is a brand new game.

32/64-bit, without a shadow of a doubt. N64: Goldeneye Perfect Dark Mario 64 Ocarina of Time Majora's Mask Mario Kart 64 Pilot Wings 64 Lylat Wars Ridge Racer 64 F-Zero X Donkey Kong 64 Super Smash Bros Banjo Kazooie Diddy Kong Racing Wave Race 64 1080 Snowboarding Excitebike 64 Star Wars: Rogue Squadron And while just about every PS1 game has been superceded, many games at the time were revolutionary. Gran Turismo was the first of the "hundreds and hundreds of cars ranging from supercars to the car you actually own"-type of games. Driver showed us what GTA could be like in 3D. And... err... (never actually liked the PS1, sorry). And... could you possibly count the Dreamcast into this generation? After all, the Dreamcast never competed with the PS2-generation, it was discontinued as soon as the PS2 was launched.