Nintendo confirms Wii sucessor coming in 2012

Jos

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Following a flurry of reports and leaks last week Nintendo has officially confirmed it will be launching a successor to the Wii next year. The company offered no details as to how the next-generation console will improve on the current one, though we'll probably hear a lot more soon as Nintendo reportedly plans to show off a playable model of the still-unnamed device at the E3 gaming expo in Los Angeles this coming June.

The revelation was made during an earnings call this morning where Nintendo also disclosed full-year net profit was down for the second straight year, damped by sluggish sales of its DS handheld and Wii home console. The company is facing mounting competition from Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 in the motion-controlled gaming arena, and is counting on the Wii successor to repeat the success of its best-selling machine.


Rumors have been swirling around that "Project Cafe", which is said to be the codename for Nintendo's upcoming console, will deliver full HD 1080 graphics and may have stereoscopic 3D capabilities. The CPU will allegedly be a custom-designed triple-core version of the IBM PowerPC chipset, while the GPU will be a modified version of AMD's R700 architecture that debuted with the Radeon HD 4000 series. In terms of size and design the console is said to be around the same size as the first-gen Xbox 360 and will feature a controller with a built-in touchscreen display.

Supposedly, the Wii's successor will cost between $350 and $400 and could be ready to ship in early 2012. Given that sales of the new system were not included in the financial forecasts announced today for the fiscal term ending March 2012, it is believed that the new console might not be out before April of next year.

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hhhmmm.....having a AMD R700 GPU would mean that wii 2 would only be DX10. Do all consoles have 2 have the same DX level?, i would think that PS4 and Xbox 3 would bound to be DX11. Since it will get DX11 on the mainstream level.....obviously the latest technology. Since many game developers are waiting for the next-gen consoles to go DX11, holding PCs back in the meantime.
 
I'll be surprised if they're going with that type of controller and not sticking with their motion controllers and improving it. Either they realized is just not practical for most games other then the simple kiddy or sport games or they'll release it later after console is out to make some extra buck.

That controller concept seems a bit bulky and uncomfortable, this also reminds me of the dreamcast controller which IMO solidifies the fact that the dreamcast was really ahead of it's time back, a shame that it died out so early.
 
@Guest #1, it's not necessarily about directx where consoles are concerned. Directx is a software pipeline for developers to use on the pc's because of the massive amount of hardware that must be compatible with the OS and the games that run on it. For the consoles it's just a case of developing for that one particular piece of hardware (or three if you do it for all consoles). The fact that the xbox is Microsoft developed means that they made their development kit similar to that of the directx pipeline that pc developers already use hence making for an easier transition.

So don't get too wound up on the fact they're using hardware from the dx10 generation as that doesn't mean it is restricted. The only restriction is how many vertices and shaders it can crunch etc...

@Guest #2, I'm also quite surprised at the use of the touch screen adapted controller (more intrigued actually!) I'm pretty sure Nintendo will have done a lot of ergonomic design with it to make it comfortable as do all manufacturers (some doing better than others).

All in all, I'm quite excited to see what it is exactly when they announce it! I know won't be buying one but I really like seeing what tech is going to be around the corner :)
 
Say what you like about Nintendo, but they're always trying something different. With the Playstation and Xbox, you can pretty much guarantee the next itiration will be a bulkier, more rounded, more streamlined version of the last console. Nintendo seem to be trying something new or different with almost every console they bring out. They should be applauded, not only for this, but for breaking away from the motion control gimmicks.
 
personally I like having both of the joysticks in the center middle (basically the wii classic controller layout.) Also, I am tired of consoles I would rather play me games on my computer. I think the main thing with consoles (back in the 90's XD) was to play games with your buddies on one console. Now that they are networked, which is fine, they are just trying to be like PCs.
 
For the wii to wander away from the current movement-based gaming trends (that it started and everyone else jumped into), seems like a huge step backwards. If this type of controller is the highlight of the new wii, I think it will be a very underwhelming sales performer. The motion gimmick and accessibility for even non-gamers is what sold the wii in the massive numbers it has accumulated so far. To sit everyone back on the couch, and couple what can only be assumed as a seriously expensive controller to the mix, just doesn't seem like the smart way to go.

Of course, it's all conjecture until we see actual controller and console specs, not just concepts of what people think the new controller should be.
 
i like my 42, 32, 27 screens, and my pc.
i iike the wii remote
i was hoping for a wi2

do not want / use portables
do not want / use gamepads
do not want this. huge step BACK!
 
In terms of size and design the console is said to be around the same size as the first-gen Xbox 360 and... will cost between $350 and $400"

I know this is all hearsay and speculation (aside from the confirmation of the successor), but one of the nice points about the Wii to me was its small size and low price point compared to the PS3/XBox360, to which this sucessor seems to work against. =/

Also, considering how hard Nintendo had pushed motion controls (a touch sensitive screen does not count), it's a little surprising they'd consider jumping out of the pool. Though, they could be in the mindset of "great, everyone else has my style/is copying me... time to move on."
 
I used to use the wii but now it is just gay. The only crowd it attracts are young children who aren't allowed to have Gore type games. If the wii can improve their graphics a lot and support more killer games like killzone, crysis, fallout, etc. it would become a hit with the older crowd.
 
Man, I can't believe that they're "apparently" using an R700 family GPU on this. When it comes out, it will already be outdated by 3 years! Talk about dropping the ball...
 
wagan8r, console and even handheld gaming systems tend to always be a couple years behind anyways, I don't see what the surprise is. Also it is a matter of stability; a chipset that's been out for a while usually will have had its drivers bugs slowly beaten out. Plus considering it will be a "modified version" of said GPU, optimizations should be easier to do.

Being optimistic about it anyways... *shrug*
 
There is only way I and many I know will be getting the next generation Nintendo Console.

That is: New super smash bros + gamecube controllers support.

Otherwise..I'm sorry nintendo :(
 
Guest said:
There is only way I and many I know will be getting the next generation Nintendo Console.

That is: New super smash bros + gamecube controllers support.

Otherwise..I'm sorry nintendo :(
As such a small subset of players, so I don't think Nintendo will miss you guys too much (half offense intended). Though, I'll agree that the Wii's compatibility with GameCube games/hardware made it a fantastic reason to upgrade "without worries." However, that is not nearly the concern now as it is then, since that very same gamecube hardware was more or less considered legacy support for users that did not want to migrate to the wiimote + options (for select games). The number of those users have dropped significantly I'd think as it's motion controls is what have made the Wii popular in the first place.
 
Wagan8r said:
Man, I can't believe that they're "apparently" using an R700 family GPU on this. When it comes out, it will already be outdated by 3 years! Talk about dropping the ball..
The PS3 and X360 use the almost-ages-old GeForce 7900-series and Radeon X1900-series GPUs, so it's not surprising.
 
Why would it be the size of an original xbox? The tech they are talking about is that old it can be squeezed into something even smaller than the Wii that is out at the moment, seriously with the new fabs avaliable and the now small ammount of power you could probably passivley cool these things, and that is what takes up the space in most computers and consoles, the cooling.
 
Guest said:
Why would it be the size of an original xbox? The tech they are talking about is that old it can be squeezed into something even smaller than the Wii that is out at the moment, seriously with the new fabs avaliable and the now small ammount of power you could probably passivley cool these things, and that is what takes up the space in most computers and consoles, the cooling.
That would require re-engineering the hardware, not "modifications." What you say refers only to current technology with current fabrication processes. You can't use smaller processes to make the same hardware as older processes to get better results, though newer heatsink technology (if available) could help shrink the amount of heatsink material required.
 
Using HD4870-derived GPU wouldn't be so bad. HD4870 isn't that slow actually. HD6970 is about 2x faster. However, the 4870 is about 4-5x faster than the 7900GTX (which is slightly faster than the 7950GT GPU in the PS3, which also has half the memory bandwidth of the desktop version).

The biggest disappointment in using the HD4870 isn't necessarily the performance, but being stuck to DX10.1 (so no Tessellation in games on Wii2). Also, if Wii2 releases around April 2012, they likely could have fit at least mid-range DX11 card such as the HD6870 card in there instead.
 
Forgot to add the link which shows GTX480 vs. HD4870 vs. 7900GTX

http://techreport.com/articles.x/18682/6

Modern cards are only 2x faster than the 4870. However, by 2012, we will have Kepler and HD7970 which will be 50-100% faster than GTX480 and HD5870, respectively.
 
I doubt these specs are close to anything that will be the Wii2. It simply makes no sense. Look at the past and you can typically get an idea of the future. Nintendo has been making smaller and smaller consoles, making controllers more and more unique, releasing there console at a lower price point and so forth. The only console bigger than the OG xbox is the PS3(exluding any of the older consoles like in the 80s) why would Nintendo make such a large system? Also why would they go from the budget console to a non budget console? They killed this generation in sales for a long time. A quick look at wiki puts Wii at 86.1 million, xbox 360 50 million and PS3 50 million. Only thing I think Wii is losing in is attachment rate but couldn't find the numbers for that.

Only way I see these rumors and more so the price point and size being true is if there has been a major change in management.

Also why is it that PC games have to point out the console specs every time like its an apple to apple comparison to PC graphics cards. Also just because it is based on the HD4870 hardware doesn't mean it can't have features of DX11. The first xbox GPU was based on Geforce3 but it had features from the Geforce 4. Another thing is how low profile the OS is on the hardware compared to windows on a PC. Also with only one hardware profile per console it is much easier to program for and it allows you to take shortcuts as a programmer that you couldn't take in a PC eniv since the code might not execute correctly for all cards.
 
When nintendo actually supports their Damn systems with an overload of gamer content will I even think of buying the Wii-ANYTHING.

They keep making a new systems every 2 years and they never support their crap.

I still Have a Gamecube and it had WAY better games than the Wii! and a ton more games to play over the years.

Rethink Nintendo!
 
$350 - $400? for 3 year old graphics that can be emulated on modern pc's? ROTFLMAO!
 
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