Nintendo's next home console will catch people by surprise. 3DS is just an appetizer of what's in store on the home console front for Nintendo- considering that they are essentially dropping Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for the 3DS (there has been no mention of it- also, the GTS for the Pokemon games excluding BW has a lease expiring in 2013-2015 around that mark). I mean, the online component is not a HUGE deal or that much of a hint- maybe obvious, I don't know, but I'm expecting the next console to be much stronger than the 360 and PS3. Nintendo did a good thing holding off on 'power' and now it will be affordable for them to have such power in their system- maybe even stronger.
I'm no tech person, but that's what I'm predicting. If I'm wrong, then.. I'm wrong. Oh well. It will sadden me when Smash Bros. Brawl doesn't go online any more. Better make the best of it.
CowLaunch, I've thought about this idea you have, about Nintendo eschewing the home console market and focusing on the portable market with the advancing technology. You could easily explain this away using sales figures (The Wii has far outsold the "stiff competition"), but its more than that. You can't replace a home console experience with a portable console. Just because the 3DS is similar to the Wii in graphical power alone doesn't mean that they offer the same experiences. They're both very different consoles. Let me give you a concrete example. My best friend and his girlfriend are somewhat casual gamers who JUST bought a Wii console. It crossed my mind that they could have gotten a 3DS if they waited just a couple of weeks with the money they spent on that. But did I tell them they should have done that? No. Although I'm certain they would get a kick out of the 3DS, and I plan to show mine off to them, these two are very much into playing videogames together. You just can't get the same kind of "togetherness" feeling playing on a portable console, especially one with a narrow viewing angle. Playing local wireless with two 3DS's still isn't the same, and costs twice as much. In fact, the Wii is probably the best console out there for enjoying games "together" with other people, given the other consoles' focus on playing games online, locked in a dark room alone.
This ! And i think neither Nintendo nor Sony are willing to offer the same experience you can get on a home console through a handheld in the near future. All with the motion controls and stuff. The lack of horsepower of the Wii might have something to do with Nintendo not being totally confident about its chances against "MicroSony". The relatively cheap price helped them to get back in the business. It may be a bit different with the next home console. Though i'm absolutely fine with games on the graphical level of Super Mario Galaxy or Metroid Prime 3. If i remember correctly they weren't so confident about touchscreen controls and 3rd party support of the DS which is why they kept the GBA-games compatibility until the DSi released.
With regards to the Wii beating the competition, the Wii console is one of 2 anomalies in Nintendo's history. Nintendo looked set to dominate after the NES, and it is far from guaranteed that Nintendo will continue to beat the competition after the Wii.
Some form of motion controls have been used before, as far as I'm aware of, 3D with no glasses has never been done before. The possibly superior internet capabilities of the 3DS is something I hadn't even thought of.
I wrote off the dual screens, and motion controls as gimmicks. And maybe they are, but if so there're hugely successful gimmicks. I can't see how Nintendo is going to top the Wii, but then I didn't see the Wii coming at all, which is perhaps why I don't work for Nintendo and Miyamoto refuses to respond to my letters.
I foresee a time, perhaps in a couple of decades, where home and handheld will be the same console, with people plugging their portable into a TV and then turning on the controller. I suspect I'll be entirely wrong. I still can't get my head round seeing Mario 64 on the DS, no fooling, so it's difficult to look that far ahead, unless you're making the developments of course.
It is rather silly to think Nintendo is worried about not being able to stand up to the competition while the Wii alone is outselling the PS3 and 360 combined. The fact that Nintendo's home consoles haven't always been first place in the sales charts doesn't change that. The biggest thing I think you're not getting is that Nintendo doesn't have to "beat" anyone. The important thing is that they are profitable, and Nintendo is a very profitable company. The Gamecube was very profitable, while the Xbox put Microsoft deep in the negative. This may sound fanboyish but it's honestly not: Nintendo understands the industry in ways that Microsoft and Sony don't, and they'll continue to be the biggest factor in shaping the evolution of gaming and the industry. I'm not attempting to crush your thoughts or opinions, but I'm quite certain the idea that Nintendo is "worried" about their competition in any way is unfounded. Truth be told, they spend much, MUCH more time analyzing their own business and developing their own products than they do even looking at what the competition is doing. That mentality shows in their products; they don't even attempt to 1up their competitors. Thats just the kind of company Nintendo is. Whether or not Nintendo was that 20 years ago is irrelevant.
I don't think anyone suggested that Nintendo was worried. The fact is though that Nintendo have lost their dominance from an extreme position of strength before, and could do so again. They may, they may not, but it's certainly possible. Often it was because Nintendo did things their way that led to loss of market share. A famous example being Sony and their original attempts to work with Nintendo. I'm glad of this, because it lends a certain integrity to what they do which is rare in extremely profitable companies. Nintendo stick to their guns, and haven't changed this approach for over 20 years. Sometimes their experiments pay off, sometimes not. The next one may not, although I quite take the point that Nintendo doesn't have to 'beat' anyone. I would stress though the competition is getting more fierce than ever, despite the Wii's market share. Compared to Sega, the competition of Sony and Microsoft is massive, the latter being able to afford to take huge losses and bide their time. Rival companies are also incorporating Nintendo's innovations in their own hardware faster than ever before.
For what it's worth I don't think Nintendo will need to abandon the home console market anytime soon, and nor would I want them to, but I myself wouldn't be devastated by such news, at least not to the extend I would have been say 10 years ago.
Coming back to the original question, Nintendo's handhelds were always behind regardless of how old the current home console was. So I find the capabilities of the 3DS very impressive, despite the fact that the Wii is an ageing console. And I can't wait to play Super Mario 3DS!
Oh darn. I totally forgot about the main question in my last post. Yes, i would say that the 3DS is at least equal to the Wii in terms of horsepower. And i believe the whole 3D concept wouldn’t work without this level of graphics. To add 3D und update the specs could be enough to make the 3DS the dominant handheld again. But I see it as something completely different compared to the controls the Wii and hopefully its successor offers. I mean i won’t sell my Wii as soon as i’ve got a 3DS.
And just one more thing about the idea of a “home portable console”. In my opinion it would make things too complicated, limit and hurt both experiences alike. Who’s going to buy a handheld console if you just want a new home console ? Not to forget: all the wires that you need to set it up to a TV and a sound system would hurt portability and make it less comfortable.
I mean I would like to have some original Wii games on the (3)DS too. I’m thinking about the ones where you don’t have to make use of any motion controls though. Games like Metal Slug Anthology, Mega Man, A Boy And His Blob and VC games too. I’m not really sure the button layout of the (3)DS is the best to play VC’s N64 games though. I’d even pay a small additional price for this feature if it synchronized the save files automatically.
I think the problem of next gen graphics tending to look terrible/just freaking weird (this is entirely my biased opinion I admit) and the lack of effort for trying to have the best graphics possible on Wii (outside of unique art styles and 1st party) is why the 3DS graphics look that good.
Forums
Topic: In 3DS Wii Trust
Posts 21 to 28 of 28
This topic has been archived, no further posts can be added.