Topic: So, what's next after the Wii U?

A little early to be thinking about this, but since the launch of the Wii U and in the time since, I feel like Nintendo's become a lot more predictable, to the point where I can imagine exactly what they are going to do for the following generation even now, when at this point during the Wii's lifespan I wouldn't even try because it was impossible to tell. The Wii was so far from anyone's expectations that Nintendo seemed unpredictable. Now... not so much. I know this topic has been done a million times before, but here's my two cents anyway.

I think in the next generation of gaming consoles, everyone will use some variant of the Oculus Rift. I think even the term "video game" is going to seem like an old fashioned thing to call the experiences on these devices. Graphics won't matter, as everyone will have post-PS4 capabilities and really no one will be able to tell the difference aside from an expert. That said, Nintendo has a bit of a weakness here, as a lot of their franchises are 2D sidescrollers, and a VR device would have a hard time with that considering you would always be able to look at the end of the level, even from the beginning. You would also be able to look around your character in 3 dimensions which could actually cause some headaches with that type of game as your character can only move in a straight line. Super Smash Bros would have the worst time of all, considering the borders of the screen determine the winner, and with no borders, a character could only fall off the stage straight down.

That is assuming of course, that Sony and Microsoft even make competing consoles, as the success of the PS4 and the Xbox One is yet to be determined, and a successor may be made irrelevant with PC gaming tech catching up quick. After all, why would Microsoft lose money on a piece of hardware when they can just release Xbox live gold for windows and charge everyone a monthly fee for playing the PC version of Halo 7? Why would Sony lose money on a console when they can just make their games on what will be then equivalent hardware that already has a massive install base and charge everyone for playstation plus to get free games for Windows? Nintendo is stubborn though, so I think they'll try to release one anyway, mainly because they won't have hit the same brick wall as the PS4 and Xbox One already due to the Wii U's slightly less powerful hardware.

All that said, the next generation of gaming, be it on consoles or not, will be defined by VR devices like the Rift and more precise, fully featured motion controllers like the Razer Hydra. Imagine being surrounded by the surrealist art of Super Mario Galaxy 4, the fantasy of Hyrule Castle Town, or the alien worlds of Metroid. You could fight through infinitely vast armies of the underworld as Pit, or cautiously stumble through a haunted house and suck up ghosts in first person from the perspective of Luigi. Imagine actually tossing green shells at your opponents in Mario Kart, with your actual hands! Or how about a Pokemon MMO where everyone has a mic and can actually see your facial expressions?

Do you think this is the future, or do you have something else in mind?

I think the next system will be called the Wii Wii. Cuz it's including EVERYBODY now, right?

To give my opinion really quickly before I explain why I think this I'd say it's too early to predict what will be the "cool idea" from even this generation let alone that far ahead. Although I do think that VR is likely to remain a niche market.

Console gaming is as strong as it is and has overtaken PC gaming precisely because it uses the largest screen in the house. It's a more local social experience even in this age of online multiplayer. For example I can't see the post-Wii U versions of Smash Bros and Mario Kart working if everyone has to put on their headgear first. I think there's definitely a market for VR but I don't think it'll be the entire market. I certainly wouldn't bet on that just yet.

If I was to guess a future trend it would be the same trends everyone has been guessing for the last half a decade. Movement away from disks and towards digital. By the time this generation has ended, maybe even 2020 at this rate, we might well be at the point where the console is the size of a small stack of CDs, has a multi-TB SSD in it. A console like that which still manages to be a good 15x more powerful than the PS4 will be.

.......... but while you wait for that why not just enjoy the present instead?

I'm sure when that time comes they'll be bankrupt, if Nintendo were smart they'd save themselves and sell the company to Sony, so things can be done right~
And haven't we learned by now Nintendo never gives people what they want.

I'm still waiting for Smash Bros to enjoy the Wii U, so I don't have one yet. I do plan to get one though. As for the PS4 and the Other One, I don't think I'll be getting either one. This is mainly because I think they're too similar to the current generation and really offer nothing new that I'm interested in. Sure, Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts 3 look cool, but two games are not worth buying a $400 piece of hardware over (I learned this the hard way with the PSP and PS3, being extremely dissatisfied with both).

A VR device is by far the largest possible screen that you can fit in your house in terms of field of vision, and given that the Rift is going to be around $300, future headsets will likely be cheaper. If we can get enough non-game content onto these devices, they may end up replacing TV for household entertainment purposes. The drawback is that yes, you do have to have one for each person, but it's not like you can't take them with you to your buddy's house if everyone wants to enjoy the superbowl in the same room. Heck, you may even have virtual seats in the stadium and share a virtual center box with your buddies across the country.

Like I said before, I don't think Super Smash Bros would work at all due to it being a side scroller with death determined by the edges of the screen, but I personally wouldn't mind putting on headgear for Mario Kart. I do think at least initially the best VR games will be single player, and perhaps multiplayer will be things on Nintendo's other console, and I say this mainly because of the price of the headgear. The Display itself may even be intergrated with the hardware like a portable, so you would require multiple consoles to play, though they wouldn't necessarily need to be hooked up due to wireless tech, or even in the same room thanks to the internet.

I think in many ways portables and home consoles will switch. The successor to the 3DS I think will be able to hook up to a TV and support the Wii U gamepad (and smaller variants for portability) in order to accommodate multiple players without having multiple systems, so Smash Bros will still have a home.

The problem with your prediction is that people already buy large and often expensive TVs. Screens people buy primarily for things other than playing games on, like movies and sport, which won't be going away anytime soon. So I do think it would be mad to ignore that fact and build a console around VR. If it was a portable device? Ok maybe but then wouldn't that defeat half of the point of having a portable console?

I think it's cool that it exists but I do think it will remain a niche. There's a reason why the consoles both portable and non-portable of 2013 still look remarkably similar to the consoles of the 80s. It's not because the tech hasn't advanced enough.

Short versions of my Theory

Xbox and PS4 are becoming absurdly similar in terms of not only design but in power. This means that the competition between the two will be largely brand based rather then focused on actual features. We dont know what a purely Brand based console war will look like as in the past there where more differences. My thought behind this is that one will come out a victor and the other will either retool itself or fall by the ways side, im personally thinking Xbox shifting to a multi media device

Lets not also forget the PS4 and Xbox are also becoming very close to PC's in terms of design of whats under the hood with a lot less specialized parts, lots of people failed to realize at E3 was that almost every game beyond nintendo had a PC tag at the end of the videos. Because of this, i see PC's getting far more games that where console only in past generations and they wont be as terrible ports due to the similar architecture and increased ease of porting.

With this, i hope Wii U will continue to build its large exclusive line up. With PS4,Xbox,and PC becoming increasingly similar and lack of exclusives, it will become a situation where if you buy one there is simply not enough warranting buying the other . This is where the Wii U should focus itself, as that second console purchase. You dont buy a Wii U to get every game under the sun, you buy a Wii U to get a extensive list of exclusives that you can only find there.

This is way too far in the future to predict....might as well ask, will I win the lottery?

The Nintendo Playstation Two

The NES7. What, you think your ps4 is nice? Well, how about an NES7?!

Maybe we could get 4 gamepads working with each console? And be up to par on the processing power for once. That's what's really going to help get third party games.

I strongly doubt VR will be the future. I mean, we've seen that claim for years now, and it's never, ever panned out. I suspect part of this is that the processing power to make truly good games/realistic games based on it doesn't really exist yet, meaning that I'm not really sure that any current style games would look 'right' when used with it.

Personally, I hope Nintendo's next console is a bit more traditional and simple. Indeed, the 'hardware and software integration' thing is honestly one of the biggest disasters they've came up with in recent years. I mean, the NES and SNES had no 'gimmicks', and they didn't force the add ons they had on games that didn't need them. I hope Nintendo does the same thing at one point in the future and just accepts that motion control/touch screen controls/Game Pad use/gyroscope use/etc doesn't need to be jammed in every game they make.

The MadAussie Ultimate Actual Reality Helmet...

Go outside, enjoy the fresh air, live the party life, find a partner, have some kids...

Do all this and more while wearing the MAUARH

The Nintendomination, it's going to be designed in the form of Reggies body and once you put the disc in it'll say that it's "ready". The controllers are going to be Virtual Reality Helmets in the shape of Miyamoto, Iwata and Reggie.

More of the same. An underpowered console with a new gimmick that a lot devs don't care about.

Nintendo will use decade-old hardware but make the tablet screen 3D and Nintendo fans will be like 'omg dat innovation!'

Hopefully they're just smart enough to name the next system differently. They already tried to ride the Wii's success for another six-seven years and so far it has backfired horribly.

I think Nintendo should just come a game developers and stop making consoles or just focus on making handhelds.

Just my opinion or maybe work with Sega and make a console. Would love a Dreamcast 2 .

A console that doubles as a handheld, similar to a Gamepad, but able to play the games on the go. That seems like the most obvious direction for them to go. Why split your fanbase and your resources?

As if Wiimotes alone haven't broken enough television sets...

But in all seriousness, I like to entertain the idea that the ill-fated Virtual Boy was actually too ahead of its time. The idea was there, but the proper technology wasn't. I don't think VR is going to truly happen anymore beyond the dumb Kinect/Move thing though.

I think we're still a couple generations away from VR (aside from the Rift), and even if Nintendo embraces it, I imagine they'd test the waters with it being a "third pillar", as the DS originally was. After all, it would end a lot of their popular genres and don't even start about the Virtual Console (not that they are embracing that idea either).

Next generation? I can't predict it well, Nintendo has been all over the place with their ideas lately. Maybe they'll combine the camera route that Sony and Microsoft has chosen with the gamepad for touch controls. Prop the gamepad in front of you, use it for navigating inventory and such, play most of the game with gestures. Just a wild guess and probably way off.

Well aren't you just the optimist. In all honesty who the heck knows. This gen JUST started, anyone making predictions now is being a little foolish in this area if you ask me.

I think it would honestly be in Nintendo's best interest to retire the Wii U sooner than later, especially if things don't pick up. Nintendo's next console could come sooner than you'd think.