Topic: The next Wii will NOT be 3D-enabled

And what would you do with that better performance? Maybe they could use it to improve the graphics? Add better, more detailed textures perhaps?

@Otaku: have you walked into a store lately and tried to purchase a TV? they're all HD enabled now... i had to help my mother-in-law buy a TV a while back and Target, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart all didn't have a single SDTV in stock. HD will be absolutely essential in the next generation Wii, because as people's SDTVs die, they'll be forced to purchase HD enabled replacements. 3D support isn't quite as vital because it's not perfected yet, nor has it come to dominate the marketplace. :3

@Madgear fine but i still think Gameplay > Graphics.

Im not saying HD is out. but why spend all this time to make good Graphics and Okay Games

HD or SD, that happens all the time with all consoles. Even the Wii has its own share of great looking games that aren't exceptionally good (Red Steel 2, The Conduit).

There are these special games, that, you know, have both good graphics AND gameplay. I know, shocker, right?

I'm glad the next console isn't going to not be 3-D. I mean it's great in all but I don't always want to see my Mario's, Zelda's, and Metroid's in 3-D bull crap on a big television.

I really hate how they keep on downplaying HD. I'm not even a big HD guy, but if you're one of the richest companies in the world, and literally every one of your competitors is using HD, why the heck WOULDN'T you HD-enable your next home console? It's ignorance. It's not even expensive anymore--the XBOX Arcade is HD and its only $150 (sure no hard drive, but the Wii doesn't have one either).

Thank goodness.

I say skip 3D and add in D-Box support.
(And D-Box needs to also become more affordable, but is already added in some Blu-Ray titles like G-Force, Terminator 2, etc.,)

I wonder if Corbie or anyone else that goes to Expos has experienced a D-Box enabled chair, love seat, or couch?

@Otaku: The larger the TV the bigger the difference HD can make and look.
I have a 65" Mitsubishi DLP Projection TV and can sure tell the difference.

I don't even want them to release a new Wii for a long while, unless there will be a way to transport all of my old data/downloaded games to it. That would suck if I had to get all of my VC games again...

I was about to say something about short of being someone who needs a cup and some dark glasses, I think it's not humanly possible to not be able to see the difference between a SD and HDtv set with tv/movies or games -- it's not possible. But, then it finally came out that it's Gameplay>Graphics argument. I wish you could have said that in the first post as you'd not only have my sympathy but also strong support as I totally agree, but that bridge got burnt playing the blindness handicapping card.

KidA they downplay it because they have to because of the Wii as it doesn't do it. If they were to start playing it up, they'd catch so much crap in the press for being proven wrong, stupid, incompetent and business inept, etc. They just have to buy the time, then look like hypocrites later when they get into some care bear stare-athon with all the little hearts and hugs everywhere about how damn good their HD system is in another year. Just watch how things roll out.

The thing is 3D in tv unlike even HD in the earlier days is truly optional and fairly pointless. 3D tv is a gimmick that gives more depth, but just like in the movie theater it's not required, doesn't truly add anything to the broadcast, it's just a shot and displayed format that uses an overlay and eye trick to cause some depth of the image. HD though gave out of the gate a hell of a lot more resolution and pixel depth to screw around with that allowed imagery to have a sharp boost in depth and clarity that had only been the favor of movie theaters and computer screens at the time. It served and has been serving a purpose and one that is growing. 3D will grow too, but slowly, very slowly because it just doesn't do much over HD that'll really appeal to the masses, just the technophiles. When they can get you a 3D tv for within $50-100 of an HD set (depending on size mind you obviously) that requires NO goggles or any other bs about narrow field of view, etc then perhaps it will get widely accepted as something cool as a normal feature for special broadcasts, games, and movies but until then it's screwed.

I barely got an HD tv, so I wouldn't want 3D so soon yet. The next Nintendo Console can be HD though, I'm ready!

One year ago Nitendo said something similar about HD, and now you can only buy HD TVs. I dont understand these saying I dont want HD support because I dont have HD TV, I dont want 3D support because I cannot afford 3D TV, I dont want 5.1 sound support because my TV is not even stereo, I dont want Nintendo to release a new replacement console for the Wii because I dont have money for it, etc, this is simply pathetic. Same as "I'd prefer 16bit graphics than HD as long as gameplay be better". Being depending on people like you, and we would be still living in the stone-age. If Microsoft and Sony will be supporting 3D already now or in the very near future, sure it is because they dont see any future on it ... I hope Nintendo will not follow the Wii-path with the next console, that is, to release a product that was already obsolete since its very first day just trying to base the success only in how cheaper it was compared to the others.

Why waste money on adding something most people wont have? Just adds to the cost/

Nintendo can go on for ages with the Wii, i do not care.

I can see that a lot of people wish the Wii was HD, but the fact is that the marketplace has spoken and most people just don't care. The only reason all the TVs are HD is because that's all that's being made; I guarantee if you had flat panel SDTVs sitting side-by-side with HDTVs for half the price (which they were when the cut-over happened abruptly in the UK), the majority of people would pick the former over the latter.

On-topic, in a recent edition of The Bonus Round at Gametrailers when they were thinking about what could happen in the next Nintendo console and they had no clue, someone threw out the idea of Nintendo partnering with a display maker to do a console integrated into a 3D no-goggles display. At first this seems a bit silly, but if they switched to a download-only distribution model this could really work.

All they'd need to do for backwards-compatibility is have component input allowing you to plug in your old Wii (or even a 3D-enabled PS3). I'm also thinking you could have a DS card slot and play 3DS games at home on the diplay/console out of the box to have a sizeable 3D software library immediately available; maybe convergence with handheld/console by using the same media, but additional graphical enhancements on the TV unit because of more memory/better resolution. You could sell a small set-top box for people who don't want to dump their existing TV with the optical drive for Wii compatibility and both could be compatible with existing Wii controllers to make the upgrade more appealing.

Nintendo needs to do something to atract third party developpers. They cannot just go and make simply an HD capable console several years later than the rest. The replacement of the Wii will be more expensive than the Wii itself, and the Wii is now 1€ more expensive than HD XBoX 360, and it is clear that both, PS3 and XBoX have a way longer life expentancy than Wii. So better if Nintendo adds some new and "unnecessary" goodies to its new console if they really want to be competitive. Of course then can make its new console just 100% resistant to piracy and as obsolete as current one, which would also be a winning way to attract third party gaming companies.

Nintendo doesn't need to directly compete by adding unnecessary goodies. Wii doesn't play DVDs or has HD and look at how well the Wii and DS (PSP having a lot of goodies) are doing.

Nintendo has always tried to make its consoles affordable by doing new things with old technology. Their approach makes a ton of business sense because they can sell at a profit. Nintendo was even profitable when it was looked down upon as being No. 3. Sean hit the nail on the head when he said that people would buy SDTVs at half the cost if they could. While an HDTV might be nice to look at, most people look at economic realities and say, "That HDTV might be nice, but I can watch my shows and play my games just as well on this cheaper SDTV."