These ideas have probably been used before but here goes nothing:
Keep it Gamecube and Wii backwards compatible and keep the Gamecube controller ports. Being able to play Gamecube games and using the GC controller is a big deal to me. I don't want another repeat of dropping GBA compatibility on the DS (or was it just the DSi?)
At least a 10 GB hard drive. Also the ability to create virtual N64 and GC memory cards. It would be awesome to finally have ghost data on MK64.
Make ALL VC games compatible with HD TVs. I've heard several complaints that when playing VC games on a HDTV they look awful and are laggy. I know that SEGA made several of their Genesis games compatible with newer TVs on the Genesis Collection for PS3 and XBox360, I'm sure that all of the VC games could be made compatible.
I also think it would be cool to be able to access any Wii Shop Channel around the world and buy any import title you want, but do to copyright laws that probably won't happen. So if Nintendo just implemented the 3 things I listed above, I would probably consider it one of the best videogame systems ever.
So yeah, in terms of tech... I'm putting my money on a PS3-ish speed console with out a doubt at 1080p with a ~32GB SSD, an interesting new control scheme and possibly some media that's not an optical disk (SDXC!). I'm putting a ~2012 date on it. I expect Sony and MS (if they both stay in this game) to do a higher end and probably 2k res console in 2014 unless they decide that Nintendo are onto something here.
TVs have been outputting at 1920x1080 and no higher for quite some time now. Some monitors display better resolutions, but I haven't seen any indication that any companies are working on a higher-def TV. Only time will tell, I suppose.
But I doubt we'll see anything higher than 1080p next gen... the big 3 will probably be really focused on speed.
It was only 5 years ago 1080p sounded crazy and yet now a 1080p screen is pretty much standard. I personally don't see why we need 2k but TV manufacturers are definitely going in that direction. These things already exist at tech shows. http://uk.cinenow.com/articles/9039-ces-2009-news-toshiba-sho... http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/02/eizo-debuts-56-inch-4k-x-2k-radiforce-ls560w-lcd-monitor/
I wouldn't be surprised if by 2014 2k has become what 1080p was in 2006. If the PS3/360 line keeps getting faster they'll have to have a good reason to do it. 2k is a good reason, presumably.
One thing I've never liked is that to play a Gamecube game on the Wii, you have to use the Wii Remote just to select the game. I think the game should automatically start once you put in the game, and, like the GCN, you have the option to go to the menu before the game starts if you want.
... That would put it at the same price the PS3 was at launch..... and for what gain? ...
Quite wrong, hardware way more powerful than current PS3 is way way cheaper now and will be way way cheaper in 2 years. In two years you might even see portable devices with similar power to current PS3.
... at what point do we say "hey, this looks good enough"
You seem to look everything through the very small hole of graphics. As an example, Empire Total War (a PC game) has mediocre graphics, and to run something like that on a Wii you might need a battery of 10 Wiis running in paralell (probably twice that number). CPU/RAM power dont always go only for graphics. Of course, if next Nintendo console will be aimed to run 2D Marios and retro games, then all the required hardware might as as cheap as 50€ or less.
Personally, I am assuming/hoping that eventually the gaming industry will decide enough is enough.
Why? This conformism spirit heads to nowhere. The history demostrates the opposite, tech evolves, games evolves taking advantage of available tech (even nintendo ones), and games always take advantage of more power.
And graphic-wise, why to render only four trees if you can render a full forest when what you want in your game is a forest? Why to have a visual limit of 500m if your game should be showing 10Km? Why to keep loading from DVD every 2 mins, if you might have tons of ram to have quite large areas preloaded? More power means always less game design limitations, and it will always be this way, of course, unless your target is 2D Marios.
Here are my ideas. Warning, they are probably very unrealistic:
HARDWARE:
Five times as powerful as the Playstation 3 and a rule that all games must be more powerful then Playstation 3 used 100%.
Avoid high failure rate. Rushing the system can result in high amounts of failed consoles. One of the reason why I will never get an Xbox 360, let's hope Nintendo doesn't repeat this mistake next generation.
Reasonable pricing. Remember how expensive the Playstation 3 was at launch? The console was a failure in it's early years. If Nintendo expects to avoid this, they need to keep the price at no higher then $400.
Blu-Ray or at least DVD support. The lack of DVD support outraged me, next time, Nintendo will not be so lucky if they choose to skip on DVD support. I also recommend they add Blu-Ray support.
Games definition support to at least 720p. Speaks for itself.
Needs HD. Luckily, it's going to be getting it.
Try to use a format beyond DVD's. If Sony let's Nintendo use Blu-Ray, Nintendo should take advantage of the oppertunity.
Hardrive at least 30GB. Nintendo Wii hardrive was so patethic that Nintendo had to give us some kind of solution. Let it not be repeated again.
GAMES:
Set some quality controls. The Nintendo Wii, while has tons of games, is flooded with shovelware. I know it's the same thing as in the NES day, but they need to control it and I would like to see some form of quality control and standards on the next console.
No more shoddy ports. Another one of my complaints with the system is the huge amount of shovelware ports that could have been spent on an original game that was fun. Hopefully, this will change next generation.
Have an equal balance between casuals and core games. Now even thought Nintendo's main focus is the casuals and I'm fine with that and that core support has been great, it would be nice if they did 50/50 support. Not too gritty, not to cute, but a balance in the middle. It'll get core and casual players enjoying the system.
Bundle options. Having an Wii bundle is great, but it would be nice to choose your bundles. Have a deal for casual gamers, ones for pure Nintendo fans like me, and the core bundle.
Western publishers supporting the Virtual Console. Not a single western company aside from Activision is supporting the system. Let's hope that changes soon.
Fix the licensing/copyright issues. I cannot comprehend how much I hate this. Is it that hard to get a licensed game (Just one) on the Virtual Console? That's not including Lucasarts games.
ONLINE:
Much better online. I personally think the Nintendo Wii has decent online, but it can be improved.
Demo features for Virtual Console, new downloadable titles, and new retail titles. It'll encourage consumers to buy more products.
More DLC support. It's nice to see games support it, but I am very disappointed that Nintendo is neglecting DLC support. I want to see full-fledge support, and that includes Nintendo.
Better voice chat support. A few games are supporting it, that's nice. But what is it's future after Endless Ocean 2 and The Grinder? If it ends there, that that's a shame, for it had so much potential. It really needs support badly.
The ability for a downloadable game to have up to 4 GB of space. It'll be able to support much larger games and more great games.
Be able to invite friends. You should be able to invite people to be your friends, invite online friends to play with you, and vice versa.
Better handling of Friend Codes. A twelve-digits friend codes for every game is unecessary. Try reducing it to ten-digits and only make us use it once.
Let us have an option outside of Friend Codes. Almost everyone hates friend codes, so let's have an option outside of it for players thirteen and up. We should have gamertags or at least Nintendo's ID or something like that.
So yeah, in terms of tech... I'm putting my money on a PS3-ish speed console with out a doubt at 1080p with a ~32GB SSD, an interesting new control scheme and possibly some media that's not an optical disk (SDXC!). I'm putting a ~2012 date on it. I expect Sony and MS (if they both stay in this game) to do a higher end and probably 2k res console in 2014 unless they decide that Nintendo are onto something here.
TVs have been outputting at 1920x1080 and no higher for quite some time now. Some monitors display better resolutions, but I haven't seen any indication that any companies are working on a higher-def TV. Only time will tell, I suppose.
But I doubt we'll see anything higher than 1080p next gen... the big 3 will probably be really focused on speed.
It was only 5 years ago 1080p sounded crazy and yet now a 1080p screen is pretty much standard. I personally don't see why we need 2k but TV manufacturers are definitely going in that direction. These things already exist at tech shows. http://uk.cinenow.com/articles/9039-ces-2009-news-toshiba-sho... http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/02/eizo-debuts-56-inch-4k-x-2k-radiforce-ls560w-lcd-monitor/
I wouldn't be surprised if by 2014 2k has become what 1080p was in 2006. If the PS3/360 line keeps getting faster they'll have to have a good reason to do it. 2k is a good reason, presumably.
Oh wow, thanks for the links. I know some monitors already do much better than 1920x1080, but hadn't heard anything on the TV front. 2k res would be sweet imo, especially for large TVs.
... That would put it at the same price the PS3 was at launch..... and for what gain? ...
Quite wrong, hardware way more powerful than current PS3 is way way cheaper now and will be way way cheaper in 2 years. In two years you might even see portable devices with similar power to current PS3.
... at what point do we say "hey, this looks good enough"
You seem to look everything through the very small hole of graphics. As an example, Empire Total War (a PC game) has mediocre graphics, and to run something like that on a Wii you might need a battery of 10 Wiis running in paralell (probably twice that number). CPU/RAM power dont always go only for graphics. Of course, if next Nintendo console will be aimed to run 2D Marios and retro games, then all the required hardware might as as cheap as 50€ or less.
Personally, I am assuming/hoping that eventually the gaming industry will decide enough is enough.
Why? This conformism spirit heads to nowhere. The history demostrates the opposite, tech evolves, games evolves taking advantage of available tech (even nintendo ones), and games always take advantage of more power.
And graphic-wise, why to render only four trees if you can render a full forest when what you want in your game is a forest? Why to have a visual limit of 500m if your game should be showing 10Km? Why to keep loading from DVD every 2 mins, if you might have tons of ram to have quite large areas preloaded? More power means always less game design limitations, and it will always be this way, of course, unless your target is 2D Marios.
Everyone who has a degree in Computer Science put their hand up [puts hand up]
I mean call me crazy but I think we have LONG gone past the point where a console needs to be at the bleeding edge of graphics to deliver a reasonable experience. There is definitely a space available for performance improvements, mostly in Machine Perceptions, and I am completely supportive of improvements in speed on any component. I just think that other bottlenecks and barriers need to be the bigger focus because we are quickly hitting a wall in terms of how much we can realistically expect "more realism" out of games. People want cheap, small consoles (and evidently laptops) that load fast..... 3x 4x and 5x PS3 consoles won't always gets you that, a focused development and good software will.
You are right about the improvements in speed to some degree but you again miss the point. Yes, there are already plenty of devices that are more powerful than the PS3 especially in the PC space in sizes to big and for prices too high for a home console. These sort of improvements generally follow Moore's Law so in the 3 years since the PS3 launched we can already expect chips to be "4x better". This can mean three things, firstly it can mean that the chip is cheaper with the same thermal properties and same speed. It can also mean that the chip is about the same price with the same thermal properties with "4x" improved performance. The most interesting one for console gaming in this day and age IMO is the one where the chip is cooler.
Personally I would rather see a console that was comparable in power to a PS3 that was easy to develop for (because, as you so inelegantly put it, the biggest thing holding back visuals is often un-optimised software i.e. the developer not the hardware). Said ideal console could be the size of a deck of cards (how much of the Wii is taken up by the drive?) and could easily be a lot cheaper for the consumer, the consumer, I, will lap it up. What people here seem to want is Nintendo to make some expensive behemoth that's biggest selling point is that it can provide reasonable framerates when you want to render a forest full of high-res-fully-animated trees in a forest. I think you people are wrong.
[hand up here too] Skywake, having a computer degree, and obviously if you have worked in this area, you should know how important are the resources RAM/CPU for most software developments, and mostly for games. Im pretty sure you would have said the very same at the times of SNES, and probably later with the GCN. But CPUs are cooler, smaller, way more powerfull and cheaper year by year, same for RAM, same for GPUs. Now you have even physic processors integrated with them (and just for games), next year you will see also MegaTextures comming into scene (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p49vOX-_LyU&feature=player_embedded). Nintendo cannot fall behind again with the replacement of the Wii (what you envision there seems more like the replacement of the NDS). And obviously, all these would be serving the software, if software fails, everything fails, but if hardware imposes big limitations to the software (case of the Wii), then everything may fail too.
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Topic: Wii 2 ideas
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