Rumour: Wii 2 to Feature Blu-ray Drive, Out Next Year

Rumours rumours... no reason to believe this until anything's confirmed.

It's not true. Simple as that.

Blu Ray is going to be around for a while and due to Nintendo and their piracy fight it would make since they use something that is less pirated.

The rumor is probably not true, as they usually aren't, but the next Wii not being blu ray will be laughable.

possible but.... not as a stop-gap and definitely not without 1080p. I could see Nintendo POSSIBLY doing a console that had a Blu-Ray drive after the Wii, it would make sense. The capacity and ability to watch movies would be good selling points (even if the latter isn't something Nintendo normally do... even if the 3DS disagrees) but I'm not sure how well that one move would be at reducing piracy

You can already rip blu-ray disks using blu-ray drives. You can even do it using the PS3. It won't be that long before blu-ray burners are affordable and the required bandwidth for blu-ray disks is slowly becoming less of an issue. If Nintendo really wanted to stop piracy they would be aiming for high capacity proprietary flash.

oh and.... this rumour is most probably BS.

Psshh, like Nintendo is gonna use a Sony proprietary.

Sony is just one of many companies behind Blu-Ray; they don't single-handedly "own" it or anything (I believe).

indeed, there are a lot of companies behind Blu-Ray. Sony is just one of them.

idk if i buy the rumor, though 1080p output would be excellent.

I can imagine Nintendo's next console (I doubt it'd be named "Wii 2" knowing their history of console naming) would have a Blu-ray drive. It's impossible to ignore the benefits of having more content on the disc.

I highly doubt a full home console release for Nintendo next year. It would just be creating competition for the 3DS.

Even if Sony isn't the sole stockholder in the Blu-ray market, they are one of its biggest proponents. I doubt they would allow the hardware onto a competitor's hands without a fight.

Nintendo will probably use some proprietary format of its own again, since the Wii doesn't explicitly use DVD-ROMs, but instead "Wii Optical Discs" which has just enough negligible differences for them to copyright it on its own. Same with the GameCube's miniDVD-based "GameCube Game Discs". Whether said format will mimic Blu-ray, though, well... who can say.

Fail.

Nintendo consoles haven't ever even featured a DVD drive, so I find it hard to believe that they'd be wanting to incorporate Blu-Ray into their next machine

They should change the title of these people from "analysts" to "pulling-stuff-out-of-their-butt-ysts". In other words, I don't buy that rumor for a second...

Are we talking true Wii successor rumours or Wii 1.5 rumours ?

Because when it's a supposedly 1.5 it would be total bollocks since they won't need the capacity of a blu-ray without a major update to the hardware (wich won't be the case with a 1.5 update) and both of these things prohibit the new games to be compatible with the "old" Wii, wich would be something Ninty never would do.

When we are talking fully fledged successor well blu-ray seems plausible, but next year ? meh maybe christmas next year, but I doubt it, since they more or less have to stay in sync with the competition and I really don't see Sony nor Microsoft releasing a new Console in a year.

Wii Too, hihi.

If it's a new console, it won't be out next year. If it's an upgrade, it won't be out..... ever.

Those are my thoughts.

They said it wouldn't be out next year I believe so it just a rumor.

@skywake

people with netflix can already watch movies on their wii. and unless nintendo was breaking up with netflix they wouldnt put another way to watch movies on there.

i have never even heard of that site.

I would love this to be true!

I don't want an improved Wii, I want a brand-new console and experience.

These are all just that, rumors; besides Nintendo likely won't call their next console the "Wii" anyway...

Zelda is coming out next year, with quite a few goodies later this year, not able to care what comes after Zelda atm.

I don't think it's coming out next year. 2011 is the year for the 3DS to shine (still want the 3DS for the holidays).

Yea,h no way it's gonna be a Wii 2? Since when in Nintendo history has there been a console with a 2? The SNES is kinda like that, but still.

I'm tempted to start a blog and claim that a bashful but reliable source close to Mario has informed me that the 3WiiS is coming out last year and will have been a portable 3D Wii with a battery charged by hopes and dreams. If a site called "Girl Gamers Suck" can start baseless rumors, I want in on that, too.

WHAAAAAAAT!??!
I know Sony doesn't own blu-ray (just the logo), but still...this is way too close! Hope it's just a rumor...
/goes on forever hating Sony for stealing the SNES pad

Funny as Sony would benefit if the successor sells as many units as the Wii has/will as they partially own the tech and get a cut from those BR Disc sales...

Sounds like a good way to get traffic to that site. Lies!

seems pretty unlikely that Nintendo would employ something as predictable as Blu-ray

Wii2 might indeed have a BluRay drive...making it already one generation behind, lol. But it would be a nice upgrade from the DVDs and dual-layer discs they're using at the moment.

OKAY Since when does Nintendo use any form of Movie watching that isnt downloadable or the GBA Video
Nintendo's never done DVDS and I dont think theyll start with Blu-Ray
Ill belive it when I see it on Serebii the site for everything Pokémon Related which also means Home consoles and Handhelds, when 3DS was just a rumor Serebii put it up on there site, so it was like they knew it wasnt a rumor, but this isnt on there yet so NO NO NO.

This rumour is questionable at best and downright improbable at best.

Nintendo tends to use proprietary stuff in their consoles. If anything, their next discs (when they come) will probably have something along the lines of Blu-Ray capacity but won't be Blu-Ray (helps on costs when you don't need to pay the fees).

Like someone said from above, it'll potentially cannibalize 3DS sales, which from Nintendo's perspective would be unwise.

Does anyone know if the spell checker can be changed? It apparently doesn't like my Canadian/British "u"s.

Stop reporting rumors. When nintendo is ready they will tell us what it can do.

I don't know why people think Blu-Ray is owned by Sony. I believe they are the many partners of the Blu-Ray Association. This is interesting though. I feel like the 3DS may pose a threat to the Wii because of how CLOSE it is and surpasses it in some aspects than not. I still think it's kinda early and the PlayStation Move will probably take a year or two to 'catch' up to Wii. Natal- well, we'll see how that goes. It was cool when it was announced a year ago but now it's become a concern regarding the software for it. MILO is the only game from what I've seen that will make the best use of it. MGS Rising is another interesting Kinect enabled title.

LOL @ Girl Gamers Suck... hilarious, hilarious website names

Anyway, if there's one thing about Nintendo, they will continue to create games first and dabble in various other media apps and formats. They gave into to the SD card format, which is a rarity for them but like someone mentioned, they still found a way to have proprietary disc for the Wii, mini-DVD discs for the GC, and game cards for the DS. They seem to mostly find ways to circumvent most "standard" media formats. Like someone said, I wouldn't put it past the next system (doubtful for Wii 1.5 if it even exists) to have some sort of proprietary blu-ray dubbed "blu optical discs" or something for the game discs, but I doubt Nintendo would do movie playback still. Why would they when they've circumvented this by simply streaming a movie service? I will say though, the only problem is "every" movie doesn't seem to be downloadable yet, so people would continue to still be out of luck if they want to watch a movie "disc" from their collection on the next Nintendo system that's not streamable. Hmm... movie playback on the next Nintendo system via SD card maybe...?????

I also dont know why Nintendo Would Upgrade from the wii so soon.
There only threat is Skittles, a kind hearted Tiger who on happy pills.

As long as it has a hard drive over 20 GB, then I'll be happy with the new Nintendo console. Oh and high defiminition graphix.

First of all, who is Girl Gamers Suck?
Second, "bashful but reliable"?

The rumors just keep rolling in

1. Impossible, it would make too many competition to 3DS

2. If they released Wii 2 next year, Zelda SS would be create for nothing (The sales will be affect )

3. Blueray = Sony

4. I think if they released a new console, it's in 2012, because Nintendo bet on some old licences like Donkey Kong, Samus, etc...

gaming systems are for gaming, not bluray

@SanderEvers: lol, the Wii GO?
_{hey, that name's kinda catchy}

@SanderEvers: yikes, i can only imagine the amount of lag involved in that kind of thing, considering the Wii isn't the greatest in terms of wi-fi play already. no thanks D:

I think a new Wii by the end of next year is possible, but I think it's pretty unlikely that it would have a BluRay drive, nor even output 1080p. Nintendo has been all about getting a system to market at a price that people can deal with. Putting in BluRay and 1080p (which isn't just a resolution, but a requirement of the processor and GPU and, more importantly, of the developers, who already complain that developing for HD consoles is too expensive). The Wii2 will output 720p tops and I suspect it will have internal flash memory, no hard drive, and no DVD drive even. Games will be purchased over the internet and will stream to the console, rather then being downloaded and stored in entirety. I don't mean streaming like video streaming, rather the code will stream to the console as you play it, so the games can seem to load quickly. In reality the code is being streamed to the console in the background as you play.

Ok, I realize this sounds a bit far fetched, but I do think it's feasible and it would completely eliminate piracy since there is nothing to pirate. You license games and your license is checked each time your run the game. It requires high-speed internet, but that's pretty universal now. Odds are, too, that it will keep recent games stowed on the console so they don't have to be loaded every time.

Ok, that's my wild idea, anyway.

@Crunc: the only problem with something like that is that you'll pay all kinds of money for a system and games streamed in the manner you describe that will likely as not be unsupported in perhaps a decade or so. If I buy a new console, I (mainly) want it for disc or cartridge games (or other kinds of real media games? idk what they'll come up with next, lol) that I can play until eBay/Amazon run out of working systems to sell me, y'know?

I hope this is real, and they let trade ins! i just got my wii a couple months ago D:

I wish this was true, but I am pretty sure this is not going to happen.

Yeeeeeeeeaaa-no.

Yes<3

And it will launch with Duke Nukem Forever bundled in.
Not happening.

We will see

cool, now i wont have to buy a blueray machine. but this is just a rumor soooooo.

Rumors are fun. Why do so many of you get angry at the thought of a new wii?

"According to Girl Gamers Suck, an anonymous "bashful but reliable source" inside Nintendo – get that salt ready – has confirmed the machine will launch next year, with a Blu-ray drive for greater game storage and anti-piracy measures. "

hummm they said exactly the same when Goldeneye was rumored, so im now whit hopes

If they should have released the next generation of Wii, they must have prepared it to last for a life-span of more than 5 years. Hence, the capacity of current DVD is surely not enough. So in my opinion, Bluray or any higher capacity device is a must. So I think a Nintendo-modified version of Bluray (like Wii Optical Disc) is used. The live-streaming media is still very limited. Not many country can achieve the affordable speed to download games with next-gen graphic.

Wouldn't this mean they would have to work with Sony?

Um so whats the truth?

what happened to wii 1.5? but Blu ray on the next console would be very awsome.

I need PROOF!

@theblackdragon but I think most people are ready for a download only game system, especially if the system and the games are substantially less expensive. There is a lot of expense involved in distributing games and that would way lower with a download-only system, plus Nintendo would be the sole "store" provider and would stand to reap profits like never before. As such games could be priced substantially lower. Also the cost of the system would be lower and it would be free of unreliable parts such as DVD drives, so their support costs would be lower too - it would solid-state. If they could put out a new console that cost, say, $99, yet had better graphics, online, etc, and games cost, say, $20 tops, with many "minis" available as well for as little as 99 cents (think iPhone), I think that would be a huge seller. Besides that, Apple is going to be entering this market with their new iTV that will support Apps, and if history repeats itself, everybody else better get on board sooner rather then later lest they be left in the dust. There's a huge market out there of people unwilling to pay $50 for a game (let alone $60). Even the market that has been paying $50 and $60 and is gasping at the prices now - see all the pre-order and other deals game companies are having to do to make their games sell, as well as the steep drop in prices in a short periods of time. $20 is even pushing it. I think Nintendo is smart enough to know that their next console has to push game prices down way lower then the competition. A download-only system is probably the only way to do that while also making the system better.

It is a rumor, so don't get too excited. We need actual, cold, hard proof that the Wii 2 will have this feature.

@crunc: and when Nintendo fails to live up to their promises regarding the availability/library of games, what then? and what about my original point, how a decade down the line when they pull the streaming support, what about then? with the psp go and VC already disappointing fans, plus Nintendo's own bass-ackwards policy regarding transfers of games between systems, there's no way people would go for that. None of us are ready for it, companies and consumers alike.

Is it April 1st?

Ugh, more rumors. No comment. Except for this one.

I'll wait and hear it straight from Iwata's mouth, thanks.

No Nintendo system has been able to play a DVD yet. I can't see why they would skip right to Blu-ray.

honestly i bought a game system to play games... not to watch movies which will help burn out my systems life even quicker. but you know , gotta stay up on demand i guess...

So some minor site no one has heard of claims an anonymous source has this info? I don't buy this, and I am surprised Nintendo Life would publish it.

@evilralfwiggum, not quite true. Nintendo and Panasonic made a special GameCube called the Panasonic Q that could legally play DVDs, they only sold it in Japan though.

So basically were going to reach a point to where the exclusives are what drive a system, if this is to be believed. Looks like Nintendo has my money again, rarley do there franchises dissapoint.