There is absolutely nothing new or newsworthy in the ‘next Nintendo console rumors’.
It is not newsworthy that Nintendo is planning a successor console to the Wii. It is as equally as absurd to say it is newsworthy that Nintendo will make another console after the successor to the Wii.
It is not newsworthy that a new Nintendo console would come out six years after the Wii. That would be six years which is the norm.
It is not newsworthy that a new Nintendo console would be in HD. Iwata announced this back in 2006. The reason why Wii wasn’t HD was because there it would be expensive to do so and because HD TV penetration wasn’t large in 2006. In 2012, a HD console is WAY cheaper to make and HD TV penetration is more widespread. But none of this is news.
It is not newsworthy that Retro, a studio owned by Nintendo, would be the first to get a development kit. (It WOULD be newsworthy if Retro was one of the LAST to get a development kit.)
It is not newsworthy that Nintendo is shipping out early development kits to third party studios. It takes at least a year to make a video game today. The fact that these third party studios are receiving development kits implies any new console launch is a ways off, not that it is ‘launching tomorrow’.
It is not newsworthy for developer opinions to be published as if they had a clue what Nintendo’s strategy for the console would be. Even to this day with the Wii, most game developers still don’t understand what went on with the Wii and its success, and strategy, largely remain a mystery. Their conjecture is as worthless as any drivel you’d read on a game forum.
People asked me, “Malstrom! What do you think of the news?”
I respond, “What news? There is no news here. Most of this is old information.”
However, the person who is getting busted is Michael Pachter who declared that a Wii HD was coming out in 2009. At the time, Nintendo said, “We are not doing that. We would make a whole new console.” Lo and behold, there you go.
If you want to know about Nintendo’s direction with their 8th Generation Console, I suggest you disregard all ‘rumors’ and ‘news’ and pay close attention to the 3DS. The 3DS will show you the way. And based on Nintendo’s direction by observing the 3DS, it is likely I will be skipping out on buying Nintendo’s new home console.
More interesting is the price drops on the Wii and the Wii Sports Resort and Wii Play. Also interesting is the new Wii Play. What is going on here?
The price drop on the console should have happened much earlier. As the economy declines, Nintendo should have adapted. Hardware is the biggest hurdle to consumers and the price should have been lowered a while back. The price drop is late, not early.
Nintendo’s direction with the Wii appears to revolve around motion plus. I would expect some sort of new software based on that.
But I have to laugh at some places trying to make it sound like the Wii successor was going to be released tomorrow or in a few months. Do these people know how hard it is to launch a console? It is a very low probability that any new game hardware could be released this year. Nintendo’s focus is the 3DS. It is standard for Nintendo to spend a year or two making software for the handheld console and then let third parties take over. Then, Nintendo focuses on the home console.
Early on, Nintendo focused making software for the DS and then switched gears to the Wii. Nintendo tends to focus on one hardware at a time. Right now, the focus is on 3DS.
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