Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto would definitely know what Nintendo's next big thing looks like, so we'll take his musings on what the next Nintendo console would look and be like to heart.
He tells Gamasutra that Nintendo hasn't figured it all out yet (we don't believe that), but he sounds like he wants the next console to be somewhat Wii-ish in interface. Why? They know that they hit it big with the waggle: "What we've been able to do is introduce an interface that is both I think appealing and at the right price for a broad audience."
So far, the only clues we have on Nintendo's next thing come from this statement, and only the words "compact" and "cost-efficient" were thrown out: "What I can say is that, my guess is that because we found this interface to be so interesting, I think it would be likely that we would try to make that same functionality perhaps more compact and perhaps even more cost-efficient."
That gives me no clear picture of the console itself, but I know we'll be waggling something.
Dale North is Destructoid's Editor-In-Chief, a founding editor, and specialist in Japanese gaming. An accomplished musician, Dale was reporting from Japan during the earthquakes of 2011. Luckily, he got the fuck out alive and is home in America now with his wife and beloved corgi, Einstein. Dale is also a co-founder of Destructoid's sister anime site
Japanator. Likes Corgis, Sega Saturn, PSP, iPhone, Photographic tools.
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Contest:
12:40 PM on 10.20.2009
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That's what cost-efficient means. Keep everything the same, boost the graphics just a bit, sell that sucker for 250 all over again in a few years.
And make even more money than last time.
Ugh indeed.
Ah well. :/
The #1 selling home console of this generation, with over 54 million units sold. Any other question?
'Boosting the graphics a little' would not be 'keeping everything the same.'
And that's a big assumption to make about engineering something to be more 'cost efficient'. The PS3 slim is more cost efficient than the original, yet it's still arguably the most powerful console available.
We don't even know if he's talking about the console itself or the controllers/sensor bar. I would prefer something more streamlined than a bar that shoots out IR beams. A more accurate, small (perhaps wireless) camera would be nice.
I doubt we're going to see a Blu-ray drive, but HDMI and 720p output (at the very least) seem inevitable. Don't forget, the 360 for all its 'next gen' hype still lacks Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a web browser, SD card support. The Wii has all of those and by far the most advanced console controller to this day.
You mean the same mainstream consumer who buys a new iPod/iPhone every year, or two? We have no idea what Nintendo's new audience is willing to buy, or not. Everyone always says "oh they won't buy this, or that" but it seems that everything Nintendo puts out they just eat it up.
Did anyone expect for them to buy $100 fitness game almost 25 million times over now? The mainstream consumers are the people who always buy the next big thing. Even more so than the hardcore gamer, so if Nintendo's next console is the next big thing again, than they'll be all over it as well.
To address Ammoelf's point - the mainstream are well used to new product updates. Look at the ipod.
Confirmed: NEXT GEN IS STARTING!!!
The interface is developed. as far as I'm concerned, nothing beats a motion-sensitive controller(perhaps with a camera as well) with buttons. Argue as you will, but it's very difficult to find something to replace or build upon it. And even on those cases, a peripheral is all that's needed(Vitality Sensor). One could argue about VR, but do you really want it? Do you want to not be able to freaking communicate with people around you?
The ultimate(as it would seem) gaming interface has been achieved, with a handful of problems. Now, it's about polishing the experience, solving the problems, making things smaller, more intuitive, yet flexible(MORE buttons, please) AND cost-efficient. GameCube was VERY cost-efficient, if you looked at its profit margins. Yet, it was more powerful than PS2 and slightly less than the original X-Box. It's all about intelligent engineering. Nintendo always managed to suck the unimaginable from its consoles. It can make things shitty for developers looking for a quick port, but that's no longer Nintendo's worries, for they've made sure they're not directly competing against Sony and Microsoft(which I believe to be utter bullshit, but I'm trying to understand Miyamoto's statement here).
Congrats, people. You're all jackasses.
Ugh. "NEXT GEN", on top of that being a buzz word, Nintendo tends to stick to LAST GEN.
Great.
Just fucking great.
I think I'm done with Nintendo for good. Consider me the jilted lover at this point.
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http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/electronics/how-the-companies-line-up
Nintendo, you better bring it!!! Prove you care about the core gamers, don't give us lip service.
(Yeah I'm upset and with good reason.)
In the toy space they were able to lead when tech giants weren't in their garden but it's a different world now. They can't compete at that level or they'll put their company at risk (read: Sega).
I'm glad I made the jump, from under Nintendo's wing and got a 360. While Nintendo's games are shit hot, I saw for the first time that more can be done to enhance the gaming experience that Nintendo aren't thinking of, either because they are too scared or too lazy. This insane holding back of the tide act I'm not buying anymore.
Come on, we all know Nintendo are good at making their products smaller. And sure, its great that they are making lots of lovely money, but that does not help when developers are opting out of making games for your console. This shows that you only really care about number one, but yet Nintendo are blind as to why developers bailed on GC, and N64 before it. Its simple really, because Nintendo are all about Nintendo, in a kind of insane, self mastubator way, and everyone else can burn. No point in developing for their console, when you can't have something simple like a demo, to help sell it (when will Nintendo wake up on this?). Why? Because of Nintendo not providing a hard drive. No point in making games that can't compete with the strength of Nintendo's games either.
I'll invest in Nintendo handhelds, but as far as the home console arena is concerned, I'm opting out. You have massed enough money now, Nintendo, but your vision beyond controls and games are lacking. Its clear you are just going to bleed off previous gen tech forever, and are too scared of progress.
With their high-end gaming, Sony and Microsoft and the rest of the game industry snubbed low-end gamers and potential gamers with their consoles and games. This gave Nintendo an opening to cater to those shunned customers, hence the DS and the Wii. Their success shows that Nintendo knows how to do business in the longterm, whereas we are now seeing that Microsoft and Sony completely fail to do that.
Whereas Sony and Microsoft and most third parties cried and pouted and "hmph"ed at the notion of making games for the masses, Nintendo saw it as an opportunity, and they took it all the way. You don't make customers by ignoring them, and you don't keep customers by treating them like shit and looking down on them. It's like that in every business, so why should it be any different for the game industry? The answer is that it is not, and the industry is suffering for looking down on "non-gamers" and "casual gamers" because they priced themselves out of the market, and with the economy in decline nobody is willing to spend money on HDTVs to play their hardware. They see no difference in the graphics, so they choose the one that offers the most entertainment value for the least amount of money: The DS and Wii.
Nintendo isn't "competing" with Microsoft or Sony because competition means competing over the same values, in this case Microsoft and Sony are competing over the same customers and the same values (HD graphics and processing power), whereas Nintendo has disrupted them by changing those values (changing the context by which we interface with our games).
Nintendo has always sold their consoles in the green. Sony has been selling their consoles at a loss (as has Microsoft). They may have gotten away with just "throwing money at the problem" during the tidal wave of economic growth, but now that it's receded, we're beginning to see that neither of these companies are the financial geniuses they've made themselves out to be.
Sauce: http://www.videogamer.com/news/iwata_new_console_will_probably_be_hd_2.html
@ LoopholeJumper - "Oh, and to all the whiny, hating, ignorant people that bitch about the Wii....YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED ITS GAMES, SO STOP LYING."
I have owned two Wii's and played and bought many games, and other than 2 games I FRIGGING HATED IT! NEVER PLAYED IT! I'm not lying.
You like the Wii, good for you, I think that's great! But guess what MANY other people who purchased Nintendo products all their life like me, felt that the Wii was awful.
Again I'm glad you like it and got your money's worth, IMO it was a huge waste of time and money.
Good day sir
Nintendo has been around since the 1800's. They were a playing card company, ran a series of bowling alleys in Japan, and designed numerous toys. The NES was an electronic toy. They made a killing in video games, and that's what people associate them with. But they really are a toy company. I've seen other industry people talk about how Nintendo is a toy company while Sony and Microsoft are hardware/software companies. It's not a knock against Nintendo, it's just a different philosophy.
Wow. Look who didn't read the article and made a comment based solely on the picture. Since the pictures in these articles are always super accurate and 100% related to what the article is about!
Here are some numbers if you wanted to know what they actually are rather than speculate.
Game Type Processor (CPU) Memory(RAM)
PlayStation 3 3.2GHz Sony Cell CPU 512MB
Xbox 360 3.2GHz IBM PowerPC CPU 512MB
Wii 729MHz IBM PowerPC "Broadway" CPU 86MB
Game Type Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) Graphics Memory (GRAM)
PlayStation 3 550MHz RSX GPU (based on NVIDIA G70 architecture) 512MB
Xbox 360 500MHz Xenos GPU (developed by ATI) 512MB
Wii 24MHz ATI Hollywood GPU 80MB
Here is the link if you want to read more, but that is the meat right there.
http://digital-lifestyle.aol.com/video/faqs/faqarticle/_a/comparing-the-game-systems-playstation-3/20061204145209990001