@hunkulese: I dont know if you've read any of the articles out there (including the one in Worth Reading) but hardware isn't the main problem. Management is. Nintendo's entire attitude towards partners down the chain, from 3rd party devs to publishers, is fucked. Hardware is definitely a symptom but isn't the source. Maybe I'm just debating semantics here though.
There's no doubt that Nintendo is working on a new console and portable, but that really doesn't mean anything right now. I'm sure Sony and Microsoft are also already thinking about what they may consider for their next consoles also. It may be that some of their ideas have been leaked and you might see a spec of truth in some rumors, in that Nintendo may have considered something being reported on, but everything is subject to change until Nintendo has finalized a design, which I don't think is happening anytime soon.
@deranged: It is partially, or mostly. I think it's the reason third party developers have a hard time wanting develop games on it, as compared to PS4 and Xbox One, which are somewhat similar in specs and power.
Fair point but it could also be Nintendo's lack of ambition to grab the attention of any third-parties.
As in, not make their console powerful like the PS4 and Xbox One? :P
I don't really think specs are the Wii U's problem :/
It's the number one thing wrong with the Wii U.
Eh, the original Wii didn't have incredible specs and outsold 360 and PS3 by a large margin still.
The Wii is an obvious abnormality. It sold like it did because people who didn't play games liked Wii Sports. Nintendo knew they couldn't do that again and said all the right things before they released the Wii U. They wanted to target the core audience and make a console that could play real games. Instead they released a console that was outdated when it was released. If they had made the Wii U a powerhouse console it would have sold a whole lot more and attracted developers who were eager to move on the the next generation.
Well Nintendo has done this in the past ( Gamecube came in 2002 and wii came in 2006 also GBA 2001 and DS 2004) so Nintendo could cut the generation in 4 years if they want to.
[snip]
Now you might be in another territory but in the US and Japan, the GC came out in 2001. The DS was positioned as a rush job counter to the PSP. Now that the 3DS is finally gaining momentum they would probably want to build on that. Then again, they effectively killed the GBA and it was an 80 million unit seller.
Absolute bullshit. Why? Because Nintendo would never release a system with a GPU that is approximately 2.5x more powerful then the PS4. Also DDR4 RAM? Come on people...
Absolute bullshit. Why? Because Nintendo would never release a system with a GPU that is approximately 2.5x more powerful then the PS4. Also DDR4 RAM? Come on people...
This sounds like absolute bull. The Wii U isn't doing well is doing terribly, but I'm positive they're going to ride it out for at least a little longer. And there's no way they're going to release a new handheld (outside of a new skew for the 3DS) anytime soon.
LOL 1.2GHz PowerPC 750 as a co-processor to a Power8? Okay that's more than a little weird and mostly pointless. Considering the only 750's manufactured top out at around 400MHz due to their die technology.
2GB DDR3 on-die (with what?!) Whaaaaaat the fuuuuuuck you are so high son.
It's all bullshit, plain and simple. Some of those specs would make sense if they wanted to upgrade and compete against Sony or Microsoft, but honestly, Nintendo has never been interested in competing against the other companies. They want to be the odd man out.
The problem with the Wii U is that they tried to capitalize on the smartphone strategy by putting a touch screen on their system. Personally, I think it's a rad console, but I'm not going to pay for it. Why? The GAMES don't reach out to me as a gamer. Bayonetta 2, that was something I cared about. The games that have launched so far? No. I don't care about them. Nothing they have announced or could announce will make me buy one.
They need to go back to simplicity for the sake of simplicity: two buttons (maybe four or even six like the six-button Genesis), and make the GAMES the star. Give us GAMES. Get better relations with third-party developers. Get them back on your fucking side, Nintendo. You know why the fucking handhelds you release are so successful, Nintendo?! THEY HAVE GAMES! LOTS OF GAMES!
But these specs? Half of them seem like they could be legit, like it's a box for developers to port their games to from Xbox One and PS4. The other half? It sounds like crazy shit that will create an expensive box, and that ain't Nintendo's style.
@jakob187: It ain't their style for sure and while i'm mostly skeptical about this whole thing anyways there also could be a segment of Nintendo who are pushing for exactly that. Now that the WiiU projections have been cut so drastically someone over there has to be thinking "What do we do?"
I'm not sure how you rescue a brand like the WiiU. So many people STILL think its a weird upgrade for the wii rather than a entirely new system.
@jakob187: Well, they did just say this week that they're considering different directions to turn things around; so, changing their strategy and trying to "catch up" hardware-wise might be something they try to do. I'm guessing it would kind of stink for current Wii U owners, but it might be an interesting hail mary pass in the console game.
We've seen some pretty crazy stuff from game companies as of late; so, while I still think this is very unlikely, I wouldn't rule it out.
I think its funny people forget that only 2 generations ago Nintendo DID release the most powerful console only to come in third in the race. After the snes Nintendo lost the foreknowledge of what people wanted and started to play catch up with everyone else. The Wii's Success was a HUGE fluke but it also gave nintendo a HUGE Wad of cash when combined with the juggernauts that are DS/3DS. I wouldn't think that they could do the turnaround THIS fast but I would expect them to maybe try a little power in about a year or two, instead of taking the passive approach.
I'm not sure how you rescue a brand like the WiiU. So many people STILL think its a weird upgrade for the wii rather than a entirely new system.
I would say rather than try to rescue the brand, they sacrifice the brand for the sake of the console. If they just called this thing the Wii 2 (Tu) or something then I think that would clear up a lot of the misconceptions. Who knows though, maybe the advertising money they'd have to spend in order to pull off something like that wouldn't be worth it.
Log in to comment