IndustryGamers was fortunate enough to get several developers to give them their thoughts on what they wanted to see in the Wii’s successor. Three of them made it clear that they really wanted to see an improved online infrastructure for distributing downloadable games, and two were down for a more powerful system. Augmented reality and 3D were also brought up.

You can read each developer’s full quote after the break. Continue reading…

Richard George has put together a mailbag feature on IGN in which he does his best to answer a number of readers’ questions about the Wii’s successor. There is absolutely no new information to found in the piece, but it’s still a good read if you want a recap on everything we’ve been hearing about the console.

Most notably, Richard reconfirmed that the console will be “significantly” more powerful than the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but took care to note that different people may understand the meaning of the word “significantly” in different ways.

You can read the full article here.

IndustryGamers recently conducted a survey of their readers in which they asked gamers what they would most like to see from the Wii’s successor. The results are rather surprising, in that the majority of voters wished for improved motion controls, with awesome HD graphics and – get ready – augmented reality taking close second and third places. Seems self-proclaimed hardcore gamers don’t hate motion control as much as angry Internet trolls make it appear.

Here’s a screenshot of the results at the time of this post’s publishing:

In an interview with the Telegraph, Miyamoto dropped a little tidbit on the approach Nintendo is taking with the Wii’s successor:

There’s definitely space for uniqueness in a home console. As you know the Wii is family orientated, played in the living room of the household. We’re hoping to evolve that, there’s a variety of options we can think of.

Did he just debunk the storming rumour that Nintendo was out to recapture the hardcore? It’s too early to draw conclusions at this point, but it may be that the Wii 2 will turn out to have something in store for casual gamers, too. Though, judging by the direction Nintendo’s already taking with the 3DS, I don’t think we’ve got anything to worry about.

Speaking of which, Miyamoto also left us the following thought on what must be done to stand out in today’s world where “bigger is always better,” which you might find intriguing.

With the more advanced devices, game design is currently at a high level. Nowadays I think it’s really important that designers are really unique and individual. It’s costly if you are focussing on similar ideas, so that uniqueness is important. You can get more budget for games, but your energy must be focussed, otherwise it won’t last.

Don’t focus on how many stages it’s got. Tell me if you’ve seen it before. That’s the challenge for me.

The 3DS's touchscreen doesn't vibrate...but Café's might.

Remember that patent Nintendo got last January, for a rumbling touchscreen? Back then, we all thought it was going to show up in what is now known as the 3DS (it hadn’t been announced back then, and it was referred to as the “DS 2,” much like we’re calling the Wii’s successor the “Wii 2” now), but it didn’t. After the 3DS was shown and confirmed not to feature this curious technology, the fire surrounding this patent eventually faded away.

But is it possible that it may never have been intended for a portable console to begin with? One of the most prevalent rumours about the Wii’s successor is that it will feature a controller with a built-in touchscreen. Previously, it has been suggested that the touchscreen may feature haptic feedback. But tactile feedback is just as possible – and would probably cost less to implement.

Continue reading…

According to an unknown retail source, the Wii’s successor is due to launch with a new IP. The IP is supposed to be “visually beautiful” and will be revealed at E3. And that’s all we’ve got.

It won’t be the first time Nintendo came out with a brand new IP to market a console with – Miis, for instance, became almost synonymous with the Wii, and greatly helped to expand its appeal. I honestly have no idea what said new IP could be, but it’s worth noting that Miyamoto announced he was working on one some time ago. Maybe this is it?

On the heels of Nintendo’s announcement of the Wii’s price drop to $150, Reggie Fils-Aime had a few things to say. Most importantly, he believes that this price drop was a crucial step into the Wii’s future. Specifically, he noted that the last generation’s “leading console” (obviously, he was referring to the PlayStation 2) “sold almost 50 percent of its volume at a price point of $149 or below.”

With the Wii now $50 less than the Xbox 360, Nintendo is aiming to attract a new type of consumer to it. Reggie’s explanation:

When we launch our new home system sometime in 2012 we think the consumer buying in will look very different than the consumer who’s going to be buying a Wii now. What we’ve seen in this business it that there are certain consumers who love being first – they have to have the absolute latest hardware – and there are other consumers that are perfectly happy to wait until the game library is much more robust and they have a wider range of options.

He touched a bit more on why exactly it was such a good move to drop the price now, stating that he thinks “there is a wide range of consumers that are wanting to purchase a Wii and what they have been waiting for is this type of announcement.” In other words, the Wii will be a budget console from now on, and probably won’t be getting too many more “hardcore” releases in the future, as Nintendo will want to save those for its successor.

Out of all the rumours that have been flying around about the Wii’s successor, one of the more popular ones has been that Rockstar Games has a Project Café development kit, which led many people to the conclusion that they’re developing Grand Theft Auto V for it (and it still seems a likely possibility, even after the original source of the rumour clarified that they never said anything about GTA V).

Some more fuel has just been thrown on this fire, though, as the same guy who brought us the news of Nintendo’s E3 promo videos having been filmed, also said that the next Grand Theft Auto game will be revealed at the event in some capacity. Keep in mind that he didn’t say what system the game would appear on, so it just as well might be for the PlayStation 3 and/or Xbox 360.

This is definitely an unusual little bit of news. The Twitter user superannuation claims to have been told by an insider source that all of Nintendo’s E3 promotional videos for their new console have already been filmed, and that all of the models were chosen “based on their hands. In a further tweet, he elaborated a bit on what exactly Nintendo had been looking for:

[blackbirdpie id=”65240877387366400”]

Assuming this tidbit is, of course, true, the only reason I can think of that Nintendo would be after models with good-looking hands is if hands played a major role in controlling the new system – ergo, it ties in perfectly with all the rumours of a tablet-like touchscreen controller.

Shortly after Nintendo confirmed the exact date and time for their E3 press conference, at which they will be revealing the Wii’s successor, I decided to have a little fun and put together a countdown timer for it. It updates every time you refresh the page, and is set to stop at precisely 9:00 AM Pacific Time on June 7th.

Feel free to embed it into your signature on any forum you go to. Here’s the BBCode for it: