Here’s something for those of you sick to death of the so-called “console wars.” David Reeves, the COO of Capcom Europe, is worried that despite the renewed interest new hardware launches bring, they are ridiculously expensive for publishers because they have to adapt to the new hardware, secure new development kits, and so on.

It’s true to say that there is nothing like a hardware launch to invigorate the market for retailers and publishers, but there’s also nothing like a hardware launch to lose two billion dollars in two years.

I guess my hope is that in ten or 15 years there will just be a single, standard gaming platform. Maybe that’s anti-capitalistic of me.

As utopian as that future sounds, I don’t see the competition between the three giants of the gaming industry simmering down anytime soon. Although each has endured some noteworthy losses, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo are all still clearly going at it to create a bigger and better gaming experience on their respective platforms.

Source: MCV

On the heels of the rumour Engadget started about a May 15th price cut for the Wii, Best Buy and Amazon have slashed the price they sell the Wii for. The new price is $170. GenGame.net also claims that Target will follow with an identical drop of their own come Monday. While it doesn’t quite reach the $150 mark from Engadget’s story, some other sites think it’s a “pre-cut” in anticipation of the rumoured May one – that, or they know something we don’t.

An internal Target memo GenGame.net posted as evidence of this rumour.

However, I think it’s more likely that the “drops” we’re seeing aren’t, in reality, anything that exciting – the UK retailer GAME confirmed that a similar cut to £99.98 was nothing more than an Easter promotion. Further evidence that the cuts are only temporary is that on both Best Buy and Amazon, the Wii is marked as being on sale, with the original $199.99 price simply being struck through rather than replaced. Lastly, Amazon.ca and Future Shop (a major Canadian Electronics retailer owned by Best Buy) aren’t running any price drops, either – though I should add that BestBuy.ca is.

Edge Magazine has been told by inside sources that the Wii 2’s controller senses motion more accurately than the PlayStation Move. They do not know whether a camera is part of the setup or not, but seeing the relative commercial success of Microsoft’s Kinect, I wouldn’t count out the possibility. In any case, assuming this one’s true, I think you can put your worries about the Wii 2’s controller being just another SIXAXIS to rest, as the Move and even Nintendo’s own MotionPlus are fairly accurate systems to begin with.

Nintendo, one way to do better than this is to drop the silly pom-pom. Just saying.

With regards to the camera, I just wanted to mention again that a previous report mentioned a front-facing camera on the controller. It may be a bit of a long shot, but what if that camera was actually a 3DS-style set of two, which together create a 3D image? The controller could then use that 3D feed to augment the data it already receives from accelerometers and gyroscopes, helping to improve its accuracy. What do you think?

Price cuts of a console are big news because they often signal the imminent arrival of a successor. And when there are rumours of a price cut for a console that has historically had only a modest reduction from $250 to $200, it’s probably worth listening – especially when the news is coming from a site as well-respected as Engadget.

A “trusted source” has apparently told Engadget that the Wii’s price will be dropped to $150 on May 15th, once again giving it the name of “cheapest console” – one it held for a long time after its 2006 launch. This rumour could have some truth to it, as Reggie Fils-Aime has gone on record saying that dropping the Wii’s price was something Nintendo would be willing to do in order to remain competitive with its superpowered rivals.

The reason I’m posting this, even though it is not directly related to the Wii 2, is because I feel it’s an important story that reflects how Nintendo would need to change their attitude to make the Wii 2 a “can’t-miss” system for third-party publishers and developers, one of the goals they are clearly aiming for with the 3DS, and reportedly with their next home console as well.

Remember Super Meat Boy? That stylish platformer notorious for its daringly high difficulty, and sharing its initials with the legendary Super Mario Bros.? Then you probably also remember the scandal that ensued when Nintendo refused to release the game on WiiWare, due to the platform’s ridiculous 50-megabyte size limit. Team Meat mentioned that they were going to try and aim for a retail release on the Wii, but nothing more came of it. What happened?

It turns out that every publisher Team Meat talked to denied them flat-out because they believed the Wii was too far along into its life cycle to risk putting any more significant cash into. As quoted from a recent interview:

We looked into getting SMB published on Wii retail, but sadly, there wasn’t one publisher we talked to that saw the Wii as a smart investment at this point in its life cycle. So we closed the book on the Wii.

Continue reading…

A patent dredged up by Siliconera reveals a curious unreleased accessory for the Wii known only as the “Wii Light.” In a nutshell, it’s an LED-based device you mount to the top of your TV that can create light in 256 different colours. The device is not only able to change colours, but can also blink and output light at varying intensities. It seems it can serve two purposes: one, it can act as a mood light to enhance the player’s immersion into a game; or two, it can create a dazzling display of flashy colours for say, a music game.

The patent specifically mentions that developers can change the light’s colour when a bullet hits home, or when a punch connects with its target. The light could also sync with a player’s instrument or controller in a rhythmic game and follow them through the song, lighting up in different ways to show players how they’re doing.

The patent was filed in Japan back in 2009, and there has been absolutely no word from Nintendo about it. It’s certainly an odd-looking device at first, but I think it may finally come to light with the Wii 2 (please pardon the terrible pun; I couldn’t resist). Because games would need to be specially programmed to use it, I think it would be more than a little counterproductive to release it for the current Wii this late into its lifecycle. However, it might have some real potential if it was released alongside – or even packed in – with the Wii 2. If immersing players through glassesless 3D isn’t an option, bathing them in a flurry of room-filling lights might be the next best way to make them feel like a part of the game.

Carrying on from the tempting rumour of Pikmin 3 being moved to the Wii 2, the same writer from Gameolosophy also claimed that Nintendo has been trying to woo Rockstar Games with the new system in an attempt to get them to support it with some of their major franchises like Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption.

Rockstar’s games – and the Grand Theft Auto series in particular – tend to be very popular with post-teen gamers because of their unashamed edginess and open-ended gameplay. If Nintendo really is trying to appeal to the “hardcore” first and foremost, as previous rumours suggested, getting Rockstar on board will really help them reclaim the throne the GameCube lost to the PlayStation 2.

I think that Nintendo has a good chance at winning Rockstar over. Rockstar took it upon themselves to make the daringly original Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the DS, capitalizing greatly on the system’s touchscreen for all kinds of fun little touches and extras, which tells me they don’t really have anything against Nintendo. I would love to see them repeat the feat with whatever the Wii 2’s selling-point gimmick turns out to be.

Image credit: Llamma.com

Hyper-realistic graphics? Pikmin would be the perfect way to demo them.

Emily Rogers from Gameolosophy claims to have “highly reliable” insiders telling her that Pikmin 3’s development has gone the way of Zelda: Twilight Princess, having been moved to the Wii’s successor with the promise of “more realistic grass, dirt, mud, rocks, and water in the game.” It will supposedly be available in video form at E3 2011, and allegedly looks “drop-dead” gorgeous, according to those who have seen it.

Do take this with a grain of salt, however. Gameolosophy isn’t exactly the most reliable of sources, nor is it known for its quality. However, there’s no denying that Pikmin 3 will probably be a perfect fit for Nintendo’s next system.

UPDATE: As readers Jikayaki and TheDude3445 pointed out, the technical specs regarding the CPU, GPU, and RAM are purely speculation on 01.net’s part. I’ve crossed the specs in question out to reduce confusion.

IGN has a boatload of info on the Wii 2, together CVG and the French site 01.net. Because there’s so much of it, I’ll list it off in point form to make it easier for you to digest.

• the console’s codename is ‘Project Café’
• Nintendo’s aim is to recapture the hardcore market
• a “pre-announcement” is coming later in April, with the full reveal set for E3 (expect this to be something fairly small, like a press release)
• the console uses an all-new controller, not a redesigned Wii Remote
• the controller has a six-inch HD single-touch touchscreen
• the controller has dual analog sticks, a D-pad, and trigger buttons
• the controller also has a front-facing camera
• full games can be streamed to the controller’s screen; it’s supposedly like a miniature television
• the console is backwards-compatible with Wii software (no word on GameCube games or HD output)
• the console uses a custom triple-core IBM PowerPC CPU
• the GPU is a solution by ATI from the R700 family with shader version 4.1
• the console has at least 512 MB of RAM
• architecture is similar to Xbox 360 and could easily support Wii and GameCube games

Hoo, now there’s a lot to take in after all these months of nothing but dry rumours and Pachter’s doomsday forecasts.

Of all the things I thought could happen while I was on my sailing excursion this week, the announcement of the Wii 2 was one I definitely wasn’t counting on.

Well, that’s exactly what happened. Without further ado, the story.

Game Informer, a site generally considered to be very reliable, claims to have received anonymous reports from “multiple sources” that Nintendo will be debuting the Wii 2 E3, if not even before then. The report confirms the following:

• HD visuals
• “competitive” specifications (may be more powerful than the PlayStation 3, but the reports are conflicting on this)
• the system is being shown to publishers
• late 2012 launch
• Nintendo is trying to embrace the western gamer; will most likely drop the Wii branding in favour of a new one
• Nintendo is unwilling to confirm or deny the “leak”

Thanks to Stanislava, SonOfMrPeanut, CaptainFalco331, and Ben Baker for sending this in!