It’s Christmas Eve up here in the land of beavers and maple syrup right now (and Christmas Day for a lot of you around the globe), and I just wanted to wish all of my readers happy holidays! Thanks for supporting the site by reading and commenting on my articles. I hope you all have a great time in the coming days of festivity and beyond, and continue to visit Wii 2 Blog and Wii 2 Boards in the future.

Here’s a picture of the city I live in. See if you can guess its name!

IndustryGamers sat down with the CEO of Electronic Arts, John Riccitello, to interview him about a variety of things, one of which included the Wii’s position in the marketplace.

I would say they did exceptionally well in ‘07 and ‘08, started tapering in ‘09 and ‘10, and… I think if they were to price down to $99, they would explode. I think they’ve now got competition, in the form of gesture-based gaming from Sony and Microsoft. If they were to find ways to promote third-party content better, as opposed to first-party content, and would hit pricing, I think the platform would see new life.

Other hardware vendors like Apple, Sony, and Microsoft offer greener, more profitable pastures for third-party developers.

Whether the Wii really is slowing down or not is open for debate, but Riccitello thinks that Nintendo could potentially drive their sales through the roof if they got the Wii to regain its position as the cheapest console of the bunch – many consumers now consider getting an HD-capable Xbox 360 instead of a Wii, for the same $199.99 price. Of course, Microsoft takes a loss on every sale while Nintendo still profit off of every Wii they sell, but such a move may be necessary if Reggie is serious about selling 45 million Wiis in the US. Well, $99 may actually be a little too drastic, as it would bring it below the price of even the antiquated Nintendo DS Lite; but a small price cut – say, to $180 – may help to give the Wii that extra edge it may need if no “big” system-selling games are announced after The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in 2011.

In the same interview, Riccitello also stated his thoughts on Nintendo’s stance towards third-party support. He sees that Nintendo do very little to promote the games of third-party developers, making the platform potentially less profitable than Microsoft’s, Sony’s, or even Apple’s (talking iOS here, which has become all the rage among many segments). It may be another reason, in addition to lack of grunt, for why more and more developers are slowly losing interest in the Wii, even though it is a highly marketable platform with a ridiculous install base.

Oh, Pachter; you and your crystal ball...

Yes, it’s Pachter once again. This time, in a column for IndustryGamers, he’s telling us that the Wii 2 won’t be advancing technology any further than the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360; that the best we can hope for is that they will match Sony’s black beast in power, but not necessarily exceed it. Instead, he believes Nintendo will be putting the focus on innovating in gameplay beyond the now-familiar motion controls we know and love.

IG: Do you see a circumstance in which Nintendo does not strike first in the next console generation?

Pachter: No, I don’t think that Nintendo will strike first in the next console generation; rather, I think that they will strike last in the current console generation. I think that their next console will be on par technologically with the current PS3 and Xbox 360, and don’t expect them to advance technology at all with their next offering.

They will undoubtedly advance game play, and are likely to further innovate there, but I don’t think that the classic term “generation” can be applied to that, if there aren’t more pixels and a faster frame rate offered up. Because I don’t know what they are going to do, this answer can never be right, so I’ll just wait to see it published repeatedly to demonstrate what an idiot I am.

I know it’s Pachter, but his opinion doesn’t sound too unreasonable. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are already capable of producing mindblowingly detailed visuals, and making something more powerful than them won’t really be necessary unless Nintendo wants to absolutely dominate the market for console stereoscopic 3D games. The upside to this is that using what will then be “last-gen” hardware will help keep the cost of the system down – a strategy that has always worked for Nintendo in the past, and the one they’re currently pursuing with the 3DS.

This will allow them to spend money on creating an amazing new control mechanism instead, which will hopefully blow Kinect and Move clean out of the water. I don’t like the way Pachter words this, though; that Nintendo will be the last to strike in this generation, rather than the first in the next. Nintendo is using the relatively old (but amazingly capable) Pica 200 GPU in the 3DS, but there’s no denying that it marks the beginning of the generation of autostereoscopic handhelds, rather than coming in to end the age of 2D ones with a bang.

In the original interview, Pachter goes on to back up the reasons behind his infamous call for a Wii HD; you might be sick of his words by now, though; so click over to the original interview if you’re interested.

If ripping out someone's beating heart isn't hardcore, I don't know what is.

Alan Pritchard, the vice president of Sega’s marketing division, had some thoughts to share about the Wii in a recent Game Informer interview.

Nintendo was supportive of the strategy. There was an intent to take the Wii console a little older, and make a more core machine. Things are different now. The Wii as a platform is in a strange place. It’s hard for retailers, and consumers are buying fewer products.

A lot of fanboys complained about the general lack of “hardcore” experiences on the Wii, and Sega stepped up to deliver something to curb their thirst for action. The result was incredible experiences like MadWorld, The House of the Dead, and The Conduit, but all of them were commercial failures – it seems the image of the Wii as a “family-friendly” system had already been too deeply inscribed within consumer’s minds for them to even credit these games’ existence. Now, Pritchard isn’t feeling too optimistic about the Wii’s future, which probably means Sega is losing interest in developing for the platform. If this is where things are heading, Nintendo should take note and market the Wii’s successor as something “hardcore-friendly,” so people come to know it as the place to get their gaming action fix – it’s what they’re trying with the 3DS, and that’s working beautifully so far.

Today marks the official launch of Wii 2 Blog’s forums, hosted on their own domain over at wii2boards.com. They are the very first community dedicated to the Wii’s successor in the world, and were a planned part of the site right from the beginning; but I didn’t think there was enough traffic to justify a forum’s existence until now.

The place is pretty small and empty-looking as of now, but that’s only because it’s still so fresh. Go register an account now; and a year or two from now, you’ll be able to proudly brag about having been one of the site’s earliest members. Don’t be afraid to create new topics, even though it may seem a little weird at first; the more discussions we get going, the better.

I have lots of plans for Wii 2 Boards in the future, but the degree to which I implement them is entirely dependent on their success. While the central theme there is the Wii 2/HD/Successor/what-have-you, you’re free to discuss anything else, too. It’s also one of the best places to provide feedback for the site, as other visitors will be able to comment on and add to your ideas and suggestions.

See you there!

Overall, there seem to be two stances towards the Wii’s successor. One being the typical PS360 fanboy-esque, “the Wii’s dead; our systems have motion control now, so its existence is pointless,” and the more optimistic, “the Wii still has lots of time left; Nintendo can and will keep going with it.”

IGN has written a nice two-page article explaining why the latter opinion is a valid one. Their key points for why we shouldn’t cross the Wii off quite yet are as follows:

• the installed userbase, 76-million strong – new titles have the potential to reach a very, very large audience.
• it’s still selling – the above userbase is actually still expanding, contrary to beliefs that it’s not.
• the Virtual Console – there are still lots of retro games Nintendo hasn’t re-released yet; a revival of the Virtual Console could be a huge boost for the Wii in 2011.
• the existing library – the 2011 release calendar may not look so hot, but have you actually played through every single awesome Wii game the Wii has had in the past yet? Probably not.
• Zelda – The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword alone means so much for the Wii, we’ll probably see a huge boost in sales around its release.
• E3 2011 and beyond – nothing is really known about what will be happening with the Wii in the second half of 2011, after Skyward Sword. E3 2011 is the perfect chance for Nintendo and third-party publishers alike to reveal lots of awesome new games for the system.
• The untapped potential – Nintendo have said it themselves before, that there’s lots they still want to do with the Wii. Vitality Sensor? Maybe. Something big and awesome no one will see coming? Definitely.

I’ve summed it all up for you, but if you want to read the original article, here you go.

The original news story predates this blog – it’s all the way back from 2009 – but I found it interesting and thought it would be worth sharing, since you may have missed it back then, too.

The Wii's successor will be far more than just a hardware upgrade.

Stephen Totilo from Kotaku had interviewed Reggie Fils-Aime, and got onto the topic of the Wii’s successor. He asked Reggie why he thinks third-party publishers often refuse to publish their biggest multiplatform hits on the Wii, with its massive installed base of tens of millions of people – many of which are hardcore gamers who yearn for the grand, high-budget experiences that the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are usually treated to. We all know the answer is that they don’t think the Wii is powerful enough, and Reggie openly admitted this; but he added that third-party developers that do take the time to create good Wii games often see great commercial success from them.

Totilo then suggested that making the Wii more powerful was all it needed to absolutely dominate the marketplace, as it already had a number of great advantages over its competition (remember, this was back in ’09 before Microsoft and Sony developed their motion control systems). Reggie disagreed vehemently, saying that an HD upgrade alone does not warrant a new system. He then went on to confirm that they would only create a new system when he feels the Wii is ready to truly be succeeded, leaving a simple hardware upgrade out of the picture.

Verbatim,

Reggie: The fundamental issue in the logic flow is that — and this is what I’m hearing, whether it’s from you or Geoff or Michael himself — is that, gosh it’s such an opportunity to take HD capability and link it with the Wii. And what we have said, repeatedly, is that that’s not the way we at Nintendo do things. The way we at Nintendo do things is, you know, when we will move to a new generation, it’s because there are some fundamental things the [current] console cannot do. What that says is that simply the addition of HD capability will not be the next step for us. There will be more to it. There will be additional capability. There will be additional elements, and, given that, it is far into the future.

Stephen: So, no new Wii in 2010?

Reggie: Not to announce with you here today.

Source: Reggie: Wii 2 Theories Miss Key Point

Drew over at NintendoCharged recently sent in a question to Nintendo about why the Wii doesn’t have DVD playback yet, after realizing that Nintendo previously confirmed the feature was coming, all the way back in 2007. He must’ve asked something about the Wii’s successor, too, as the response he received was certainly a very curious one.

Hi Drew,

I’m glad you contacted us about your interest in using the Wii console as a DVD player. While it’s not possible to play a DVD using the system, we appreciate knowing that this feature is important to you. I’ll be sure to add your comments to the record of feedback for this function.

A successor to Wii has not been officially announced yet so there is no expected release date.  There has also been no official announcement as to features like DVD or Blu-Ray playback or HD support appearing in our next system.  That said, you can feel confident that whatever we make will be built on the strengths of the Wii as we seek to change the way you perceive and interact with video games.

It’s only natural that once a home console has been on the market for a while that speculation concerning a follow-up begins.  I can confirm that work has already begun on the successor to the Wii; in fact, it’s typical to begin work on the next generation of hardware immediately following the release of the current generation.

We will reveal all concerning a new home console on our website (www.nintendo.com), but not until we are ready to do so. In the meantime, we encourage you to enjoy the Wii and its ever-expanding library of games.

Sincerely,

Barbara Soules

Nintendo of America Inc.

The mention of a “record of feedback” for the possible feature of DVD playback on the Wii is interesting, as it suggests that Drew wasn’t the first to complain about its absence. Note that DVD playback is actually possible on the current Wii through homebrew software, despite Nintendo’s claims that it would require new hardware. It may be a little too late to pack the feature into the Wii now, unless they decide to do it by firmware update (through which Nintendo has previously given us goodies like SDHC support and the ability to play games pseudo-directly off an SD card).

It’s more important to consider what this “record of feedback” may mean for the Wii’s successor. Barbara has given us the typical “we don’t comment on rumours and speculation” type of response that can be expected from reps like her; but if she has indeed submitted the idea to deeper quarters of the Big N, we can be sure that they’ll at least consider the feature again now. Considering, though, that DVD is slowly starting to become a format of the past, with its lack of HD support, there’s a chance Nintendo might adapt the (admittedly small) demand for a DVD player feature into a Blu-ray player. That is, of course, assuming that they’ll be willing to borrow a technology pioneered by one of their competitors, Sony.

Still, I think that it may be better if Nintendo focused on creating a good gaming experience, instead of wasting resources trying to turn their system into a multitasker when it doesn’t need to be. There are lots of great Blu-ray and DVD players on the market already – admittedly, packing one into the Wii 2 would sweeten the deal a bit, but it won’t be an exclusive system seller or anything like that.

Note that this is by no means confirmation or evidence of any kind that there will be DVD or Blu-ray playback in the Wii 2. I’m simply reporting on a request for the feature having been forwarded to a deeper part of Nintendo, and am speculating on what it might lead to. Please remember this when you comment.

So, how would you feel if the Wii’s successor could play DVDs? Blu-ray discs? Neither? Leave your thoughts below!

I just happened to come across this amusing little video that pokes fun at what the next generation of home consoles will look like, based on jokes stemming from the consoles we have today. So, Microsoft unveils the Red Ring of Death, Sony gives us the PlayStation 6, and Nintendo bestows upon the world the WiiWii. Perhaps not the cleanest video you’ll ever see, but it should give you a nice chuckle.

Disclaimer: the video contains some coarse language and references you might not be too fond of. Watch it at your own risk.

I was going to write an article like this myself, but Patrick Kolan over at IGN Australia beat me to it. Essentially, it’s a rather lengthy feature that brings up several key arguments that both support and oppose the idea of Nintendo launching the Wii’s successor in the near future. Here’s a list of their points, if you don’t feel like reading the full article.

Supporting Arguments

• Dated hardware
• More direct competitors
• Third-party pressure
• Nintendo favours half-steps
• Nintendo decides when the next generation starts

Opposing Arguments

• Nintendo 3DS
• Wii is still selling well
• Market may not be ready yet
• Nintendo R&D may not be ready yet
• No Wii price drop…yet

The full article leaves off with an estimated late 2012 release date, taking all of these points into account. It’s a good read, and I definitely recommend it.

A little note to readers: when I link to articles from other sites, do you prefer a short, listed summary of it like this one; or what practically amounts to a rewrite, like the wishlist from some time ago, or the 411mania piece? Post your thoughts in the comments below!