Nintendo 3DS

[Baggins]

"During its first week, the Twilight was sold with three of every four Wii purchases. The game had sold 4.52 million copies on the Wii as of March 1, 2008 and 1.32 million on the GameCube as of March 31, 2007."

http://www.1up.com/news/wii-sells-600k-units-week

That's not all, though for Nintendo. The Wii's biggest gun, The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess sold over 454,000 units in the same span, putting the game in the hands of almost 75% of Wii owners (obviously that figure is a little off because some people likely bought Zelda sans a Wii).

I don't think from Nintendo's POV, they really cared too much that they didn't keep the game to a strict exclusivity to the Wii System. They advertised it as the primary Wii killer app. People bought it up, many reviewers agreed, finding the motion controls the best thing since slice bread. Disagree with their sentiment or no, it didn't really matter to Nintendo, they were making their money regardless what a few fans might of thought. From a business standpoint that's what matters. They could be laughing all the way to the bank. It was the best selling "launch title", and people bought the system simply to play that version of the game, because of their added wii-esclusive features, i.e. motion control.

[dark-daventry]

I take back what I said about a lackluster launch lineup. The official launch lineup for the U.K. was revealed, and Rayman 3D is included in that, as well as the Sims 3. I'm particularly excited for Rayman 3D. So if the American line up is anything like the U.K. one, I may just buy a 3DS on launch day. You can check out the U.K. lineup for yourself here. Of course, I'm going to be the optimist here and hope for an even better U.S. launch line-up, but I realize the chances of that aren't too likely. I can dream though!

[Baggins]

Well, Splinter Cell 3-D is the one I'm most interested for during launch week. It comes out like 4 days after the system. I've wanted another good portable stealth game.

[dark-daventry]

I gotta admit; the graphics on the 3DS are pretty amazing. They can pretty much match anything the Wii can do. Which is all the more reason why Nintendo needs to get an HD system out.

E3 2011 is the perfect place for them to announce their next home console. By the time E3 comes around, the 3DS will have been out and about for a while, and I don't think Nintendo can devote their entire press conference to the 3DS. Obviously I expect that to take a big chunk of it; I expect a lot of cool new games, both first and third party, to be announced. I imagine they'll touch on the wii, but only to segway into the announcement of their next system. I'm not talking full-on blow out. I'm not talking pricing, specs and release date. I'm talking about an announcement. Show the system off. Maybe give a tease of what it can do graphically or processor wise. But leave some mystery surrounding it. Then, when Tokyo Game Show hits in September, they can go all out. Finally, the new system could easily launch in holiday 2011 or early 2012. I expect Nintendo's been working on it quietly over the years, and announcing their next system does give them an edge over the competitors.

Neither Microsoft nor Sony seem set to announce a new system until 2012 at the earliest. The PS3 is just now becoming more mainstream, and I see that system going far and staying put for a while. I don't think Sony is going to jeopardize the PS3's current success with an announcement of it's successor. Likewise, Microsoft is having reasonable success with Kinect. If anything, I think Microsoft will be the second company to announce their next system. They don't want to rush to release like they did with the 360. They can rest comfortably in the middle. Kinect has potential, but it's barely been realized yet. It would be absolutely stupid and insane for Microsoft to announce a successor to the Xbox 360 literally a year after Kinect was announced and launched. But Nintendo has a lot of catch-up to do. First, they need an HDMI compatible system; Every gaming console in this generation has an HDMI port built in except for the Wii. But they also need to try one-upping Microsoft and Sony with motion control. Neither Sony or Microsoft would have thought of motion control back in the day. Nintendo takes risks. That's good; the industry needs that. But now that the competitors both have motion sensing peripherals, Nintendo needs to step their game up. They need to come up with something that will put motion control in its place. I don't know what that is. But I trust Nintendo will think of something. But I also don't expect them to abandon motion control. They've built a name for themselves with motion control. If anything, Nintendo will improve upon Kinect's power. I can see Nintendo going controller free motion gaming, but drastically improving upon the way in which Microsoft does it. But that's just a guess. You can tell I do a lot of thinking about video games. I know my stuff when it comes to the video game industry...

[Lambonius]

Knowing Nintendo, I doubt they will announce their new home console until they've successfully milked the Wii for every penny that it's worth.  They never really announced systems in the past until their current system had slowed way down in sales.

[dark-daventry]

Knowing Nintendo, I doubt they will announce their new home console until they've successfully milked the Wii for every penny that it's worth.  They never really announced systems in the past until their current system had slowed way down in sales.

Which the Wii has in fact done recently. I work at a GameStop, and on any given day that I'm working, the PS3 and 360 are by far the more popular choice both in software and hardware. I haven't had one customer asking about the Wii. And don't just take my word for it; check out the actual sales data that is publicly available (I don't have a link, but there have been numerous articles on Joystiq about it). That data indicates that the Wii is waning in popularity. Especially with Nintendo's main competitors now essentially having HD Motion control gaming, they really have to step their game up. It would not be a wise finanical or business decision for Nintendo to wait until 2012 to announce the successor to the wii.

And keep in mind I'm not talking about release. I don't expect the succesor to actually launch until late 2011 at the earliest, and more likely sometime in 2012. But announcing the system at E3 will give the core gamers, the ones who actually care about E3 (let's be honest: casual gamers don't care and/or know about E3, so any casual related announcement at such a core-focused event is basically just wasted breath) the time to save up and reserve it. Meanwhile, Nintendo can ramp up PR for the finale of the Wii. The general public, the ones who aren't in tune with the gaming community at large, can purchase the Wii at bargain prices. Nintendo still makes cash and can still introduce a new system.

The time for a new home console from Nintendo is now. It makes sense for them to announce a new system at E3. Although, it'd be such a nice surprise to have an announcement at GDC, but I don't think that will happen. E3 is the best venue to announce a successor. Tokyo Game Show is the perfect place to reveal more details and pricing/release for the system. Give everyone a tease at E3. Show off some games for it, or just show us what the system itself looks like. Whatever way you look at it, the fact of the matter is that Nintendo really needs to step their game up at E3 2011.

Their 2010 press conference wasn't bad, but it focused too much on software for my tastes. Which isn't bad neccesarily; it worked for the time. But 2011 should be all about the hardware for Nintendo; they have a major new handheld launching that will mark a world record for being the first handheld gaming device to have 3D graphics without the need for any sort of apparatus on the head. That's a huge achievement, but they should also get details out about their next system. Again, I'm not talking release. But they do need to announce the system. It makes absolute perfect sense (to me at least).

I don't think Nintendo really needs to talk about software for the new system yet, but they're more than welcome to if they want. To mark the end of the Wii, they could (finally) announce Pikmin 3 and have that be the Wii's swan song and usher in the 8th generation console cycle. At which point the war for supremacy in the console market will begin anew. It's a vicious cycle that will repeat itself for years to come. The only difference each time is that the systems get more and more advanced and more and more expensive. Everything else is the same.

[Baggins]

Spaces please...

[dark-daventry]

Spaces please...

Sorry. I get too involved in my posts sometimes and forget about paragraph spacing. When it comes to video games specifically, I tend to lose myself. You can tell I've got a thing for talking about what's what in the video game industry currently...

[Baggins]

I'm a huge fan of games as well. But that doesn't keep me from splitting my paragraphs up every inch or two, along the way.

I hope I can save people's eyes, .

[dark-daventry]

I'm a huge fan of games as well. But that doesn't keep me from splitting my paragraphs up every inch or two, along the way.

I hope I can save people's eyes, .

Well it's also past midnight in my time zone, and I have a class tomorrow, and I had one earlier today that I had to get up at 7 AM for. So my i'm a little tired too. But I'll go in and edit my post to include spaces where I can put them in.

[wilco64256]

I fully expect Nintendo to (finally) announce an HD console system next year sometime.  Not going to happen this year as they'll want to keep all the hype focused on the 3DS but I'd bet good money that we'll get an HD next-gen console announcement probably at E3 2012.

[Baggins]

I just hope that I'll be able to transfer my virtual store purchases onto the next system by then...

[dark-daventry]

I fully expect Nintendo to (finally) announce an HD console system next year sometime.  Not going to happen this year as they'll want to keep all the hype focused on the 3DS but I'd bet good money that we'll get an HD next-gen console announcement probably at E3 2012.

I think we'll get an announcement this E3, but that's just me. If we don't get one this year, then most definitely by E3 2012. Obviously the optimist in me is hoping for this year.

[kindofdoon]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii#Successor

A few years after the Wii was released, speculations were raised about Nintendo's eighth-generation home console. Initial beliefs were that the new console would be an enhanced version of the Wii, named the "Wii HD" and would have high-definition video output along with a Blu-ray Disc drive built in with a release in 2011.[92] However, Satoru Iwata later stated that he sees "no significant reason" to include HD for the current Wii console, and that such an addition would be better suited for a successor.[93] Shigeru Miyamoto also expressed Nintendo's interest in working with HD graphics, but clarified that the company is primarily focused on the gameplay experience.[94] As of October 2009, Miyamoto said that they currently had no concrete plans about a successor yet, but knew that the successor would possibly still feature motion controls and expects its interface to be "more compact" and cheaper.[95] Satoru Iwata also mentioned that the Wii's successor might be 3D-compatible, but concluded that the adoption rates of 3D televisions should increase to at least 30% first.[96]
Reggie Fils-Aime commented that he felt "confident the Wii home entertainment console has a very long life in front of it" and declared that a successor would not be launched in the near future.[97] At the E3 2010 presentation, Iwata revealed to the BBC that they would begin announcing a new console once Nintendo ran "out of ideas with the current hardware and cannot give users any more meaningful surprises with the technology [they] have."[98] Later, at an investors meeting, he disclosed that they were "of course studying and developing the next console to Wii", but they were simultaneously keeping its concepts secret because it was "really important for [his] business to positively surprise people."[99]

[dark-daventry]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii#Successor

A few years after the Wii was released, speculations were raised about Nintendo's eighth-generation home console. Initial beliefs were that the new console would be an enhanced version of the Wii, named the "Wii HD" and would have high-definition video output along with a Blu-ray Disc drive built in with a release in 2011.[92] However, Satoru Iwata later stated that he sees "no significant reason" to include HD for the current Wii console, and that such an addition would be better suited for a successor.[93] Shigeru Miyamoto also expressed Nintendo's interest in working with HD graphics, but clarified that the company is primarily focused on the gameplay experience.[94] As of October 2009, Miyamoto said that they currently had no concrete plans about a successor yet, but knew that the successor would possibly still feature motion controls and expects its interface to be "more compact" and cheaper.[95] Satoru Iwata also mentioned that the Wii's successor might be 3D-compatible, but concluded that the adoption rates of 3D televisions should increase to at least 30% first.[96]
Reggie Fils-Aime commented that he felt "confident the Wii home entertainment console has a very long life in front of it" and declared that a successor would not be launched in the near future.[97] At the E3 2010 presentation, Iwata revealed to the BBC that they would begin announcing a new console once Nintendo ran "out of ideas with the current hardware and cannot give users any more meaningful surprises with the technology [they] have."[98] Later, at an investors meeting, he disclosed that they were "of course studying and developing the next console to Wii", but they were simultaneously keeping its concepts secret because it was "really important for [his] business to positively surprise people."[99]

Thanks for the link, kindofdoon. That was an interesting read. I just hope that Nintendo announces a new console at E3 this year. But that article makes me think that a 2012 announcement is far more likely.

[Lambonius]

I would imagine they'd want to wait until Sony and Microsoft are closer to wanting to announce a new system--systems that come out too early for the next wave of technology usually end up dying out faster and getting left behind by newer, better systems pretty quickly.  Remember the Sega Dreamcast?  I think Nintendo of all people would be acutely aware of the dangers of falling into that trap.

[wilco64256]

I would imagine they'd want to wait until Sony and Microsoft are closer to wanting to announce a new system--systems that come out too early for the next wave of technology usually end up dying out faster and getting left behind by newer, better systems pretty quickly.  Remember the Sega Dreamcast?  I think Nintendo of all people would be acutely aware of the dangers of falling into that trap.

This.  Sony and Microsoft just rolled major hardware peripherals so I'm certain they won't be doing any new console stuff this year at E3 - just more stuff to do with Kinect and Move.  The 3DS will only be a few months old by E3 so Nintendo will have a huge focus on more stuff for that and I VERY seriously doubt they'll be announcing anything about a new console so close to releasing the 3DS.

That said, I've been looking over the list of launch window titles and I've actually got enough that are coming out reasonably close to launch that I'm probably going to go pre-order one of these this weekend just so I don't have to wonder about it being sold out later as more games roll out that I want.  Plus it plays DS and DSi stuff, so it's not like I won't have anything to play.

Also, three words:  Paper Mario 3DS

[dark-daventry]

I would imagine they'd want to wait until Sony and Microsoft are closer to wanting to announce a new system--systems that come out too early for the next wave of technology usually end up dying out faster and getting left behind by newer, better systems pretty quickly.  Remember the Sega Dreamcast?  I think Nintendo of all people would be acutely aware of the dangers of falling into that trap.

This.  Sony and Microsoft just rolled major hardware peripherals so I'm certain they won't be doing any new console stuff this year at E3 - just more stuff to do with Kinect and Move.  The 3DS will only be a few months old by E3 so Nintendo will have a huge focus on more stuff for that and I VERY seriously doubt they'll be announcing anything about a new console so close to releasing the 3DS.

That said, I've been looking over the list of launch window titles and I've actually got enough that are coming out reasonably close to launch that I'm probably going to go pre-order one of these this weekend just so I don't have to wonder about it being sold out later as more games roll out that I want.  Plus it plays DS and DSi stuff, so it's not like I won't have anything to play.

Also, three words:  Paper Mario 3DS

I agree with Sony and Microsoft focusing more on Move and Kinect. That should absolutely be the focus for them; as for Nintendo, while all of that is certainly valid, I don't think they can devote the entire press conference to the 3DS. I imagine a big portion will be taken up by the 3DS, but there has to be something else at the end. I'm hoping at least for a major new peripheral for the Wii. We haven't heard anything on the Vitality sensor in a while (though that may well be for the best; i've been really skeptical about the vitality sensor since day one, and according to rumors, its been scrapped anyway). Perhaps a new peripheral will be shown off. But Nintendo really has to announce a new home console by E3 2012. Not doing so is a big mistake for them.

Also, I have photos of my Gamestop's GBA box, and I will upload them to this thread when I figure out how to get photos off my ipod Touch...

[MusicallyInspired]

Also, three words:  Paper Mario 3DS

Haha. To that I have three words: What's the point? It's PAPER. lol 

[Lambonius]

Also, three words:  Paper Mario 3DS

Haha. To that I have three words: What's the point? It's PAPER. lol 

Heh...I get where you're coming from, but I must also point out--imagine them doing it like a pop-up book.  That could conceivably be a really sweet display of the 3DS's technology.  Just sayin'.