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The Game Hardware News & Rumors Thread
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Robo
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Join Date: Jul 2004
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2011-04-13, 19:51

Now that we have this shiny new forum for video game talk (making this old thread irrelevant), I think a thread for game hardware news/speculation would be useful.

First up: a Wii prce drop to $149? Sources say yes! And common sense agrees: the Xbox has been outselling the Wii for months now, and the Wii's 2009 price drop and 2010 Wii Sports Resort packing-in haven't turned the tides. Remote Plus or no, the Wii really should undercut the much more advanced Xbox in price.

I still think we're going to see a new Nintendo console this year. Nintendo's the only company that hasn't committed to a ten-year console cycle and they're the only company who's seeing their console sales "wind down." They've released a new console every five years like clockwork, after all, and by all appearances this is looking like 2006 all over again. New handheld in Q1, new console with new Zelda in Q4...

I think any "Wii HD" will use the same remotes, since the Wii Remote Plus just came out last fall. That way, people who already have four remotes/nunchucks/wheels/classic controllers can just switch out the box — assuming they have MotionPluses, of course. And it will support Nintendo's upcoming eShop platform — I don't think Nintendo's planning on having the 3DS have a better store experience for long. Thoughts?

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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Maciej
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Join Date: May 2004
 
2011-04-13, 19:58

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robo View Post
I think any "Wii HD" will use the same remotes, since the Wii Remote Plus just came out last fall. That way, people who already have four remotes/nunchucks/wheels/classic controllers can just switch out the box — assuming they have MotionPluses, of course. And it will support Nintendo's upcoming eShop platform — I don't think Nintendo's planning on having the 3DS have a better store experience for long. Thoughts?
Does that really make sense though? Won't they want to sell you a whole new set of accessories?
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Robo
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2011-04-13, 20:08

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maciej View Post
Does that really make sense though? Won't they want to sell you a whole new set of accessories?
True, I mean this is Nintendo, but I think they might be more concerned about buy-in, at this point. They want to keep all the people with Wiis entrenched, which means jumping ship to a competing platform can't be just as cheap (or cheaper).

Any "Wii HD" will almost certainly be more expensive than an equally-HD Xbox, and possibly the same price as an Xbox and a Kinect. But if Casual Gamer Jill knows that her family won't have to buy all that plastic shit again with the Wii HD, they're more likely to stay in Nintendo's ecosystem.

And I'm sure Nintendo will come out with new accessories, like an official camera or something.

I forgot to mention this earlier, but Reason #1 I think Nintendo is up to something: what are their internal studios working on? Pretty much all of their recent/upcoming games are outsourced. Wii Party was developed by Nd Cube. FlingSmash was developed by Artoon. Kirby's Epic Yarn was developed by Good-Feel and HAL. Donkey Kong Country Returns was developed by Retro. Mario Sports Mix was developed by Square Enix. Pilotwings Resort was developed by Monster Games. Even OoT 3D is being developed by Grezzo. What's Nintendo EAD, NST, &c. up to? It has to be more than just Wii Play Motion and Skyward Sword. And Skyward Sword could end up being a Wii HD game, anyway...

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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Maciej
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2011-04-14, 20:48

Jeez Robo, do you have a crystal ball or something? Your timing with these posts is impeccable, you seem to have a good grasp on the state of the industry (or industries, I should say).

User formally known as Sh0eWax
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Robo
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2011-04-15, 19:34

Now there's a rumor that the Wii HD controller will be a 6" tablet. (Don't worry, it's got buttons.)

Even with a low-quality resistive screen, that sounds prohibitively expensive. But maybe Nintendo's making their own stand-alone tablet, and that can be used as a controller in some Wii HD games?

Also, Nintendo sold 400,000 3DSes in its first five days on the US market, and Sony has shipped 50 million PS3s.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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kscherer
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2011-04-15, 22:18

The Xbox 720 is due xmas 2034. Does that help?
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Robo
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2011-04-20, 07:00

Quote:
Originally Posted by kscherer View Post
The Xbox 720 is due xmas 2034. Does that help?
Try 2015.

In unrelated news, Sony has officially canned the PSP go. It's pretty much their Game Boy micro, now.
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Maciej
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Join Date: May 2004
 
2011-04-21, 22:05

Kotaku has an interesting take on the next generation Nintendo console. They're reporting a controller that includes a 6.2" touch screen, which should be a big deal combined with some traditional tactile input - kind of the best of both worlds. They also suggest it may be optional and envision a usage scenario where one player uses the new fangled uber controller and another user plays with the Wii-mote. I'm kind of curious how much such a touch screen based controller would cost, ~$200? Might be pricy...

User formally known as Sh0eWax
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Maciej
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2011-04-22, 14:37

My bad, I didn't see your post about this above... *feels foolish*
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Robo
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2011-04-22, 14:47

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maciej View Post
My bad, I didn't see your post about this above... *feels foolish*
It's okay. I wasn't going to say anything.

I share the same reservations with everybody else...a 6.2" touchscreen? On the controller? Sounds expensive. But I could totally see Nintendo making a cheap and compact "game tablet," kind of like a Nook Color for games. (Project Cafe just sounds like a codename for a mobile device, not for something that stays in your living room.) Such a device could be used in conjunction with the Wii HD for some games.

One of the rumored "revolutionary" controllers for the original Wii, back in the "Revolution" days, was a touchscreen. Nintendo was later dismissive, saying that they considered touchscreen controllers — they had apparently promised revolutionary controllers before they were quite sure what they would be (!!!) — but abandoned them as too similar to the DS. It sounds like five years, 150 million DSes and three blockbuster touch Apple products later, what's old is new again.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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Robo
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2011-04-25, 05:07

Nintendo has confirmed that they are working on a new console for release in 2012, and that a playable version will be unveiled at E3 in June.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Engadget
Nintendo's net sales of $12.4 billion for the period ending on March 31st 2011 was 29 percent less than it tallied during the previous year, while its $825 million of net profit was also a staggering 66 percent lower than it earned last year. The 3DS has sold well so far, reaching 3.61 million transactions worldwide, but the Wii is down to 15 million global sales, which marks a 25 percent contraction from its FY2009 total of 20 million.
Sounds like they could really use a new console now. But the earthquake probably threw a wrench in the works.

The very short press release (PDF) notes that they're not including Wii 2 sales in their FY2011 figures, so that means no 3DS-style Q1 launch, either.

Nintendo has sold over 86 million Wiis to date, but their lead has been narrowing. It's interesting that this is the first generation in which all major consoles have shipped/sold over 50 million units. (Even in the SNES/Genesis days, with only two major entrants, the Genesis only sold about 40 million.) It's not like the last generation at all, where two consoles sold less than 25 million and the third sold 150 million and counting...all three modern platforms have been successful.

That's a lot of 3DSes for just a month (two in Japan) on the market, though. If it had been out for the holidays, Nintendo's FY2010 net profit might not be looking so bad right about now.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong

Last edited by Robo : 2011-04-25 at 05:36.
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jdcfsu
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2011-04-25, 06:36

I was playing some Wii sports last night for the fist time in a long while. Nintendo's presumption that "HD doesn't matter" for the original Wii was a horrible one. While still fun, the graphics are laughable on my two-month old big screen. For Nintendo's sake, I hope this next system helps actually being them into the next-gen market.
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Robo
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2011-04-25, 06:49

It'll bring them into the this-gen market, until the PS4, &c. hit. Basically, Nintendo is rejecting the "pay twice as much for the console but it lasts twice as long" life-cycle Sony and MS claim to have moved to. They're taking half-steps, but they're going to take twice as many of them, so half the time they'll be a generation or so behind and half the time they'll be on par with the others. Maybe.

What I'm really looking for in a new Nintendo console is a better fucking online offering. It is ridiculous, in this day and age, that your purchases are tied to your system and not to an account. I'd love to build up a library of Virtual Console and "3D Classics" games, but there's no way I'm going to invest hundreds of dollars in digital content until I'm sure that I'll be able to transfer it all to new hardware. Hopefully Nintendo's upcoming eShop platform fixes this, once and for all — it's really inexcusable to tie purchases to individual hardware.

I should be able to buy a VC game once and play it on both the 3DS and the Wii 2. This isn't rocket science.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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dmegatool
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2011-04-25, 08:48

I wonder how they'll make people upgrade. I mean they sold shit load of Wiis to people like my parents, grand-parents, ... Theses people won't be upgrading for a wii HD or whatever new graphics it will bring. They bought the wii cause it was a new way to play video games. Not sure that new controller with a screen can appeal to such a market.
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Robo
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2011-05-03, 10:28

To save you all the trouble of braving Kotaku, they're reporting that this month's $149 Wii will include Mario Kart Wii, not Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort, echoing a rumor I heard before. They're also reporting that Nintendo will at long last introduce a "Wii Select" line of budget re-releases for $20 a pop. The initial slate? Zelda: Twilight Princess (finally!), Super Smash Bros. Brawl (finally!), Mario Super Sluggers (huh?), and the original Wii Sports (since it will no longer be included with the system).

If we all cross our fingers and wish real hard, we might even see the original Mario Galaxy for $20 by years' end.

EDIT: It's official, with Animal Crossing: City Folk instead of SSBB as a budget "Nintendo Selects" title.



Tacky box art is tacky.

Last edited by Robo : 2011-05-04 at 03:56.
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Wyatt
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2011-05-04, 07:18

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robo View Post
Tacky box art is tacky.
Indeed. But my games live inside a drawer, unseen, anyway. I barely care about the box.

Any idea when the price drops are supposed to happen? I'd like to pick up Twilight Princess, Animal Crossing and [random PS3 game] used the next time Game Stop has a Buy 2 Get 1 sale.

Twitter: bwyatt | Xbox: @playsbadly | Instagram: @bw317
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Robo
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2011-05-04, 07:42

May 15.
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torifile
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2011-05-04, 08:30

Where did this meme start? [adjective] [noun] is [adjective]?
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bassplayinMacFiend
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2011-05-06, 08:43

Quote:
Originally Posted by torifile View Post
Where did this meme start? [adjective] [noun] is [adjective]?
You mean like "dead cat is dead?"

Not sure, maybe it came along with lolcatz?
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Wyatt
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2011-05-06, 08:50

Quote:
Originally Posted by torifile View Post
Where did this meme start? [adjective] [noun] is [adjective]?
The Simpsons, apparently.

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/x-y-is...-are-redundant
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torifile
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2011-05-06, 10:03

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wyatt View Post
Awesomesauce is awesome.
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Robo
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2011-05-06, 14:00

Wuh-oh.

Microsoft possibly developing new console for 2012

Sounds like this might not be a ten-year cycle for the Xbox.
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jdcfsu
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2011-05-07, 06:51

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robo View Post
Wuh-oh.

Microsoft possibly developing new console for 2012

Sounds like this might not be a ten-year cycle for the Xbox.
I don't remember where I read it, but MS came out yesterday and said those rumors were false. I would, however, find it hard to believe they don't have a plan for a new system but maybe the timing is off or something.

90% of statistics can be made to say anything 50% of the time.
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Robo
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2011-05-19, 12:48

TT Games has announced that LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 will be available for the Xbox, Wii, PS33, DS, 3DS, PSP, and NGP this holiday season. This is the first confirmation we have that Sony's Next Generation Portable will be released (in North America, at least) this year.

Sony had previously stated that they hoped to launch the NGP in at least one region this holiday, but there's been conflicting reports since then on whether the disaster in Japan had caused delays. The PSP turns seven on December 12.

The NGP features a 5" QHD touchscreen, a quad-core processor, and two analog sticks. It ditches the UMD spinner for DS-style game cards, and at least some models will feature GPS and 3G cellular connectivity. A price has not been announced.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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bassplayinMacFiend
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2011-05-19, 12:51

MS has announced a back to school sale with a free Xbox 360 with a >$699 PC purchase. Stores will take student IDs while online orders need to be connected to a .edu email account.
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jdcfsu
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2011-05-19, 16:05

Quote:
Originally Posted by bassplayinMacFiend View Post
MS has announced a back to school sale with a free Xbox 360 with a >$699 PC purchase. Stores will take student IDs while online orders need to be connected to a .edu email account.
This is a strange promotion. How does MS benefit if I but a $700 Dell computer? Obviously they get some sort of kickback on the Windows license, but does that merit the value of the 360?

90% of statistics can be made to say anything 50% of the time.
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Robo
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2011-05-19, 16:42

There's already a thread discussing the promotion in General Discussion.
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Robo
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2011-05-25, 00:35

This isn't news or rumors, only speculation, but I think the Wii successor will be called the...wait for it...Wii 2.

Sounds obvious, but Nintendo's never named a system like that before (and neither has any other console/handheld manufacturer except Sony*). I have several reasons for thinking this, but most are obvious and would take way too long to type so meh. Less obviously, Nintendo has deliberately avoided using "2" in any of the sequels to their Wii Series games. The sequel to Wii Fit was Wii Fit Plus. The sequel to Wii Sports was Wii Sports Resort. The sequel to Wii Play is Wii Play Motion. I think they're saving 2 for a matching line of sequels for their new system. They don't want them to be like Mario Party, where it's like, wait, which system was Mario Party 4 on?**

Also, Apple started numbering their products sequentially, and Nintendo likes to follow Apple.

*) I'm not including 1978's Odyssey², which used an exponent, or 1997's Majesco-made Genesis 3, which was not a new console but merely the third major Genesis revision. So nyah.

**) Rhetorical question.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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Brad
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2011-05-25, 07:17

Virtual Super Wii Boy Cube 2 Entertainment System Lite. You heard it here first.
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drewprops
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2011-05-25, 07:32

Brad!!! Get the domain!!!
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