Oh, brother. Here we go again. Just over a year after Nintendo's own Reggie Fils-Aime
denied the existence of a forthcoming
Wii HD, the bigwig is having to make that very same denial again. Naturally, a few new rumors of an HD-enabled Wii have
surfaced since that fateful day in October of 2008, and with the
recent price drop, it made sense to think that the Big N might actually be looking ahead. Instead, it seems that it's perfectly content selling hundreds of thousands of consoles that want nothing to do with modern amenities like "HDMI," "1080i" and "things that the PS3 and Xbox 360
have offered since day one." The man's exact quote?
"I don't know how forcefully we can say there is no Wii HD."
And Reggie, we don't know how much more forcefully you can continue to break our hearts.
[Via
Joystiq]
posted Nov 6th 2009 12:52PM
Nintendo is certainly reveling in the now than looking ahead to the future. Shouldn't they be a little concerned on how Natal and the PS3 motion controller could possibly make them irrelevant in the future?
Come on. We all know they likely have the Wii's successor in development. The question becomes more about what price point they want to meet when talking about the HW specs.
HDMI is pretty standard nowadays. For them to not include it in the next console would be pretty damn short sighted.
They are not talking about a successor - what they're referring to is an HD version of the Wii.
@GodFail
While the incremental updates model works (well) for the Gameboy devices, I don't think it would work for the Wii since it's significantly more expensive to purchase the later and people won't buy it if it's not a "worthy" purchase over what they currently have; With the term "Worthy" being the right combination of "I think it's awesome!" vs "I want the latest and greatest" vs. I have enough disposable income" that's applicable to that individual.
For me to hand over my money, It would have to be a substantial update that enables a lot more than just HD output. Because it's quite likely that the existing library of games won't see any benefit from the improved hardware.
@Randy:
I agree with you - I'm just pointing out that engadget are the ones who are referring to a Wii 1.1 instead of a successor.
Until Wii games are more in depth instead of just being gimmicky, they won't get any of my money.
Not that they need my money. They are already making plenty of it.
I can't tell who is saying the xbox 360 had HDMI from day one, joystiq.com or Reggie of Nintendo? or did engadgethd.com add that?
I thought the 360 got HDMI after day 1
Also till there is a Wii HD on the self with a SKU there is no Wii HD, there will be one, but someone needs to buy up all the old stock of Wii SD first
It was enadget that added it - the 360 took over a year to get HDMI and games are still limited to 720p to this day.
The novelty of the Wii has worn off.
Yes of COURSE there's a Wii successor in the works, and of COURSE is supports HD. Notice how he uses the present tense in his denial.
What Reggie wants us to do is not delay buying a that Wii that we want in order to wait for the HD edition. A price drop is just a price drop, and it's meant to stimulate Wii buying, not pave the way for the next generation.
Basically, the only information he conveys is that there won't be an HD console announced at CES 2010.
Will they announce one by the end of 2011? They would be idiotic not to.
They milked the Wii cow pretty well, the price drop will probably help them, but really, I don't see why there isn't an HDMI model coming, if he's not weaseling or lying, then Nintendo is stupid. Nintendo is probably doing some preliminary work on a console two generations beyond Wii, to not do so is shortsighted, product development is supposed to be that forward-looking.
From what I've seen, pretty much every TV now sold has HDMI. It would be a great upsell opportunity. The Wii has games that I want, but not badly enough to figure out why it didn't work with my projector. Also, Wii video signal just doesn't seem to upscale well for me. Something that can at least render 720p would be nice, even though it's the same low polygon count on the models, it would still clean up the look a lot.
Ok, come on, nothing here says there is no successor in the works. All the "stupid" and "idiotic" accusations are unwarranted, Nintendo has proven time and again that they are a forward looking company...
well, yes and no.
While the motion controller for the Wii was forward looking...they then went ahead and didn't incorporate HD...A BIG downside, and its hardware was/is just as powerful as the Xbox which came out in 2001!
Nintendo's (console) sales are still pretty good, usually beating the 360 and PS3...but its been slipping, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the Wii's successor come out in time for Christmas 2010.
Actually, you're wrong about the power when compared to an Xbox. It's probably about 1.75 times the power of an Xbox, if you know anything about the architecture of both systems you would know this.
No HD is definitely a downer...but that was the tradeoff to keep the cost of all the hardware at the $250 pricepoint. Nintendo has reclaimed the #1 spot after over 10 years so they obviously have it right....meanwhile, Sony and Microsoft are still trying to get their act together to compete with the Wii.
Christmas 2010? That's 1 year away...not going to happen. 2011, possibly. The Wii is only now about to get its first price drop...and will most likely sell well into 2014. Sales are slipping for the entire industry, not just the Wii....take a look.
The main reason I haven't bought a Wii = No HD.
Something about SD games on a 100" screen is just a turn off.
Who cares about wii. When we going to get some info on XBOX 3 and PS 4?
With the name T-bone and bragging on your 100 inches....you must be packing...2 game controllers in your pocket.
Yes, because we all know that graphics > gameplay. Jesus, you people sound like a bunch of spoiled, whiny brats. Seriously.
Dude, don't come into a forum and label people like that. Not cool.
I don't see what the problem is here. HD is the here and now, why are they avoiding this? I'll admit, I've seen Wii games on a huge screen and it looks fine, but why wouldn't they want to add HD to the selling points? Does it add that much to the cost of a console?
The problem is that we're talking about a Wii that only has games in 480p getting an HD upgrade for, basically, no reason. We're not talking about the successor to the Wii, we're talking about the current system. It's completely senseless to release another version of the same system that will get virtually no benefit from the change in hardware when we're not that far off from the next generation of systems (2011-2014).
Also, up until just this year, it was too hard for them to even keep the current hardware in stock, and they're still concerned about releasing a black Wii in the US because it would create shortages of one system and overstock of the other. It's just not going to happen.
I think we all know by now that if we want HD gaming, we go for the Xbox 360 or PS3, whereas the Wii can provide us with the unique experiences we can't get elsewhere. Until Natal and The Wand come out, of course!
You make me cry.