Wii 2 to include brain control or bodysuit? - Speculation mounts
By Dave Parrack
The Nintendo Wii has sold in huge quantities so far in every territory around the world, and continues to do so even after being on sale for almost two years. But at this stage of proceedings, many fans and analysts alike are looking forward to the next generation, and what Nintendo may have up its sleeve for the Wii 2.
The speculation began after Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed that Nintendo was working on the next generation of hardware, though no release date or features were ever mentioned. But where does Nintendo go from here? Is it going to simply be a case of upping the graphical power and tweaking a winning system? Or is the Wii 2 likely to be another innovating console aimed at changing the way we game?
There really are two schools of thought here, and both have their advantages for Nintendo. The fans have been talking up the innovation strategy, arguing the case for Nintendo to carry on the path they’ve started to tread by offering an alternative to the traditional gaming offered by the PS3 and Xbox 360.
The Wii offers basic motion sensing control options, but Nintendo could go a lot further. We’ve already seen how neural headset technology is becoming affordable and user-friendly enough that some companies are pitching the idea to games developers, but it would a brave move for Nintendo to go down that route. While the real-life physics involved in the Wii Remote have enticed casual gamers in, offering the chance to control games with the mind is just as likely to put people off.
Others have suggested a full body suit which would capture every single movement of the body and basically make you the star of the game, but the costs involved in that must surely make it a no-go. Then there is the fact that you’d look like a complete turd while playing games with a full bodysuit on - imagine the adverts trying to sell that!
The pricing issue is going to be a key component, and it’s one that Hiroshi Kamide, a games analyst at KBC Financial Products, thinks will be the final decision maker for Nintendo. He told Times Online:
The casual gamer’s tastes today are pretty basic but they won’t be in five or ten years’ time.
The ones who came into gaming with the Wii are going to become more demanding and Nintendo will not be able to fob them off with the level of graphics and processing it is offering in the Wii today. Nintendo has got to make a pretty tough decision about whether the next Wii is going to be evolution or revolution.
For this reason, it seems evolution is the sensible option. If Nintendo was to launch the successor to the Wii in 3 years time, it could probably install graphics chips and processing power on a par with what the Xbox 360 offers now, while still keeping production and retail costs at a low enough level to make huge profits.
I personally think Nintendo will wring every cent out of the Wii before evolving it slightly in to a graphically superior model with a slightly more accurate control system and better storage capabilities. Meanwhile, Nintendo will begin work on its next but one console, and that will be the really revolutionary one. This is almost exactly what Shigeru Miyamoto thinks will happen, and he should know.
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August 9th, 2008
remember in the fifties and sixties how people “speculated” or “predicted” that by the year 2000 we would be using hover cars (like the jetsons) and would have colonised the moon??
we all know how that turned out…
August 10th, 2008
I really hope Nintendo go ahead with the brain control thing and come out with a massive fail. They’ve really let me down this generation so I hope that from now they go bankrupt (not gonna happen is it lol) and that they just become software publishers, like SEGA.
Just think, Zelda on my lovely PS3…
August 10th, 2008
NES -> SNES, N64 -> GC, nintendos pattern seem to be a revolution to evolution. innovation then improvement. so i guess they won’t be going go for a risk for their next console. maybe they’ll just improve whatever the wii is lacking. PS3 like power / graphics (can be more), nice online capabilities, more space, and a bluray drive. besides, of the 3 consoles today, the wii have lots of room for improvement.
August 10th, 2008
Nintendo intoduces a new control system every 2 generations so far. Likely the PS4 will get motion controls like the Wii, and the next version of the Xbox may very well go there, as well. Nintendo will most likely keep the controls around with a few tweeks for the next generation, then something new after that.
The ones that came into gaming with the Wii, I think we will see in the end, are few, and just a natural progression. The Wii has done a good job of bringing BACK people that haven’t cared much about games recently. I don’t think we’ll ever need anything much stronger than the Wii. Consoles don’t need super powerful systems to look good.
You can’t get more lifelike than perfectly lifelike, and we can almost do that this gen (if not on the Wii). Nintendo will get more power in the next generations, but it won’t need to be as much as the Times Online article seems to lead the reader to believe.
August 10th, 2008
More power is needed! If Nintendo releases another shallow Wii next gen. then I am taking a break from Nintendo.
I’m all for making gaming ‘bigger’ but is it really the same ‘gaming’ when you’re pushing one button or waggling your hand - which is great until you realise you don’t need to make ANY motion, just waggle to get the same effect.
I really used to hate the ‘hardcore’ gamer term, but these days its starting to grow on me and I’d prefer to be a hardcore gamer playing games with 4+ buttons than just a ‘gamer’, i guess…
August 10th, 2008
i agree with matt and sw, for sw, the wii needs more power, for matt, power like the PS3 or alttle more will be enough.
sw, as for the waggle part, it is a bit true that you can easily substitute a button for each waggle or tilt. but that is for the wiimote. wiimote w/ motion+ is a really really different story.
see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acND4sO3pJs
hmmm. i think i want a ff8 sword fighting game. the gunblade is a perfect fit to the wiimote.. =p