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[REMEMBER CITADEL]

To your first point (even if it wasn't directed at me) if the network of the console can sell it, I would be extremely confused, seriously GAMES sell consoles, that is what has sold every console ever...

In this age of multifunctional devices, I think it's more appropriate to say that experiences sell consoles, some of which are game-related. Sure, games sell hardware, but it's not just games anymore. A lot of people bought PS3 in its early days strictly for its Blu-ray playback functionality, the same with PS2 and DVD. In the same way network services do sell hardware to some people and households.

And while it technically may be correct that it was Wii Sports that sold the Wii, it wouldn't even be possible in its current form without Wii's motion control capabilities. Likewise, Dance Central wouldn't become as popular if it was just another dancemat game. That's what was the primary driver behind Wii's and Kinect's success, the new experience of interacting. Without it the Wii would probably be just a repeat of Nintendo's previous two generations - a profitable system with some great games, but a relatively meager market share.

My guess is this next generation is only a 5-year cycle for Nintendo and they release the successor to the Wii U sometime in 2017.

I don't think that's their aim, certainly not after their comments on how they failed with the Wii. They want Wii U to last as long as possible.

 

[Gravijah]

I wouldn't be OK with Metal Gear Solid 1-level graphics during the PS2-GC-XBOX era.

I wouldn't be OK with Ninja Gaiden Black-level graphics during the PS360 era.

And I won't be OK with Mass Effect 3-level graphics when the next-gen comes.

And the problem here isn't 3rd party games, anyone who is not a blind fanboy can play all these games on a proper next-gen console. The problem is that holding back two of my favorite series (Zelda and Metroid) into last-gen experiences, disappoints the hell out of me.

some of the best games of last generation came out on the ps2 years and years after this generation started. it has nothing to do with being a fanboy, and everything to do with playing a game because of what it is and not what i want it to be.

 

[frostbyte]

It doesn't seem any different from "Nintendoooomed / going third party / 'only for kids'" to be honest.

It's just a hate based on success rather than perceived failure now.

My point still stands. People are not going to be coming in droves to adopt the Wii U as the next console just because of HD Mario. Nintendo don't just want the casual pie, they want the core gamer pie. They're going to have to conform to the industry standards of online infrastructure. Sure, they could just make HD Nintendo games and still get a tidy profit on Wii Us sold this way. However, they could potentially have so much more sales by becoming a contender for people's main console by having 3rd parties on board their system from day one for once.

 

[z0m3le]

You know, thinking about this more, Mark Rein said something like Next generation consoles won't use UE4 for their launch games... If this is in fact the case, then Wii U would have roughly 3 years to grow it's market to appeal to 3rd parties before it starts to show it's age... (which could be a down res from 1080p to 720p to keep up with the other consoles, since it would only require half the power for 720p)

and by the beginning of the 4th year, people would expect the next Nintendo console to start to be talked about anyways (2016) the PS4/Xbox3's graphics superiority might be much smaller a problem then people are thinking... As for games, well by then Nintendo will have released all their big 1st parties including Smash brothers and Zelda, so I am sure the console will have a strong base by then.

I really don't see 3rd parties not porting to the Wii U with all these factors.

My point still stands. People are not going to be coming in droves to adopt the Wii U as the next console just because of HD Mario. Nintendo don't just want the casual pie, they want the core gamer pie. They're going to have to conform to the industry standards of online infrastructure. Sure, they could just make HD Nintendo games and still get a tidy profit on Wii Us sold this way. However, they could potentially have so much more sales by becoming a contender for people's main console by having 3rd parties on board their system from day one for once.

They know this, that is why they are working so hard on NN, maybe you can talk about what 3DS doesn't have that you want to see, that might be more productive.

 

[Shadow of the BEAST]

most unreal engine games did not use ue3 in the beginning of this gen. Gears was the first.

games like bioshock used ue2,5.

 

[MrNyarlathotep]

However, they could potentially have so much more sales by becoming a contender for people's main console by having 3rd parties on board their system from day one for once.

How do they do that? Do you honestly think they don't want to do that?

They paid for all of EAs development costs for the Gamecube, it didn't help.

They left huge gaps in their release schedules for the Wii on the assumption that third parties could fill those gaps (as that has been a long running complaint by third parties - that 'nintendo owners' only buy 'nintendo games') but that didn't help.

A lot of publishers and retailers (and consumers) are eager for a new generation of consoles with more powerful hardware - which is what the WiiU is providing, and being first to do so.
Will that help?

I mean, there are a lot of reasons why Wii third party support was so undeniably shitty, but a large number of those reasons were not down to nintendo but to the third parties themselves.

 

[Shadow of the BEAST]

3rd parties will never fully embrace a nintendo console.

For the simple reason that nintendo consoles does not exist to sell 3rd party games, like playstation and xbox is.

Nintendo consoles exist to sell nintendo games.

there is quite a huge difference in philosophy.

 

[frostbyte]

You know, thinking about this more, Mark Rein said something like Next generation consoles won't use UE4 for their launch games... If this is in fact the case, then Wii U would have roughly 3 years to grow it's market to appeal to 3rd parties before it starts to show it's age... (which could be a down res from 1080p to 720p to keep up with the other consoles, since it would only require half the power for 720p)

and by the beginning of the 4th year, people would expect the next Nintendo console to start to be talked about anyways (2016) the PS4/Xbox3's graphics superiority might be much smaller a problem then people are thinking... As for games, well by then Nintendo will have released all their big 1st parties including Smash brothers and Zelda, so I am sure the console will have a strong base by then.

I really don't see 3rd parties not porting to the Wii U with all these factors.

They know this, that is why they are working so hard on NN, maybe you can talk about what 3DS doesn't have that you want to see, that might be more productive.

We've already had three developers, Crystal Dynamics, DICE and Irrational Games saying they aren't porting over games. I'm expecting more along down the road. It's going to be a long and hard path for Nintendo. Your scenario makes sense but it's better to be pessimistic.

I consider handhelds are different beast altogether. Expectations are lowered in the public's perception and the handheld scene has traditionally prospered through local multiplayer, not online. And handhelds are usually supported much more by the East than the West anyway, so securing third parties isn't as important for the 3DS than the Wii U.

 

[frostbyte]

How do they do that? Do you honestly think they don't want to do that?

They paid for all of EAs development costs for the Gamecube, it didn't help.

They left huge gaps in their release schedules for the Wii on the assumption that third parties could fill those gaps (as that has been a long running complaint by third parties - that 'nintendo owners' only buy 'nintendo games') but that didn't help.

A lot of publishers and retailers (and consumers) are eager for a new generation of consoles with more powerful hardware - which is what the WiiU is providing, and being first to do so.
Will that help?

I mean, there are a lot of reasons why Wii third party support was so undeniably shitty, but a large number of those reasons were not down to nintendo but to the third parties themselves.

Yes, that's a valid complaint. So should Nintendo just ditch all efforts on working with 3rd parties and focus solely on supporting their console all by themselves like every console after the SNES?

If they slowly work on chipping down the stigma by providing a vibrant console for devs to work on, they might be able to not become the odd one out always. They've already made steps by licensing Havok and Autodesk game dev tools to any prospective Wii U developer for free. They've already got a more traditional controller and hopefully a competent online system. At least some third parties want profit from the Wii U install base. Maybe one day Nintendo can have third party support on the same scale as the SNES. This is all speculation though.

 

[REMEMBER CITADEL]

You know, thinking about this more, Mark Rein said something like Next generation consoles won't use UE4 for their launch games... If this is in fact the case, then Wii U would have roughly 3 years to grow it's market to appeal to 3rd parties before it starts to show it's age...

That doesn't necessarily mean much. It all depends on differences between Wii U, Durango and PS4 hardware (mostly the power, but input devices as well) and perhaps even online infrastructures. Yes, launch games probably won't be using UE4, just like this generation's launch games weren't using UE3. That still didn't result in BioShock or Splinter Cell (both running on modified UE2 tech) being ported down to Wii. So while Wii U can handle the likes of Assassin's Creed 3, probably even better than Xbox 360 and PS3, it might not be able to handle something like Samaritan or Assassin's Creed 4.

By the way, one thing to keep in mind is that more computational power doesn't mean just better graphics, it can enable experiences that are simply not possible on lower spec machines.

 

[z0m3le]

We've already had three developers, Crystal Dynamics, DICE and Irrational Games saying they aren't porting over games. I'm expecting more along down the road. It's going to be a long and hard path for Nintendo. Your scenario makes sense but it's better to be pessimistic.

I consider handhelds are different beast altogether. Expectations are lowered in the public's perception and the handheld scene has traditionally prospered through local multiplayer, not online. And handhelds are usually supported much more by the East than the West anyway, so securing third parties isn't as important for the 3DS than the Wii U.

Nah, screw that, put me on the hype train, I am excited about completely realistic things, and if the console doesn't get every 3rd party that goes multiplatform, I don't think it will be because of the network, 3DS's seems pretty good so far, in a year and if they just share the network, Wii U's should be where SEN is at that time.

Dice said they were interested in bringing games to the platform, just not BF3, that is understandable, now if BF2143 doesn't come to the platform or whatever, I will scratch my head there, but BF3 is already a year old when Wii U releases.

also just to touch on the handheld thing again, the network is all I am talking about, it's likely shared, so anything 3DS can do right now, will extend to Wii U network-wise.

That doesn't necessarily mean much. It all depends on differences between Wii U, Durango and PS4 hardware (mostly the power, but input devices as well) and perhaps even online infrastructures. Yes, launch games probably won't be using UE4, just like this generation's launch games weren't using UE3. That still didn't result in BioShock or Splinter Cell (both running on modified UE2 tech) being ported down to Wii. So while Wii U can handle the likes of Assassin's Creed 3, probably even better than Xbox 360 and PS3, it might not be able to handle something like Samaritan or Assassin's Creed 4.

By the way, one thing to keep in mind is that more computational power doesn't mean just better graphics, it can enable experiences that are simply not possible on lower spec machines.

Wii didn't use modern shaders, it wasn't a problem with performance, it was a problem of architecture... Power can be scaled back, look at vita for instance, it's far less powerful than PS3, but I doubt you'll run into a problem where you couldn't down port a game to that system. Wii U will use modern shaders, the difference between it and PS4/Xbox3 will be far far less than Wii and PS360.

 

[REMEMBER CITADEL]

Wii didn't use modern shaders, it wasn't a problem with performance, it was a problem of architecture... Power can be scaled back, look at vita for instance, it's far less powerful than PS3, but I doubt you'll run into a problem where you couldn't down port a game to that system. Wii U will use modern shaders, the difference between it and PS4/Xbox3 will be far far less than Wii and PS360.

Again, it's not just about the visuals. For instance, a large scale open-world game like Oblivion, GTAIV or Burnout Paradise just couldn't be ported down to Wii without it resulting in a severely crippled experience. Some more ambitious ports that were attempted (Far Cry Vengeance or Test Drive Unlimited ports to PS2 and PSP) ended up being noticeably inferior and poorly received by consumers.

 

[FyreWulff]

Again, it's not just about the visuals. For instance, a large scale open-world game like Oblivion, GTAIV or Burnout Paradise just couldn't be ported down to Wii without it resulting in a severely crippled experience. Some more ambitious ports that were attempted (Far Cry Vengeance or Test Drive Unlimited ports to PS2 and PSP) ended up being noticeably inferior and poorly received by consumers.

Far Cry Vengeance wasn't helped by the fact that they omitted half the point of the game, which was the map editor, which was bullshit since the map editor was already there on OXbox version (Vengeance was basically a portmake of the OXbox Instincts: Evolution). And they couldn't even made the OXbox version's graphics level on more powerful hardware. It honestly felt like a PS2 port that was then moved over to Wii.

It was a lazy port and Ubisoft knew it.

I mean seriously

Vengeance (which is just straight up missing textures on a lot of things)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsj4-bajfLc

Instincts Evolution (OXbox)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uome4Nf5Hgc

 

[Dabanton]

3rd parties will never fully embrace a nintendo console.

For the simple reason that nintendo consoles does not exist to sell 3rd party games, like playstation and xbox is.

Nintendo consoles exist to sell nintendo games.

there is quite a huge difference in philosophy.

Pretty much. And i expect the same with the WiiU. Three or four heavy third party bombs and i can see third parties taking a "wait and see" approach again.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

3rd parties will never fully embrace a nintendo console.

For the simple reason that nintendo consoles does not exist to sell 3rd party games, like playstation and xbox is.

Nintendo consoles exist to sell nintendo games.

there is quite a huge difference in philosophy.

3rd party games sell on Nintendo hardware.

Nintendo might make those consoles primarily to sell their own wares, but that's never stopped 3rd parties from finding success. Dragon Quest had never seen the level of sales they've had since the move to DS.

Like any platform the market has to be made before you can really prosper off of it. The issue is this odd preconception that the games are completely overshadowed by Nintendo. Final Fantasy became a big series on Nintendo consoles, Street Fighter. Western 3rd parties have found success on Nintendo consoles. Doom ports, Turok. The only prerequisite to finding an audience on any hardware is giving them games to make the console worthwhile.

A Wii with the support of the PS2 is a dangerous thing for Sony and Microsoft.

edit: Also completely unlikely.

But hell, we've seen weirder things.

 

[z0m3le]

Again, it's not just about the visuals. For instance, a large scale open-world game like Oblivion, GTAIV or Burnout Paradise just couldn't be ported down to Wii without it resulting in a severely crippled experience. Some more ambitious ports that were attempted (Far Cry Vengeance or Test Drive Unlimited ports to PS2 and PSP) ended up being noticeably inferior and poorly received by consumers.

While that is certainly an established example, Wii U's memory should be more than enough to hold an open world of that nature even if it's any number of sizes larger than those worlds, remember the GTA engine and many engines like it, stream the world to the screen, so only what is in front of you is needed to be in memory, that is why PCs have a draw distance slider on games like Skyrim.

Wii U won't be seeing those problems, and also if Wii had modern shaders, it could of actually supported versions of GTAIV or Oblivion, it would definitely not look the same, but could definitely of played the same, that is what a down port is though.

3rd party games sell on Nintendo hardware.

Nintendo might make those consoles primarily to sell their own wares, but that's never stopped 3rd parties from finding success. Dragon Quest had never seen the level of sales they've had since the move to DS.

Like any platform the market has to be made before you can really prosper off of it. The issue is this odd preconception that the games are completely overshadowed by Nintendo. Final Fantasy became a big series on Nintendo consoles, Street Fighter. Western 3rd parties have found success on Nintendo consoles. Doom ports, Turok. The only prerequisite to finding an audience on any hardware is giving them games to make the console worthwhile.

A Wii with the support of the PS2 is a dangerous thing for Sony and Microsoft.

edit: Also completely unlikely.

But hell, we've seen weirder things.

Soul Calibur 2, RE4 are also great examples as they were more recent... Rock Band also sold better on Wii than PS360, and that is with inferior audio, which should have been a huge thing for those games.

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

You know, God Of War 3 in game graphics are more impressive than this tech demo. And yeah, i know you said 360.

Gonna have to agree here. Near the end of the game when the camera is pulled in to Kratos, the detail is fucking AMAZING. Probably the most amazing this generation. And the lighting, too, when Kratos is standing there

Spoiler

with everything destroyed, and lighning.

:O

 

[Veal]

Again, it's not just about the visuals. For instance, a large scale open-world game like Oblivion, GTAIV or Burnout Paradise just couldn't be ported down to Wii without it resulting in a severely crippled experience. Some more ambitious ports that were attempted (Far Cry Vengeance or Test Drive Unlimited ports to PS2 and PSP) ended up being noticeably inferior and poorly received by consumers.

Far Cry Vengance wasn't even FINISHED. That was painfully obvious if you played it for 5 minutes.

 

[Durante]

Wii U won't be seeing those problems, and also if Wii had modern shaders, it could of actually supported versions of GTAIV or Oblivion, it would definitely not look the same, but could definitely of played the same, that is what a down port is though.

With "modern shaders" Bethesda would have made Oblivion run in 88MB. Right.

 

[POWERSPHERE]

Nintendo games won't suffer so who cares?

 

[Thunder Monkey]

With "modern shaders" Bethesda would have made Oblivion run in 88MB. Right.

They probably could have squeezed it down to 128MB, but that would be pushing it, and good God would it be ugly to get there.

The Wii would have been in a much better position visually if they'd at least have strived for a 4th of the RAM and something closer to modern in a GPU sense.

 

[z0m3le]

With "modern shaders" Bethesda would have made Oblivion run in 88MB. Right.

...Challenge accepted.

128MB Direct3D compatible video card and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver and 512MB system ram for the minimum PC settings... those settings would allow you to play the game in at least 720p btw, on an open enviroment like a pc no less...

Since windows XP took up 300MB of system memory and you'd only need a fraction of the RAM for Video Memory to run at 480i. Optimized for the hardware, you could probably get it to run even 480p on a closed system like the Wii. (again not that it would look as pretty, but it would run with modern shaders)

Edit: did some research and someone was able to run the game @ 20fps with 64mb video memory and 256mb system memory (windows xp). So in conclusion, your assumption is probably wrong.

 

[bjb]

Given how the Wii has just been an abomination in terms of graphics and games - I am not surprised by this news at all.

 

[Shion]

Again, it's not just about the visuals. For instance, a large scale open-world game like Oblivion, GTAIV or Burnout Paradise just couldn't be ported down to Wii without it resulting in a severely crippled experience. Some more ambitious ports that were attempted (Far Cry Vengeance or Test Drive Unlimited ports to PS2 and PSP) ended up being noticeably inferior and poorly received by consumers.

Exactly.

Hardware isn't only about better graphics (a very important factor though in order to achieve immersive experiences), it's also about animation, A.I., physics, bigger worlds, facial animation etc.

For me, Red Dead Redemption is one of best examples of an experience that just couldn't be achieved on last-gen hardware. A vast, cohesive, and seamless overworld with excellent graphics, absolutely no loading times (even when you get in and out of towns), great animation and an amazing attention in detail that truly makes the world of the game come alive.

In today's core gaming, where videogames are trying to be more than just games and offer experiences, hardware is a necessity.

 

[Dabanton]

Given how the Wii has just been an abomination in terms of graphics and games - I am not surprised by this news at all.

I wouldn't say that it was an abomination. I liked some of the graphics on the Wii yeah they were nowhere near the 360 or PS3 but the good games on the system were solid experiences.

The problem came with lack of variety of certain types of games. The main Wii user made clear that they had no interest in certain types of genres on the Wii.

 

[Plinko]

Given how the Wii has just been an abomination in terms of graphics and games - I am not surprised by this news at all.

For dudebro FPS? Yes, an abomination.

If you're not solely into those, though, the Wii has a decent library.

 

[z0m3le]

Exactly.

Hardware isn't only about better graphics (a very important factor though in order to achieve immersive experiences), it's also about animation, A.I., physics, bigger worlds, facial animation etc.

For me, Red Dead Redemption is one of best examples of an experience that just couldn't be achieved on last-gen hardware. A vast, cohesive, and seamless overworld with excellent graphics, absolutely no loading times (even when you get in and out of towns), great animation and an amazing attention in detail that truly makes the world of the game come alive.

In today's core gaming, where videogames are trying to be more than just games and offer experiences, hardware is a necessity.

I don't see next generation upping the ante in terms of developer time and money, they already get up to movie magic prices, and there is a higher risk that they will become flops since dvd, digital and bluray sales offset box office prices to some extent.

 

[Blablurn]

Given how the Wii has just been an abomination in terms of graphics and games - I am not surprised by this news at all.

yeah, i'm surprise no one expected this.

 

[MYE]

Given how the Wii has just been an abomination in terms of graphics and games - I am not surprised by this news at all.

Oh shit, the hyperbole police are coming

 

[Massa]

For dudebro FPS? Yes, an abomination.

If you're not solely into those, though, the Wii has a decent library.

Dudebro FPS, non-dudebro FPS, indie games, open world RPG's, action games, racing games, sports games, etc.

 

[ASIS]

I'm not sure why there is such a meltdown going on, isn't that exactly what Nintendo themselves said last year?

If this generation taught us anything. It's that power is not indicative of anything. So guys please CHILL!

 

[Haunted]

I wanted to say how people who think these graphics are "fine" now are simply lacking the foresight to see that we will be stuck with these for the span of a whole generation. What's fine in 2012 will not be fine in 2017+.

It's the same mistake I made when defending the original Wii back in 2006. Good enough at the start of a generation simply isn't good enough towards its end - doubly true when we're forced into one of the longest generations ever.

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

Wasn't Wii supposed to be two GCNs put together as far as power goes?

 

[Mondriaan]

The problem came with lack of variety of certain types of games. The main Wii user made clear that they had no interest in certain types of genres on the Wii.

My opinion is that the "main wii user" spoiled the system's variety of games. It's the reason that despite having a base similar in size to that of the PS2, you don't have the mix of games that the PS2 had. That's still okay for many people, of course.

 

[MYE]

I wanted to say how people who think these graphics are "fine" now are simply lacking the foresight to see that we will be stuck with these for the span of a whole generation. What's fine in 2012 will not be fine in 2017+.

It's the same mistake I made when defending the original Wii back in 2006. Good enough at the start of a generation simply isn't good enough towards its end - doubly true when we're forced into one of the longest generations ever.

No, i'm not lacking forsight. I dont mind being "stuck" with ps3 graphics till 2017. I'm still very comfortable with Wii graphics in 2012.

I guess i'm not a pixel counting, graphics obsessive type of gamer

 

[Averon]

I wanted to say how people who think these graphics are "fine" now are simply lacking the foresight to see that we will be stuck with these for the span of a whole generation. What's fine in 2012 will not be fine in 2017+.

It's the same mistake I made when defending the original Wii back in 2006. Good enough at the start of a generation simply isn't good enough towards its end - doubly true when we're forced into one of the longest generations ever.

Quite true. You all think this generation is long? Wait until next gen. Die shrinks are only getting more difficult and expensive to perform. This will make price drops from all three console markers more difficult and a longer wait. I would not be surprised at all if next gen runs 8 or 9 years. Imagine still dealing with PS360 level visuals in 2020.

*shudders*

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Quite true. You all think this generation is long? Wait until next gen. Die shrinks are only getting more difficult and expensive to perfrom. This will make price drops from all three console markers more difficult and a longer wait. I would not be surprised at all if next gen runs 8 or 9 years. Imagine still dealing with PS360 level visuals in 2020.

*shudders*

I'd actually prefer a generation where console makers shoot for higher IQ rather than just more.

Lots of quality AA would do wonders for these games, as some PC ports can attest.

 

[z0m3le]

I wanted to say how people who think these graphics are "fine" now are simply lacking the foresight to see that we will be stuck with these for the span of a whole generation. What's fine in 2012 will not be fine in 2017+.

It's the same mistake I made when defending the original Wii back in 2006. Good enough at the start of a generation simply isn't good enough towards its end - doubly true when we're forced into one of the longest generations ever.

3 very important things...

1. Wii vs HD twins had different resolutions, this is a much bigger factor in the graphics looking outdated then the games graphics themselves.

2. Wii U will have the same graphical effects as the PS4/Xbox3 which isn't true in our current generation at all.

3. Wii U's successor will likely come in 2018, this is only 4 years into the PS4/Xbox3's 8-10 year life span. Letting Wii3 or as I like to call it N7's box the superior console for the back end of that generation and will likely do things and have effects that PS4/Xbox3 cannot.

 

[i-Lo]

No, i'm not lacking forsight. I dont mind being "stuck" with ps3 graphics till 2017. I'm still very comfortable with Wii graphics in 2012.

I guess i'm not a pixel counting, graphics obsessive type of gamer

So anyone who cares about improving the state of graphics, is, according you a "pixel counting, graphics obsessive type of gamer"?

Classy.

Anyway, if the tech specs are true with regards to RAM amount, then we'll definitely see improvements in WiiU versions of games compared to 360/PS3 past the first gen. That said, a gap of 1.75 to 2.5 years between WiiU and XB3/PS4 doesn't ensure that third parties would be using the WiiU as their new lead system for development. Still, I think the first parties will not fail to create awe inspiring products.

 

[Gravijah]

3. Wii U's successor will likely come in 2018, this is only 4 years into the PS4/Xbox3's 8-10 year life span. Letting Wii3 or as I like to call it N7's box the superior console for the back end of that generation and will likely do things and have effects that PS4/Xbox3 cannot.

not sure where in the hell you are getting this from.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

not sure where in the hell you are getting this from.

Nintendo sticking with five to six year long generations.

Not sure I buy it myself, but we'll see.

 

[i-Lo]

3 very important things...

3. Wii U's successor will likely come in 2018, this is only 4 years into the PS4/Xbox3's 8-10 year life span. Letting Wii3 or as I like to call it N7's box the superior console for the back end of that generation and will likely do things and have effects that PS4/Xbox3 cannot.

Wishful thinking if the trend continues of Nintendo using customized older parts. Then even around 4 years the graphical improvement might be around the same magnitude as WiiU has over PS360.

 

[MrNyarlathotep]

Dudebro FPS, non-dudebro FPS, indie games, open world RPG's, action games, racing games, sports games, etc.

The wii can't do 'indie games'? wtf?

I'm pretty sure the best selling racing game of the last gen was a Wii exclusive too.

 

[pieatorium]

Nintendo sticking with five to six year long generations.

Not sure I buy it myself, but we'll see.

Would also be dependant on the others not hitting until 2014 for that prediction to be right which I don't think will happen.

 

[Shion]

If this generation taught us anything. It's that power is not indicative of anything. So guys please CHILL!

It really depends on what a gamer cares about.

- For a gamer that cares about sales, power is not indicative of anything.
- For a gamer that cares about getting better experiences from his games, power is a very important factor.

As all the previous gens before this, if this gen taught us anything, is that better hardware can translate to better experiences.

 

[z0m3le]

Nintendo sticking with five to six year long generations.

Not sure I buy it myself, but we'll see.

Nintendo makes money on each hardware unit sold. So for them, releasing a new console isn't a bad thing and if Wii U isn't getting third party support anymore, I see no reason why they would stick with the box, if however the PS4/Xbox3 doesn't live up to the hype some people have, I can see Nintendo going 8 full years with their console, but they will be ready to release a new console before Sony and Microsoft next time as well.

Would also be dependant on the others not hitting until 2014 for that prediction to be right which I don't think will happen.

If Microsoft and Sony don't wait until 2014, there is no way their systems will be further away from Wii U then Wii U is from PS360. (the next processor node shrinks won't happen until 2014)

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

I have feeling that this will be another ps3 situation. While the wii-u probably is slightly more powerful than current gen, Most third parties won't put in the extra effort to squeeze out that extra power, especially when they have unique control interface as a selling point already.

The question is, does this mean Sony and Microsoft are going to revise their plans for next gen?

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Would also be dependant on the others not hitting until 2014 for that prediction to be right which I don't think will happen.

I still stick by 2013 at the latest for MS and Sony. I don't see either of them giving Nintendo more than a year on the market uncontested, regardless of the power of the system. Too great a chance of another Wii scenario, and the last thing they need is Nintendo locking up the market with reasonably powerful hardware.

 

[Gravijah]

- For a gamer that cares about getting better experiences from his games, power is a very important factor.

As all the previous gens before this, if this gen taught us anything, is that better hardware can translate to better experiences.

this isn't true at all. games on the ps3/360 aren't suddenly worse experiences because of pc gaming. handheld games aren't suddenly worse experiences because of console gaming.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

this isn't true at all. games on the ps3/360 aren't suddenly worse experiences because of pc gaming. handheld games aren't suddenly worse experiences because of console gaming.

Power just adds to the gaming experience, it has never been and never will be the defining factor in whether a game is competent.