7 ms·

Nintendo confirms launching new console in 2012, playable at E3

86 points by spaetzel 15y ago

rpedroso 15y ago
Nintendo has a new system that will be more powerful than the PlayStation 3 or the Xbox 360. I would hope so when competing against consoles that were released 6 years earlier. I'm curious to see how they will implement a "large touch-screen" on the controller, since it calls to mind radically different designs than Wii controllers.
- m0shen 15y ago
  The pictures that were leaked ( http://www.slashgear.com/nintendo-wii-2-stream-leaks-hd-and-touchscreen-controllers-in-late-2011-22147801/ http://www.slashgear.com/nintendo-wii-2-stream-leaks-hd-and-... ) suggest that they are abandoning the Wii motion control scheme altogether.
  - mkr-hn 15y ago
    There's no reason a normal controller can't act as a pointer. It would eliminate the normal complaints (extra cost for the joystick attachment, limited applications) while maintaining it for those rare games that work best with a pointer.
    - joezydeco 15y ago
      There's also no reason a coffee cup can't be used as a pointer, but the physical affordance doesn't work well. The Wii pointer worked because it had the right shape to be held in a hand and pointed. If this new leaked picture is the actual controller, how are you supposed to hold it in one hand and point? Or are you going to use two hands now?
  - icefox 15y ago
    There are a lot of interesting ideas that you could put together when everyone has a private screen. I wrote up the cons and pros of having such a system and where the innovation will come from when I was looking at tablets as the controllers: https://github.com/icefox/tablet_tv_games https://github.com/icefox/tablet_tv_games
    - mukyu 15y ago
      The Gamecube already had private screens with GBA adapters. In Crystal Chronicles each player had their own menu, a secret competitive challenge (in an otherwise cooperative game), and a unique view of the area (one gets a map, one gets a dot for every monster, one gets a dot for every chest, one gets information on monster attributes). Four Swords also used the GBA screen, but it was basically just so you could go in a dungeon and wander off without splitting the screen on the TV or making you stay together. There were probably more games that used GBAs for private screens or other multiplayer gameplay, but I cannot recall them off the top of my head.
  - yosheryosh 15y ago
    they could use both. why not release this as a controller, and set up a kinect like motion controller for the whole body as well?
    - PakG1 15y ago
      Betcha the patents would have something to say about that. :) http://www.cultofmac.com/how-apple-almost-got-microsofts-kinect-game-controller/67951 http://www.cultofmac.com/how-apple-almost-got-microsofts-kin...
      - ginkgo 15y ago
        They could simply get a PrimeSense license. I see no reason why they wouldn't get one.
        kenjackson 15y ago
        That would get them a license for the 3d sensor HW, but MS has most of the body tracking patents, as the software was developed by MS.
        PakG1 15y ago
        I'm admittedly not Microsoft, but if I were Microsoft, I'd pay through the nose to ensure PrimeSense keeps this stuff away from my direct competitors.
  - ktsmith 15y ago
    A high resolution version of what the dreamcast had? Seems a bit odd to me.
  - teamonkey 15y ago
    I'm still very sceptical about how genuine those are. Nintendo is still strongly focussed on making an inclusive family environment, and I can't imagine how each person having a separate screen would help that. Those controllers are almost as big as the Wii itself. You're not going to give that controller to your grandmother as you all sit on the sofa at Christmas. Also, the controller invades on the 3DS's territory a little too much. It's good news if they do make the most developer-friendly console though, considering their current consoles have the most developer-unfriendly dev process. Hopefully that will extend to their 3rd party developer relations too.
Anon84 15y ago
I'm still surprised we haven't heard anything official about a PS4... The PS3 came out 6 years after the PS2 and it has been out for 5+ years already.
- torme 15y ago
  I'm pretty sure that both Microsoft and Sony are on a 10 year plan with both of those systems, which means you won't hear anything about a PS4 for another couple years at least. That said, this seems like a pretty smart move on Nintendo's part. They get to release hardware thats not the most expensive/fastest available, but still beats the current market, and gets to live at the top of the performance chart for at least a few years.
  - reitzensteinm 15y ago
    From what I understand, the often quoted 10 year plan includes overlap with the release of the next console, similar to how the PS2 still sold quite well at the start of the PS3 era, as well as the PS1 before it. The PS3 was announced about 18 months before availabiltiy, so we actually should be pretty close to an announcement.
    - sachinag 15y ago
      The rational thing for Sony and Microsoft to do is to stand down on any new console. Both consoles push 1080p and there's been no mass adoption of 3D or other display technology to warrant a new introduction; Crysis 2 is being released for both platforms and there's no real consumer demand for yet more polygons. Both companies are able to turn profits on their gaming divisions; Nintendo isn't likely to outcompete them on a technical basis, either. In short, I think the 10 year horizon might actually be too short.
      - alnayyir 15y ago
        Please no, both consoles have been holding back PC gaming. Crysis 2 actually has lower system requirements than the original Crysis precisely because they bent over backwards to make it work for PS3 and 360.
bryanh 15y ago
Interesting that they are pretty much abandoning their massive lead on casual gaming (which is a way bigger market than hardcore gamers). My parents enjoy playing Wii, but I don't see them buying/playing a console with 4 extra screens. Sounds like a gimmick to this guy. I have a feeling Microsoft and Sony are giddy as hell because Nintendo is about to drop the ball.
- fredleblanc 15y ago
  I remember people saying this about the Wii before it came out.
  - mkr-hn 15y ago
    The Wii was Nintendo's first console in a long time to be more than profitable. If they pull the Wii's success off again, people will be less skeptical on the next one.
    - starwed 15y ago
      They also said it about the DS and 3DS. Nintendo has an incredible track record of coming up with innovative devices, people are just haters. :) (Just lets not mention the virtual boy...)
      - ehnus 15y ago
        Nintendo also has an incredible track record of not being able to foster healthy relations with third party developers, and being outright hostile to indie developers (see: http://www.crunchgear.com/2011/03/21/fils-aime-nintendo-not-interested-in-garage-developers/ http://www.crunchgear.com/2011/03/21/fils-aime-nintendo-not-...). The Wii, outside from the first party titles, was pretty much a wasteland at least compared to the offerings of Microsoft and Sony. This I think has led to the Wii having a fairly low attach rate and, at least anecdotally, the number of consoles that were bought for Wii Sports and have been gathering dust ever since.
    - aikinai 15y ago
checoivan 15y ago
I'd get one just to play Donkey Kong Country,Zelda,and Metroid in Xbox like graphics. Though the leak says no 3D now, looks like a classic Nintendo move where in 2 years an upgraded 3D screen controller will be out at ~80 bucks each.
- doyoulikeworms 15y ago
  I'm guessing that it more has to do with the state of their 3D tech. Maintaining the "sweet spot", and all would be pretty difficult with a handheld controller piloting a console. Have you watched kids (or maybe even yourself) play a game? Writhing around in your seat, leaning with your virtual character's movements, leaning forward at those particularly tense moments... it all makes for a tough sell when you need to view your 3D screen at a particular angle in order to see anything but a blurry mess.
bitwize 15y ago
Some of the leaked images have ad copy like "most developer friendly console" and "easy porting from PC and Xbox 360". All of which suggests one thing. Nintendo licensed Direct3D.
- Andrex 15y ago
  Those are definitely fake. The font for the Nintendo logo in one of the pics is Pretendo with uneven spacing between letters. This will probably run OpenCL like the 3DS does.
  - kluikens 15y ago
    Do you have a source on OpenCL being used for 3DS programming? I'm interested but couldn't find anything.
    - apl 15y ago
      I suspect he meant OpenGL. 3DS has a PICA200, supporting OpenGL ES 1.1 (which is a bit old-fashioned but workable).
      - bitwize 15y ago
        But no one actually uses OpenGL for console games. It's all custom libs (which is basically Direct3D on the Xbox).
teamonkey 15y ago
The Ars link says Nintendo's profits have dropped this year but it doesn't say that it's by as much as 66%. http://gamasutra.com/view/news/34263/Nintendo_Confirms_Wii_Successor_For_2012_Posts_66_Profit_Decline.php http://gamasutra.com/view/news/34263/Nintendo_Confirms_Wii_S...
jsmcgd 15y ago
I really hope they release a workable VR console. All the individual component technology exists, we just need an innovative company to bring together into one affordable package.

86 points by spaetzel 15y ago

Nintendo has a new system that will be more powerful than the PlayStation 3 or the Xbox 360. I would hope so when competing against consoles that were released 6 years earlier. I'm curious to see how they will implement a "large touch-screen" on the controller, since it calls to mind radically different designs than Wii controllers.

m0shen 15y ago
The pictures that were leaked ( http://www.slashgear.com/nintendo-wii-2-stream-leaks-hd-and-touchscreen-controllers-in-late-2011-22147801/ http://www.slashgear.com/nintendo-wii-2-stream-leaks-hd-and-... ) suggest that they are abandoning the Wii motion control scheme altogether.
- mkr-hn 15y ago
  There's no reason a normal controller can't act as a pointer. It would eliminate the normal complaints (extra cost for the joystick attachment, limited applications) while maintaining it for those rare games that work best with a pointer.
  - joezydeco 15y ago
    There's also no reason a coffee cup can't be used as a pointer, but the physical affordance doesn't work well. The Wii pointer worked because it had the right shape to be held in a hand and pointed. If this new leaked picture is the actual controller, how are you supposed to hold it in one hand and point? Or are you going to use two hands now?
- icefox 15y ago
  There are a lot of interesting ideas that you could put together when everyone has a private screen. I wrote up the cons and pros of having such a system and where the innovation will come from when I was looking at tablets as the controllers: https://github.com/icefox/tablet_tv_games https://github.com/icefox/tablet_tv_games
  - mukyu 15y ago
    The Gamecube already had private screens with GBA adapters. In Crystal Chronicles each player had their own menu, a secret competitive challenge (in an otherwise cooperative game), and a unique view of the area (one gets a map, one gets a dot for every monster, one gets a dot for every chest, one gets information on monster attributes). Four Swords also used the GBA screen, but it was basically just so you could go in a dungeon and wander off without splitting the screen on the TV or making you stay together. There were probably more games that used GBAs for private screens or other multiplayer gameplay, but I cannot recall them off the top of my head.
- yosheryosh 15y ago
  they could use both. why not release this as a controller, and set up a kinect like motion controller for the whole body as well?
  - PakG1 15y ago
    Betcha the patents would have something to say about that. :) http://www.cultofmac.com/how-apple-almost-got-microsofts-kinect-game-controller/67951 http://www.cultofmac.com/how-apple-almost-got-microsofts-kin...
    - ginkgo 15y ago
      They could simply get a PrimeSense license. I see no reason why they wouldn't get one.
      - kenjackson 15y ago
        That would get them a license for the 3d sensor HW, but MS has most of the body tracking patents, as the software was developed by MS.
      - PakG1 15y ago
        I'm admittedly not Microsoft, but if I were Microsoft, I'd pay through the nose to ensure PrimeSense keeps this stuff away from my direct competitors.
- ktsmith 15y ago
  A high resolution version of what the dreamcast had? Seems a bit odd to me.
- teamonkey 15y ago
  I'm still very sceptical about how genuine those are. Nintendo is still strongly focussed on making an inclusive family environment, and I can't imagine how each person having a separate screen would help that. Those controllers are almost as big as the Wii itself. You're not going to give that controller to your grandmother as you all sit on the sofa at Christmas. Also, the controller invades on the 3DS's territory a little too much. It's good news if they do make the most developer-friendly console though, considering their current consoles have the most developer-unfriendly dev process. Hopefully that will extend to their 3rd party developer relations too.

Anon84 15y ago

I'm still surprised we haven't heard anything official about a PS4... The PS3 came out 6 years after the PS2 and it has been out for 5+ years already.

torme 15y ago
I'm pretty sure that both Microsoft and Sony are on a 10 year plan with both of those systems, which means you won't hear anything about a PS4 for another couple years at least. That said, this seems like a pretty smart move on Nintendo's part. They get to release hardware thats not the most expensive/fastest available, but still beats the current market, and gets to live at the top of the performance chart for at least a few years.
- reitzensteinm 15y ago
  From what I understand, the often quoted 10 year plan includes overlap with the release of the next console, similar to how the PS2 still sold quite well at the start of the PS3 era, as well as the PS1 before it. The PS3 was announced about 18 months before availabiltiy, so we actually should be pretty close to an announcement.
  - sachinag 15y ago
    The rational thing for Sony and Microsoft to do is to stand down on any new console. Both consoles push 1080p and there's been no mass adoption of 3D or other display technology to warrant a new introduction; Crysis 2 is being released for both platforms and there's no real consumer demand for yet more polygons. Both companies are able to turn profits on their gaming divisions; Nintendo isn't likely to outcompete them on a technical basis, either. In short, I think the 10 year horizon might actually be too short.
    - alnayyir 15y ago
      Please no, both consoles have been holding back PC gaming. Crysis 2 actually has lower system requirements than the original Crysis precisely because they bent over backwards to make it work for PS3 and 360.

bryanh 15y ago

Interesting that they are pretty much abandoning their massive lead on casual gaming (which is a way bigger market than hardcore gamers). My parents enjoy playing Wii, but I don't see them buying/playing a console with 4 extra screens. Sounds like a gimmick to this guy. I have a feeling Microsoft and Sony are giddy as hell because Nintendo is about to drop the ball.

fredleblanc 15y ago
I remember people saying this about the Wii before it came out.
- mkr-hn 15y ago
  The Wii was Nintendo's first console in a long time to be more than profitable. If they pull the Wii's success off again, people will be less skeptical on the next one.
  - starwed 15y ago
    They also said it about the DS and 3DS. Nintendo has an incredible track record of coming up with innovative devices, people are just haters. :) (Just lets not mention the virtual boy...)
    - ehnus 15y ago
      Nintendo also has an incredible track record of not being able to foster healthy relations with third party developers, and being outright hostile to indie developers (see: http://www.crunchgear.com/2011/03/21/fils-aime-nintendo-not-interested-in-garage-developers/ http://www.crunchgear.com/2011/03/21/fils-aime-nintendo-not-...). The Wii, outside from the first party titles, was pretty much a wasteland at least compared to the offerings of Microsoft and Sony. This I think has led to the Wii having a fairly low attach rate and, at least anecdotally, the number of consoles that were bought for Wii Sports and have been gathering dust ever since.
  - aikinai 15y ago

checoivan 15y ago

I'd get one just to play Donkey Kong Country,Zelda,and Metroid in Xbox like graphics. Though the leak says no 3D now, looks like a classic Nintendo move where in 2 years an upgraded 3D screen controller will be out at ~80 bucks each.

doyoulikeworms 15y ago
I'm guessing that it more has to do with the state of their 3D tech. Maintaining the "sweet spot", and all would be pretty difficult with a handheld controller piloting a console. Have you watched kids (or maybe even yourself) play a game? Writhing around in your seat, leaning with your virtual character's movements, leaning forward at those particularly tense moments... it all makes for a tough sell when you need to view your 3D screen at a particular angle in order to see anything but a blurry mess.

bitwize 15y ago

Some of the leaked images have ad copy like "most developer friendly console" and "easy porting from PC and Xbox 360". All of which suggests one thing. Nintendo licensed Direct3D.

Andrex 15y ago
Those are definitely fake. The font for the Nintendo logo in one of the pics is Pretendo with uneven spacing between letters. This will probably run OpenCL like the 3DS does.
- kluikens 15y ago
  Do you have a source on OpenCL being used for 3DS programming? I'm interested but couldn't find anything.
  - apl 15y ago
    I suspect he meant OpenGL. 3DS has a PICA200, supporting OpenGL ES 1.1 (which is a bit old-fashioned but workable).
    - bitwize 15y ago
      But no one actually uses OpenGL for console games. It's all custom libs (which is basically Direct3D on the Xbox).

teamonkey 15y ago

The Ars link says Nintendo's profits have dropped this year but it doesn't say that it's by as much as 66%. http://gamasutra.com/view/news/34263/Nintendo_Confirms_Wii_Successor_For_2012_Posts_66_Profit_Decline.php http://gamasutra.com/view/news/34263/Nintendo_Confirms_Wii_S...

jsmcgd 15y ago

I really hope they release a workable VR console. All the individual component technology exists, we just need an innovative company to bring together into one affordable package.