If you listened to the latest installment of our half-assed monthly podcast, The Big Shiny Podcast, then you’ve probably already heard that late last week Game Informer broke the news/rumor the Nintendo will be revealing their next console at or before E3! Exciting stuff, yeah? Well, since that news broke, a slew of rumors have hit the interwebs and while it’s hard to say what’s true and what’s not, here’s a break down of all the rumors that are out there right now!
- The CPU will be a custom three-core IBM PowerPC. RAM will be at least 512 MB.
- Will deliver full 1080p resolution.
- Will be backwards compatible – so don’t start trading in all those Wii games to get some cash to drop on this new console quite yet!
- The motion controller will have a built-in 6 inch HD screen
- Surrounding the touch screen will be classic game controls; D-pad, bumpers, buttons, etc. There are also some rumors that are placing two analog sticks on the controller – but, if you ask me I can’t see all of that being crammed onto a Wii remote.
- Possible Blu-ray capability.
Game Informer has claimed to have confirmed a lot of this information with their own sources, but we will have to wait and see what features prove to be true and in what fashion when Nintendo (hopefully) makes their big reveal at E3 this year! One thing Game Informer notes that jumped out was this:
“Nintendo is doing this one right,” said an anonymous source. “[It’s] not a gimmick like the Wii.” What else, beyond graphics, this may imply about the system is unknown. What kind of controls the system will support (we imagine a need for both classic analog configurations and motion controllers) or what level of software and infrastructure Nintendo will provide for online gaming is also unknown. However, it’s a positive sign that the system might be more than just an HD Wii.
While fun, I have always thought the Wii was a little bit gimmicky. But gimmicky or not, both Microsoft and Sony found themselves playing catch-up to try to provide their own version of motion control support for their existing consoles. If Nintendo has taken the time to “do things right” this time around and provide a console that provides both, the true Nintendo experience for the gaming “purists” and the party-game loving casual gamer population.
Myself, Kill-Tacular-Tron and Zombietron have had several discussions about how the Wii is not a “next-gen” console. It debuted a few years after the Xbox 360 but as far as graphics and processing go it’s only a small step above its predecessor. My bet is that this “Wii HD” will be Nintendo’s official entry into the next-gen console game and move units like crazy – not just because it’s a new, better console than the current Wii is, but because it sounds like Nintendo is looking to support third-party developers like they never have before. Nintendo President, Satoru Iwata, mentioned last fall that Nintendo needs to do a better job at supporting third-party game developers, and many sources are stating that we will see Iwata and Nintendo live up to their statements with this new console.
Nintendo has made no official statements on any of this, and all of this information is coming from anonymous Nintendo insiders – but many industry experts agree that a lot of these specs, and the timing make sense for Nintendo’s next move and expect to see at least some of these prove to be true at E3.
Sources: Game Informer, IGN, 01net
What do you think of all the rumored “Wii HD” specs? Anything not mentioned that you want to see with Nintendo’s next console? Will you be trading in your Wii for this next console? Sound off in the comments below!