Topic: Something Something Wii U Successor Somethng

[Shaymin]

Console was black, controllers were grey, blue, green, red, yellow and black (IIRC).

[Kytim89]

Here's how I see the Wii U successor taking place. The Wii U will be successful enough for Nintendo to justify continuing with the concept of streaming games to a screened controller. Since Nintendo's home turf is more of a handheld centric industry and leaving the home console market would be a financial disaster, Nintendo creates a home console that is on par with the techonology of Sony and Microsoft of 2017-2018. However, the controller of this new home console is about the size of a PS Vita with a decent LCD screen. By this time cloud streaming and bandwith have improved to allow lag-proof game streaming anywhere. The bottom line with this new console is that you can purchase games on the eShop and take the controller anywhere and play home console games on the go.

This new Nintendo home console should be called the "Phoenix" because it is Nintendo's home console strategy being reborn into something newer and more efficient for the times ahead.

[smallsharkbigbite]

An on-live handheld?  My internet will definitely not be fast enough to do that by 2018.  I live in the country and I can't even stream 480p video content without buffering now.  I don't have problem with the idea of an on-live system, but I can't see them moving away from a box that has the ability to download for those that just don't have the internet capability. 

[Stratos]

I think that the next system will have off-screen streaming to the 3D-Next handheld system (4DS?). Then Nintendo could choose to not include a tablet controller in the package. The systems should be so complimentary that people would view both systems as two halves of a whole.

[BlackNMild2k1]

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/01/29/live-nintendos-strategy-briefing-to-address-future-direction/

Nomura analyst now asking why Nintendo revamped its organizational structure to merge consoles and portable devices. Mr. Iwata says there was a huge technological gap in developing consoles and portable games in the past since portable devices run on batteries, but technological advances have narrowed the architectural difference between the two. He adds he doesn’t know yet whether the two hardware will be merged in the future, but the two will become more like “brothers.�

Hybrid is on the drawing board. 3rd Pillar is still a possibility.

[ShyGuy]

Super Platform Brothers. Year of Luigi U.

[Stogi]

I read "brothers" in a japanese accent. It couldn't be helped.

I still don't think merging the two products is a good idea, but it should at least be whirled around RnD.

[tendoboy1984]

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/01/29/live-nintendos-strategy-briefing-to-address-future-direction/

Nomura analyst now asking why Nintendo revamped its organizational structure to merge consoles and portable devices. Mr. Iwata says there was a huge technological gap in developing consoles and portable games in the past since portable devices run on batteries, but technological advances have narrowed the architectural difference between the two. He adds he doesn’t know yet whether the two hardware will be merged in the future, but the two will become more like “brothers.�

Hybrid is on the drawing board. 3rd Pillar is still a possibility.

The third pillar is 'health', meaning an expanded focus on fitness and educational games. See Wii Fit and Brain Age for example.

Iwata wants to expand Nintendo's reach and create another 'blue ocean', which might work out for them since health is something everyone can relate to.

I'm just glad they aren't exiting the integrated hardware / software business. Utilizing smart phones to promote their products is a good tool for marketing. Using the Nintendo Network ID as a way to tie everything to a software platform (rather than hardware) is a good move forward.

[Stogi]

I remember being very surprised when my father, a professor of physiology, wanted to buy a Wii for educational purposes. I told him to buy Trauma Center haha

I was also surprised to read consistently of hospitals buying the Wii for child patients and rehab patients.

So maybe a real focus on health and education isn't a bad idea.

[smallsharkbigbite]

The Wii helps alot with patients that have balance issues or neurological issues that would make them a fall risk.  It can also help them with gaining muscle memory if they have had an injury and have been forced to be inactive for a long time.  I think the Wii fit a nice niche in the healthcare industry.  The Wii U doesn't really fit the same niche as touchscreens don't help with the same things that the Wii uses. 


I'm skeptical that a third pillar in healthcare is the way to go.  Maybe I'm the only one, but I thought the Wii Fit meter was redundant.  There are tons of pedometers on the market, some have more bells/whistles than others.  In my Nintendo survey, I told them I'd rather pay $20 for Wii Fit U than have to have another accessory that isn't going to be used. 


In healthcare there are also a ton of competitors.  If Nintendo were to find a niche item I think the industry would find a way to do it better.

[BlackNMild2k1]

But could they find a way that was more fun and interactive than whatever Nintendo comes up with?
Hardware that helps you interact physically with software that gives you something to visually respond to could be a nice side market for Nintendo.

[ShyGuy]

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMP

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/06/13/e3-2014-miyamotos-thoughts-on-whats-next-for-nintendo

"The question of whether or not we want to take a portable system and a home console system and decide if maybe, as the computer processing power improves, we could just simply say we'll stick with a portable and make it something that could also be a home console system is a question that ties directly into product strategy, and is something I can't really go into detail on," Miyamoto explained.

[NWR_insanolord]

That is a long and convoluted way of saying essentially nothing.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Or a long and convoluted way of saying that "The Hybrid" has a chance.

[NWR_insanolord]

More like "Yes, that is an idea someone might have."

[BlackNMild2k1]

More like "that is an idea we had.... But I can't talk about it (someone might try to steal the idea)"

[Spak-Spang]

I really don't know what Nintendo will do next.

I expect them to either

A) Go hybrid

B) Go back to the just motion controls and try to start a new with a more sophisticated motion control system.  I think the tablet controller was a mistake.  I think Nintendo believes that too. 

[NWR_insanolord]

I can't see them going back to motion control. It only really worked in specific contexts, and even their own games were hurt by it more often than they benefited from it.

[Adrock]

I doubt Nintendo will ever go all in with motion controls again, but I think motion controls will always be part of their future consoles. I see them doubling down on traditional controls and adding to it like with the GamePad. It just wasn't ready. The GamePad couldn't do all the things people wanted it to do and it was perhaps not light enough for some people to use for an extended period of time. Those problems are easy fixes just with the way technology improves over time.

[ShyGuy]

Motion Controls need to bundled in like a NES Zapper.

[nickmitch]

I think Nintendo will probably go back to robot-based controllers.

That or holodecks.

[Ian Sane]

I really don't know what Nintendo will do next.

I expect them to either

A) Go hybrid

YEAH!

B) Go back to the just motion controls and try to start a new with a more sophisticated motion control system.  I think the tablet controller was a mistake.  I think Nintendo believes that too. 

BOOOOOOO!!!!

Seriously though it's not the tablet, it's the concept of having outdated hardware with a gimmick controller.  That concept was a big fad with casuals and then they all went to smartphones and the traditional videogame market, the only one that will actually buy a dedicated videogame machine anymore, doesn't like it.  The Wii U isn't bombing because the tablet just ain't that hot but rather because the whole basic approach that the Wii had is no longer marketable.  If Nintendo sticks with gimmick controllers as their console design it will fail.

Besides the whole thing is forced anyway.  It's like they come up with these controllers to justify the console being a seperate platform from the handheld.  If the only reason to have a Nintendo console is to use some wacky controller that only works well for a handful of games and is an annoying chore to use in everything else then why buy one?  Nintendo doesn't seem to want to work with modern hardware and they can get away with that on a handheld.  The market doesn't want a console that's a generation behind if the only justification for its existence is a goofy controller.  The hybrid lets Nintendo work on the sort of hardware they want to while also providing a product people actually want.

I'm happy Nintendo at least somewhat acknowledges the idea.  Maybe Miyamoto was given a question directly about a hybrid but at least his response wasn't "A hybrid?  Why would we do that?"  He wasn't caught off guard like Nintendo was when someone suggested using two Gamepads at the same time.

[Adrock]

[Nile Boogie Returns]

Anybody familiar with the light bulbs you control from a tablet or computer that illuminate the room different colors on command? almost like the illumaroom? Non-wearable tech is just that, full room immersion. Morpheus/ oculus rift is still another gen away from next( 10th if your counting).

[Stogi]

It's Kotaku, but someone agrees with me (ie make a system that can load a game in seconds; do away with patching or at least trivialize it).

http://kotaku.com/i-dont-play-video-games-anymore-i-wait-for-them-1665496091/all