Daily Ramblings: Wii 2

Well with the announcement of the successor to the Wii. I have come up with five ideas that could become the Wii 2 (or U whatever Nintendo will call it).

1)Enhanced Wii

Ok so this isn’t the Wii 2, more like the Wii 1.5. It will come with all (or most) of the features that are currently available on both the PS3 (sans the high price) and Xbox 360 (sans the Red Ring of Death). Some of the features include 1080p support (hdmi and component), upto 7.1 surround sound (coaxial and s/pdif) and maybe the ability to play DVDs (or Blu-ray). It will also come with a hard drive of at least 60 GB. The Friend Code system will be thrown out and a new online play system will be incorporate that will use unique usernames. Also with more power, hopefully more game developers will adopt the Wii 1.5 (Resident Evil 5 anyone?).

2. The Customizable Controller

Instead of another new amazing controller scheme, Nintendo will play on the old and true to self handheld control. With the analog sticks, c-stick, a and b button, and whatelse there is. It will follow the idea of this keyboard. Instead of having set keys, all the buttons (and analog sticks) will be removable! The controller will be any standard shape (Gamecube?), but instead of having fixed keys, every button can be moved. This provides a more comfortable and customizing gameplay for the gamer. Also, game developers could worry less about controller configuration, because the players will be able to set the control scheme to anyway they want! This allows the developer to worry more about the game play and less on the controller scheme.

3. DS meets Wii; Makes DiiS

The next possible system is the DiiS. Its like if the DS and the Wii were to have a child, it would be the DiiS. Going for power, but also portabllity, the DiiS would be both your home console and portable console! Every DiiS will come with a docking station that connects to the TV, controllers, etc… When you want to play on your TV, just insert the DiiS into the docking station (which will double as a recharging station) and voila! You now have a home console! Does size matter? With advancing technology, by the time the DiiS is concocted, it will be able to have the power of the current Wii (and more) inside a console more or less the size of the current DS lite!

4. The DiiJay Mixer

Have that Super Smash Bros. Annihilation game you’ve gotten tired of and that Super Mario Twillight Zone game that you just beat? Well put it into the DiiJay Mixer! With this amazing new console from Nintendo, you will be able to mix games together and create new games. The possibilities are endless! Hate fighting in side-scroller? Pop into the DiiJay Mixer two disk tray both SSBA and SMTZ and now you’re fighting around in Peache’s Castle! Watch as the castle burns down in destruction as you fight it out in a 3D environment! Using advance algorithms (I’m BSing more then I should be now), the DiiJay Mixer will be able to mesh any two games together and spit out a game that has smooth gameplay. Each time you mix it, a new game will appear! Gamecube and Wii games will also be compatable. Wonder what would happen if FLUDD were to work in space? Why not try it! Insert SMS and SMG and watch as Mario spits water into the sky.

5. Nintendo On

Need I say more?

Daily Ramblings: The Videogame Delusion

Here’s something someone sent me:

“Casual. Hardcore. Two terms often heard since the start of the seventh generation of consoles. Many videogamers claim that Nintendo is the pioneer of “casuals” and the new face of the non-gamers. They claim that Nintendo forgot the people that originally made it successful. Back in 2004, the DS was the big handheld that could. For a while its lineup of games was atrocious, and pretty much everyone agreed that the PSP would obliterate the DS. Nintendo would be over. Anyone who would disagree was labeled with the fanboy stigma.

But that never happened and the DS took control. The PSP was a nice effort by Sony, but it wasn’t even close to usurping Nintendo’s unstoppable reign over the handheld market. Even nonbelievers started to believe when the DS Lite came out. Sexy, fun, great library of games, cheap… there were few reasons to own a PSP as a games console. The PSP Slim & Lite only sparked some interest, but that spark withered away. The DS did what the Gamecube failed to do: sell tons and tons of units. Both still made Nintendo money, but the DS did that better, too.

Back to the seventh generation. The Xbox360 was out for a year. The Gamecube sold less than expected. Nintendo knew that making a powerhouse would spell d-double o-m. They expected that their next console would sell worse than the Gamecube, so they couldn’t have made it expensive. Nintendo went minimalist with the Revolution, now known as the Wii. But something happened that no one predicted: the Wii was a huge hit. But with the Wii and DS came a change in the market. No longer were just gamers interested. Non-gamers were, too. The terms hardcore and casual were coined. Hardcore games referred to games like Mario, Zelda, Halo, Bioshock, Resistance, etc. Casual games were Wii Sports, Wii Fit, Wii Play, etc. The “hardcore” are annoyed at the Wii for offering too much casual and not enough hardcore. This is where the gamers fail.
What is a hardcore game, really? It’s a game that the heavy gamers enjoy. It’s a game that would scare off a sporadic gamer. Wii Fit sold incredibly well, but it’s a casual game and hardcore gamers hated it. Guitar Hero and Rock Band, two series that also sold well, are casual by definition but hardcore because the main gamers enjoy it. Likewise, the Brian Age series are fun, but casual. Gamers are terrible. They think the market must focus on them, even though the money is where the “casuals” are. Gamers don’t want newcomers to play games, even going so far to call casuals moronic and stupid. Well, gamers, remember that first time you played Super Mario Bros.? You died at the first Goomba in 1-1. Is that not a stupid mistake? Yet here you are, bashing newcomers for not possessing the skills to beat a lot of games.

The gaming market is changing and expanding; you either have a choice to stay behind or adjust with it. I would very much prefer games like Mario, Zelda, and whatnot over games like Wii Sports and Wii Fit. I played games since I was young, my first game being Super Mario World (best game ever.). I beat it over three thousand times, and I am the delusional definition of the “hardcore” gamer. But I am the true hardcore gamer: I enjoy games. I can enjoy a game like Wii Sports and Wii Fit. I don’t judge games by their graphics, sound, or difficulty: I judge them by their fun. Wii Sports is fun, but it’s a different kind of fun that many gamers are accustomed to. This is where the real test to differentiate the hardcore gamer from the whiner: the ability to adapt and change to gaming market trends. Nintendo realized it first, and even Microsoft wants to follow Nintendo’s footsteps. Sony is a little behind, however. It took them a while to realize that the gamers want games, not multimedia. The PS3 was marketed as a multimedia machine before a gaming console, and Kaz Hirai even admitted it was the wrong thing to do: “We focused too much on other aspects of the PS3 and there was confusion over what the machine was.” People even bought the PS3 as the cheapest Blu-Ray player, without intending to glance at its games. Even the PS2 in a way helped taint the gaming market, as many people bought it as a cheap DVD player as opposed to a videogames console. Sony, gamers don’t want Blu-Ray which has yet to prove its worth, we want games. We want function, not fashion. (Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy VII suck)”

-EnnEnn