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Aug 1 / Ozymandias

Pachter: HD Wii Possible?

As least according to this Gamasutra article (quoting an email to GamePro):

Writing in an e-mail to consumer website GamePro, Pachter commented that “consumers may hope for improved graphics, and my guess is that Nintendo will comply.”
Continuing, he suggested that “in two or three years, commodity prices for graphics processors and CPUs may decline to the point that a High Definition Wii could be introduced. If so, Nintendo will likely introduce one.”

It’s an interesting idea. My initial gut feeling was that this would be unlikely as releasing a new system (assuming it has a significant visual leap forward) would also require publishers and developers to basically add yet another development platform to the mix. It would also potentially reduce interest in the original Wii platform. That’s something partners would be very disgruntled about as they’re just now investing deeply in it. That said, there might be some synergy gained by using HD assets from other platforms, as well as possibly having a common SDK with the original Wii. And if the price point were relatively inexpensive, it’s possible one might see another wave of (HD) Wii interest.

Who knows? Not going to really land on an opinion on this one as I could see it go either way. But it’s an interesting idea that would certainly call the whole concept of 5-10 year lifecycles into question. 

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  • vittala

    Nintendo does have a track record for putting out updated versions of their products.

    Gameboy Advance -> Advance SP -> Micro

    Nintendo DS -> DS Lite

  • Ishmae1

    Don’t forget the 2009 HD broadcast mandate in the US, so when everyone has to have HD TVs, it makes a lot more sense.

  • http://www.slashcry.com dozens

    They do it with handhelds, but those are cheaper and I don’t know if any of their updates actually improve graphics, just the size and features (I don’t own any handheld so can’t say for sure).

    I don’t doubt that the next Wii would support HD and probably be closer to the competition in terms of power/graphics too, but I don’t see that happening until the next generation of consoles.  

    The Wii seems more about regaining market share (and expanding customer base), and regaining 3rd party support, and less about direct competition with the PS3 and 360.  

  • Corey

    Its not an HDTV mandate, only a digital one.  Meaning that all over the air broadcasts will be digital in standard def and hi def.  Cable will still likely be using some analog.  Anything that is digital is not necessarily HD.

  • Xwar

    No, there is no change in actual graphical power in the GameBoy Advance or DS reissues; there’s some technical side changes that do not affect the games played at all. The biggest one was in the GBA SP, with rechargeable battery and

    I don’t believe Nintendo will go hi-def this generation. They’ve based the Wii on outdated hardware on a bet that:

    - graphics do not matter;

    - cheaper hardware can lower the console price;

    - cheaper console guarantees a market share victory;

    - such a victory guarantees total market domination;

    - reusing the previous generation’s development cycle will attract companies more willing to whine about the difficulties of creating videogames in the current generation than actually modernizing the way they do things.

    (And maybe, eventually, land cheaper games. No idea when *that* is going to happen, as Twilight Princess, on launch, was more expensive than Gears of War. The average Wii game still is.)

    I still believe the bet, ultimately, will have failed from the word go – graphics aren’t everything, they are simply the bare minimum required for true bottom-of-the-line success. But that’s another story.

    Still, no Wii HD a-comin’ in my book.

  • vittala

    Most TV’s that people would game on are probably not HD right now anyhow except for the hard core gamer setups. Nintendo took a similar stance last generation with online gaming, saying that it was not main stream yet (which it wasn’t), and waiting until this generation to jump in, so I can see them doing the same with HD.

    What I have been wondering though, is if they have an HD system up their sleeves in the event that not being HD starts to hurt Nintendo’s sales. Right now it has not, but lets say in a year or two if it becomes an issue, do they have an HD version of Wii that they could come out of no where with? Also, I wonder how much they could come down in price on the Wii in a years time, a Wii at $100 or $150 would kill the competition.

    In the past they have not been afraid to have two systems in competition; look at the DS and Gameboy. If Nintendo had a Wii and Wii HD that also played Wii games it would be a similar situation. Just a thought.

  • Mac

    @ Ishmae1:

    That broadcast mandate (Feb ’09) just simply means all over-the-air has to be in HD, it in no means everyone has to (or will) have an HD set to watch TV. There are signal converters to downgrade it back to an analog signal from the HD signal in order to still watch TV on analog sets for those families who don’t have the capability to afford an HD set.

  • http://www.citystate.co.uk Robin

    Assuming it was backward compatible, I think this is a definite possibility.

    The move from GBA to DS is a good illustration of how it could be done without disrupting the status quo too much.

    I think the Wii’s sales give the lie to XWar’s belief that Nintendo’s bet failed. Lack of graphical/processing power is only an issue if it acts as a hindrance to making good games.