For instance, why do we find this so sad? Isn’t the Wii totally outdated and dead? When we heard that Nintendo was going to release an upgrade to the most successful console in Nintendo’s history and maybe even video game history, we were honestly a bit surprised (Seriously, 86 million consoles sold in its five year life-span?). Yes, the Wii graphics are minimal compared to the likes of Xbox 360 and the PS3; and yes, it certainly lacks HD hookup capabilities; and the games obviously do not have the crispest of polygons, but honestly, who doesn’t love the Wii for exactly what it is? Simple, easy, family-friendly and totally retro.Can the simple satisfaction of the primitive Wii Sports which started the world on motion-controlled games and anatomically incorrect Wii Mees be simply retooled? Does grandma really need to learn how to use yet another new-age nunchaku to help you in Donkey Kong Country? The best parts of the Wii were the ability to pick it up and understand it in five seconds flat. Honestly, I know a lot of parents who bought the Wii for themselves and to use as entertainment at parties. Has any console struck so much interest in such a wide range of age demographics?
And then, of course, there is the ability to play your favorite Game Cube, Nintendo 64 and NES games, all on one small, pearl white console. That’s right; Nintendo’s entire history of video games at your finger tips. Wii allowed us to buy Wii Points and download Virtual console games immediately. Not to quote Steve Jobs here, but GENIUS. Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Zelda; can anyone dare call themselves a gamer without having knowledge of these pinnacles of history? We certainly think not.
Now we do have faith in Nintendo’s future, however our gut is still clenched and fingers crossed they don’t screw this up. Any major alteration to the Wii’s successor could alienate an entire group of people who already love this product exactly the way it is. If you take away any ability to play older games, adding more complicated features, or even making the console too big, powerful and expensive, market value could drop immediately. That said, 86 million of us already have our Wii-originals and will be holding onto them tight.
As no console details have been listed, we can only speculate so much on changes, but we assume HDMI will be added along with similar technology to the Xbox 360 Kinect and PlayStation Move like upgraded gyroscopes in controllers, a faster processor, more RAM, and likely a camera rather than sensor bar keep track of players. We could also see voice control as a possible bonus for Netflix and browsing content.
