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As we all gear up for the big holiday gaming season, speculation has begun that Nintendo is planning a few surprises in order to keep gamers interested in the powerhouse brand.
First up is a new game based on an existing franchise, one which Nintendo believes will bring back the hardcore gamers who have been so critical of the Wii’s casual-friendly strategy. In addition, outlets have begun speculating that the company is sending out specs on its next console, a machine is being called the true successor to the Wii.
According to Gamekyo, Nintendo is planning to reboot one of its classic franchises for a new game, one which will likely please hardcore fans. Immediately the mind goes to the Nintendo triumverate of Metroid, Mario and Zelda, but this may also be the long-rumored Kid Icarus game that was expected to be shown at E3. Whatever it is, it appears to be big, as Gamekyo stated the following:
"We can announce today that Nintendo will reveal a new game for the Wii during this event which is actually an old franchise that everyone is waiting for."
The new game is apparently supposed to be announced at tomorrow’s Fall press conference in Japan. For their part, Nintendo has declined to comment on this rumor, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if anything major comes out of tomorrow’s event.
In other speculative news, rumor has it that Nintendo has begun to send out the hardware specs of their next console, which is currently known as the Wii HD. The new console would share similar features to the Xbox 360 and PS3, with beefed-up graphical capabilities, digital distribution and a hefty hard drive to store all your games, music and movies. This device, rumored to debut in 2011, is set to be a whole new console rather than a simple hardware update to the already-existant Wii. If this comes to fruition, it will likely mean that Nintendo will be the first out of the gate for the next console generation. Once again, the company has chosen not to comment on these rumors, but What They Play is pointing to massively increased R&D spending as proof that Nintendo is up to something, something very big.
So let’s take a step back and see what this all means. First off, I’m very hesitant to get excited about the new game announcement after Nintendo burned us with the "hardcore fans will be pleased" line at E3. While we’re likely due for another Zelda game (since Twilight Princess was the first of the "big three" franchises to make a Wii debut), I’m still skeptical Nintendo is going to give the core fans anything to work with since they’re making so much money on casual-friendly fare.
As for the new system, it’s nice to dream but that’s really all it is right now, a dream. While a new Nintendo console will likely come sooner rather than later, the company’s new business model seems to be paying dividends, so it’s unlikely Nintendo will be in a hurry to create a big, expensive console and sink massive quantities of money into a new system like Sony has this generation. As the PS3 struggles to break even and the Wii makes more money than all the other consoles combined you have to ask yourself, if you were a Nintendo exec, what kind of system would you want to make next?
First up is a new game based on an existing franchise, one which Nintendo believes will bring back the hardcore gamers who have been so critical of the Wii’s casual-friendly strategy. In addition, outlets have begun speculating that the company is sending out specs on its next console, a machine is being called the true successor to the Wii.
According to Gamekyo, Nintendo is planning to reboot one of its classic franchises for a new game, one which will likely please hardcore fans. Immediately the mind goes to the Nintendo triumverate of Metroid, Mario and Zelda, but this may also be the long-rumored Kid Icarus game that was expected to be shown at E3. Whatever it is, it appears to be big, as Gamekyo stated the following:
"We can announce today that Nintendo will reveal a new game for the Wii during this event which is actually an old franchise that everyone is waiting for."
The new game is apparently supposed to be announced at tomorrow’s Fall press conference in Japan. For their part, Nintendo has declined to comment on this rumor, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if anything major comes out of tomorrow’s event.
In other speculative news, rumor has it that Nintendo has begun to send out the hardware specs of their next console, which is currently known as the Wii HD. The new console would share similar features to the Xbox 360 and PS3, with beefed-up graphical capabilities, digital distribution and a hefty hard drive to store all your games, music and movies. This device, rumored to debut in 2011, is set to be a whole new console rather than a simple hardware update to the already-existant Wii. If this comes to fruition, it will likely mean that Nintendo will be the first out of the gate for the next console generation. Once again, the company has chosen not to comment on these rumors, but What They Play is pointing to massively increased R&D spending as proof that Nintendo is up to something, something very big.
So let’s take a step back and see what this all means. First off, I’m very hesitant to get excited about the new game announcement after Nintendo burned us with the "hardcore fans will be pleased" line at E3. While we’re likely due for another Zelda game (since Twilight Princess was the first of the "big three" franchises to make a Wii debut), I’m still skeptical Nintendo is going to give the core fans anything to work with since they’re making so much money on casual-friendly fare.
As for the new system, it’s nice to dream but that’s really all it is right now, a dream. While a new Nintendo console will likely come sooner rather than later, the company’s new business model seems to be paying dividends, so it’s unlikely Nintendo will be in a hurry to create a big, expensive console and sink massive quantities of money into a new system like Sony has this generation. As the PS3 struggles to break even and the Wii makes more money than all the other consoles combined you have to ask yourself, if you were a Nintendo exec, what kind of system would you want to make next?
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