Wii 2, Haven’t We Been Here Already?
It’s about time I chime in on the deluge of rumors surrounding Nintendo’s inevitable Wii 2 announcement, expected in June. Faster than a speeding PS3, more powerful than an Xbox360 and able to …well, whatever. At this point even the official specs that have been leaked (isn’t that an oxymoron?) don’t reveal anything especially exciting. Taken from IGN, here’s a recap:
- Code named: Project Cafe
- Graphics chip uses a modified AMD r700 architecture
- CPU utilizes a custom triple-core IBM PowerPC chipset
- 1080p output
- Unconfirmed, but rumored stereoscopic 3D
- Design is though to have the look of a sleakened up Super NES console, about the size of the original Xbox360
- Will likely cost between 350 and 400 big ones, stateside.
- Hardware COULD be shipped as early as October, but likely held off until developers have had time to create a good base of launch titles.
One of the biggest buzz worthy topics is the controller. According to popular theory, Nintendo plans to incorporate a high resolution touch-screen, like an iPod, that serves up custom, private player specific information pertinent to the game they’re playing on the larger screen. Really, it’s a great idea… that had its time 10 years ago. The problem was that it never really took off.
See towards the end of the GameCube’s run, it was possible to connect multiple Game Boy Advanced units to do exactly that. One of the best, a brilliant multiplayer Pac-Man title, Pac-Man Vs., fed limited information to each player controlling a ghost and a full map layout to Pac-Man. Similarly, The Legend of Zelda: The Four Swords fed stats to each player while the larger adventure played out on the TV.
That was two consoles ago. Which leads to the big question. Why isn’t the current Wii doing this for DS owners? Why is it necessary (other than the obvious profit margin) to spend another half grand on a new console and controllers that bear a striking resemblance to current handhelds. The Wii is on wireless. The DS is on wireless. The DS can download games to its local flash memory eliminating the need for extra cartridges. Seriously. Why don’t we already have all this?
Maybe I’m getting to a stage in my life where cynicism is starting to take excitement’s place when it comes to new hardware, but in an industry where Nintendo has put innovation above raw power, it seems counter-intuitive to build a system around old concepts that never really caught on.
Then again, if there’s one company that has the cajones and the financial backing to successfully resurrect the concept, it’s Nintendo.
Then again, all this just might be an empty rant that has zero bearing on what Nintendo actually plans to announce in June.
If there’s any announcement at all.
Wii 2 control concept created by IGN.com
