New Nintendo Console Rumors Flying

[Mendon]

I made this post in a thread in the Wii forum, but since the rumors continue to fly from every direction on just about every gaming website, I thought it seems to be big enough "news" that I would also post it here in the Modern Gaming General forum:

 

According to many different online news sites, rumors are now flying all over about a new console from Nintendo.

 

Supposedly, Nintendo will have a press release this month with a full blown announcement at E3. Release is rumored to be late 2012.

 

You can read an IGN story HERE. A Kotaku story HERE.

 

Summation of the latest rumors from various sites:

 

- Codenamed “Project Café”

- E3 2011 reveal

- Architecture is very similar to the Xbox 360

- Café is a bit more powerful than the 360

- Easy to port Xbox 360 games

- Retro-compatible with GameCube and Wii games

- Should support all Wii peripherals

- HD graphics

- Blu-ray drive

- Specs: CPU is custom IBM PowerPC with three cores, GPU should be an ATI from the R700 family, with a shader unit at version 4.1, RAM should be at least 512 Mb

- Controller is a touch tablet, moderate graphic output (sub-HD, not like an iPad)

- Controller specs: 6-inch screen, single touch, front camera, acts as a Wii sensor bar, d-pad, two bumpers, two triggers, possibly more

- June 2012 release in Japan, Holiday 2012 release in the West

- Another big surprise for the console that can’t be discussed yet

 

 

If this whole thing is true, I will be honestly surprised.

 

 

Mendon

Edited April 15, 2011 by Mendon

[the.golden.ax]

Yeah, I just read some of the trending data. Seems odd that Nintendo would be first to a new market for a change. I'm betting this is just a middle of the road Wii upgrade and they will have something even better right after the M$ and Sony hit their next wave. Then again... they are slow to release.

 

AX

[godslabrat]

 

- Codenamed “Project Café”

- E3 2011 reveal

- Architecture is very similar to the Xbox 360

- Café is a bit more powerful than the 360

- Easy to port Xbox 360 games

- Retro-compatible with GameCube and Wii games

- Should support all Wii peripherals

- HD graphics

- Blu-ray drive

- Specs: CPU is custom IBM PowerPC with three cores, GPU should be an ATI from the R700 family, with a shader unit at version 4.1, RAM should be at least 512 Mb

- Controller is a touch tablet, moderate graphic output (sub-HD, not like an iPad)

- Controller specs: 6-inch screen, single touch, front camera, acts as a Wii sensor bar, d-pad, two bumpers, two triggers, possibly more

- June 2012 release in Japan, Holiday 2012 release in the West

- Another big surprise for the console that can’t be discussed yet

 

 

I'd speculate it would do netflix streaming, as that seems to be a standard console feature these days.

 

Given that 90% of my time in front of the TV is spent using either my BluRay player or my Wii, I find this very appealing. If Nintendo were to combine them into the same box, I'd not only be buying it, but it'd easily be the device I'd recommend for other people retiring their DVD player. Hell, I'd give a few as gifts.

 

That said, I find it difficult to believe all these specs would be true, and even more difficult to believe that Nintendo would let the BluRay drive play movies. However, it's not impossible, so I really want to keep an eye on this.

[Rex Dart]

Well... it actually sounds plausible, and not totally ridiculous. Could feasibly use a DS or 3DS as a controller, from the sound of things.

 

And I'm glad to see that PowerPC still has a place in modern computing Three-core PPC seems like a good direction to go, for Nintendo. I wonder how this'll pan out.

[chrisbid]

sounds like the final nail in nintendos coffin.

[PsychoKittyNet]

sounds like the final nail in nintendos coffin.

I heard this when the Wii came out too, and it was a run away success. It's better to wait and see what happens.

[Rex Dart]

sounds like the final nail in nintendos coffin.

 

Nintendo's coffin is teflon-coated Titanium-X alloy. It's nailproof.

[NE146]

sounds like the final nail in nintendos coffin.

I heard this when the Wii came out too

 

I also heard that about the DS which was laughable to so many people with it going up against Sony's powerful PSP

 

 

 

 

p.s. I still love the PSP and my DS's.

[Christophero Sly]

Like I said in the other thread, I think it makes perfect sense for Nintendo to be the first out of the gate with Next-gen hardware. It better actually be "Next-gen", however. Releasing a new console that doesn't significantly outperform the 360/PS3, and instead only competes with them, is an unwise strategy for Nintendo to pursue.

 

I hope the rumors are true, and that MS and Sony follow suit in short order.

[xg4bx]

I don't know if I believe all that. The blu ray drive and whatnot kinda seems like wishful thinking, like the rumor mongers are just tossing everything in.

 

Id like to hear about the onboard memory,hopefully its beefier than the wiis puny what,512mb?

 

As for backwards compatability, supporting gamecube games just seems to be going a little too far back imo.

 

For me though, it all boils down to price. The neXtBox will probably be $400± at launch, the ps4 will probably be $1000 lol so if nintendo can get this out the door for 3 bills (or even less) ill be a nintendo supporter next gen.

Edited April 15, 2011 by xg4bx

[godslabrat]

Id like to hear about the onboard memory,hopefully its beefier than the wiis puny what,512mb?

 

I really don't know how I feel about this. I don't want them to have a huge physical hard drive UNLESS it's easily swappable like the PS3's. In other words, I don't want Nintendo to be like Microsoft and lock you into getting their peripheral. Also, I'd be willing to settle for less capacity if they'd use some form of flash memory.

 

The Wii did the smart thing in using flash memory, but Nintendo underestimated how much the average user would require. The dreamer in me wants them to just slap a USB port on the back of the system and tell you to use any quantity of USB storage you can afford. The realist in me says they'll probably decide on a middleish figure (4GB) and pull a Wii.

 

As for backwards compatability, supporting gamecube games just seems to be going a little too far back imo.

 

I'm pretty sure their main intent was to support the Wii, and Gamecube just came along for the ride because it's trivial to add the compatibility. If supporting GCN actually required anything extra in terms of hardware or development, I doubt they'd have done it.

[xg4bx]

I think a problem they might face is can you transfer your vc games over to the new console and how so? That's why I'm hoping for more memory. Its a double edged sword:id like it big enough to fit stuff but not big enough so devs feel comfortable to start pulling dlc and day 1 patch bs.

 

Overall though I think this is the 1st time I've been kinda excited for a nintendo console since the snes.

Edited April 15, 2011 by xg4bx

[Hyper_Eye]

This sounds somewhat plausible. The only thing I'm really skeptical about is the description of the controller. Going with a powerful powerpc architecture makes a ton of sense. Nintendo would be crazy to consider moving away from ppc. I also think moving to HD and multi-core processing makes a lot of sense. The controller sounds expensive though and it seems like it would be too fragile.

 

I bought the 360 on day 1 and still I'm not ready to transition to a new generation. I tend to buy into a new generation almost right away but I will not be buying new consoles within the next few years. I don't really care what it is or who puts it out there.

[Austin]

It will be interesting if it turns out to be true. It certainly won't be impressive, but it will be nice to have a 3-in-1 system. Talk about consolidating my gaming shelf..

[Video]

Some of that sounds like bunk (the controller? that's going to die the first time you fling it, those Wii controllers may suck, but they are quiet durable) Easy to port Xbox games? Yeah, uh, no. I mean, I know what they probably meant, was that it would be easy to port a multiplatform game to it, like the Xbox, but the wordage is specifically designed to get people thinking they are going to get Xbox games on it, and that's not going to happen.

 

Other wise, it sounds more or less plausible, however, if it is only marginally better than the other current gen, then it's probably not going to do to well, especially since as above posters have already said, once the thing releases, Microsoft and Sony will just whip their next gen stuff out and make the nintendo look like crap. Wii sold well because of the strangle hold Nintendo had on production for the first two years. It kept the hype engine going despite the huge mass of shitty games for it.

 

Then there's the ugly. A blu ray player? Uh, yeah, And Nintendo has already had two systems with DVD players in them, that didn't play DVD's I could care less what medium the games come on (unless they go back to carts, I'd be there) but it's hard to get excited about a video format that will likely not be supported, at least, according to Nintendo's current track record..

 

Anyhow, wait and see, wait and see. It's a lot more interesting to see what is, than what could be IMO, I mean, I could say anything at all, but untill I got a physical product, it's just rumor, hype, and me blowing it out my ass.

[Rex Dart]

Also, I'd be willing to settle for less capacity if they'd use some form of flash memory.

The Wii did the smart thing in using flash memory, but Nintendo underestimated how much the average user would require. The dreamer in me wants them to just slap a USB port on the back of the system and tell you to use any quantity of USB storage you can afford. The realist in me says they'll probably decide on a middleish figure (4GB) and pull a Wii.

 

I imagine they'll just let you use SDHC cards, like they've done on the DSi and 3DS.

 

I think a problem they might face is can you transfer your vc games over to the new console and how so?

By modding it, eventually

 

 

Some of that sounds like bunk (the controller? that's going to die the first time you fling it, those Wii controllers may suck, but they are quiet durable) Easy to port Xbox games? Yeah, uh, no. I mean, I know what they probably meant, was that it would be easy to port a multiplatform game to it, like the Xbox, but the wordage is specifically designed to get people thinking they are going to get Xbox games on it, and that's not going to happen.

 

What they mean is that with a triple-core PowerPC processor and ATI handling the graphics, it's far closer to a 360 than the PS3 is, and should be even easier to support with multi-platform releases than the PS3 was.

[Taskmaster99]

I truly hope that Nintendo comes out with a new powerful machine first...........that way Sony and Microsoft can see what it brings to the table and bury it!!!!!!!

 

Just kidding. I would be interested in a new console from Nintendo. As far as GC and Wii compatibility......excellent!!! One system to replace 2 sitting on the shelf.

 

 

Lets see what happens.

[HatefulGravey]

Long have I thought that a touch screen controller would be kind of sweet. It would take some getting used to, but it would allow the programmer of the games to decide what controller works best for their game if nothing else. If there is any truth to this I wish them well, and I wont be buying one for quite some time. I'll wait for version 2 of the hardware. With Nintendo there seems to be an endless supply of upgrades and enhancements to the hardware.

[godslabrat]

If there is any truth to this I wish them well, and I wont be buying one for quite some time. I'll wait for version 2 of the hardware. With Nintendo there seems to be an endless supply of upgrades and enhancements to the hardware.

 

Not a great plan. Yes, Nintendo upgrades their handhelds on an annual basis, but their traditional consoles tend to stay the same throughout the life of the system. The only things that change are the case color and pack-ins. I don't think a Nintendo console has has a hardware revamp since the SNES.

[+wood_jl]

Maybe this means they'll blow out the old Wii at $49 and then I can load up on pawn shop games, finally.

[Rev]

sounds like the final nail in nintendos coffin.

 

[+swlovinist]

I have confidence that Nintendo will do their successor to the Wii right. I think that coming out first will be good for Nintendo. My thoughts on the matter...

 

1. Playing Nintendo games in HD...about frigging time!

 

 

2. I really, really, hope that the system is under $250

 

 

3. Backwards compatible with Wii games is a must.

 

 

4. Looking forward to having a real controller this time.

 

 

I have been a long supporter of Nintendo, and have been happy with most of their products. The Wii served its purpose, and is ready to be upgraded.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

sounds like the final nail in nintendos coffin.

 

Ha Ha HA Ha Ha Ha Ha HA..................ahem.........Ha Ha HA Ha Ha Ha Ha HA..............

That's been said about N64, Gamecube, Wii and then surprise! They manage to bring in the bucks, as long as they have their line up of 1st party

titles they aren't going anywhere.

[Petran79]

Perhaps (though they will not admitt it) another reason is that the Dolphin emulator ended up been better than the actual Wii and they want a new console faster than planned to rectify the situation. It costed them in both hardware and software.

 

I mean, play a console game released in 2011 in a PC emulator is not what every company wants

[HammR25]

If this is true it sounds like they're trying to keep the same business model they had with the Wii which was to make sure they made a profit on both the hardware and the software. The people who bought the Wii already proved they don't care how much power it has. If the 360 and PS3 still have quite a long life cycle left it would be a great move by Nintendo since their system will be much easier to port to for multiplatform titles.