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Pachter "absolutely convinced" Wii HD is on the...
Pachter "absolutely convinced" Wii HD is on the...
GamesInudstry - October 7, 2008
Submitted by welshbloke (60) at 10:25AM PST on October 7, 2008
Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has said that he's certain a high definition version of Nintendo's Wii home console will be released.
Nintendo needs to recapture the market for core gamers and overcome the image it's cultivated as a console for parents and children, said the analyst, speaking to AFP
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1Animate posted on Wii (Wii) at 12:35PM PST on October 9, 2008. RE: Pachter "absolutely convinced" Wii HD is on the...@Stever89,
I wouldn't put it past Nintendo to add a little extra power in some places in the current Wii at some point, so it could display in HD. Games could utilize it while still having an option for the regular definition Wii owners, just as 360/PS3 games come with variable definitions. Nintendo has made similar movements in the past with their portables.
There's demand for HD content, maybe not a very large % for Wii, but if they could enable HD and put out a newer Wii 1 that does this, they will be able to increase sales while keeping the same price point.
I wouldn't bring PC's into console graphic comparisons. I think NES may have been most powerful for its time, though I am not sure. I would say SNES was not the most powerful as it competed with Jaguar, Neo Geo, 3DO.
I am not claiming, myself, that Nintendo needs HD for core gamers. I simply think there's a % of users that would be even more happy to buy a Wii if it did HD.
I just agree to disagree with you, as we have divergent viewpoints.[ Oracle ] [ Level 26 ] [ Rank: 241 ]bids
1JoshuaJSlone posted on Wii (Wii) at 11:53AM PST on October 9, 2008. RE: Pachter "absolutely convinced" Wii HD is on the...@kspraydad,
Changing the innards of Wii enough to multiply the pixels it's working with by several times is a bit more complicated than a camera. It wouldn't make sense to go to so much trouble without making further changes, either. What use is it to go HD to attract an HD-loving audience if everything else is still relatively ugly?[ Veteran ] [ Level 21 ] [ Rank: 155 ]bids
1kspraydad posted on Wii (Wii) at 3:39AM PST on October 9, 2008. RE: Pachter "absolutely convinced" Wii HD is on the...@Stever89,If the vast majority of games that play in the WiiHD play in the Wii then they will be considered 1 console.
This is why the DSi is seen as a DS...the vast majority of games for the DSi will work in the DS except for those that require the camera. Requiring the camera doesn't make it a seperate console.[ Oracle ] [ Level 21 ] [ Rank: 475 ]bids
1welshbloke posted on Wii (Wii) at 1:12AM PST on October 9, 2008. RE: Pachter "absolutely convinced" Wii HD is on the...@Stever89,
"Basically, Nintendo doesn't need HD to attract core gamers. Releasing games like WarioWare, MarioKart, Mario and Sonic, and those types of "casual" games in HD won't attract core gamers. What they need are core games... "
I think this is what Pachter is alluring to. He is suggesting that the current Wii will never lure these games.[ Oracle ] [ Level 30 ] [ Rank: 60 ]bids
2welshbloke posted on Wii (Wii) at 1:11AM PST on October 9, 2008. RE: Pachter "absolutely convinced" Wii HD is on the...@Stever89,
I am uncomfortable about the whole Nintendo thing. I look at the DSi it has its own cartridges and is backwards compatible with the DS yet it is still a DS.
I see no reason why they cannont introduce a new model Wii with HD support by simple swapping out the old stock and bringing in the new model. That is why I ask are we forecasting lifetime stock here or the lifetime of the Wii brand.
I honestly can see the Wii being replaced with a Wii HD and for it not to be the next gen. After all they have a nice comfort zone in manufacture to allow this to be a simple replacement to the Wii at the same price point.[ Oracle ] [ Level 30 ] [ Rank: 60 ]bids
2Stever89 posted on Wii (Wii) at 11:04PM PST on October 8, 2008. RE: Pachter "absolutely convinced" Wii HD is on the...@Joe80,
If they release a Wii with HD support... then it won't be the same Wii, since you have to add some graphical power behind it in order to output in HD. Which, if they do that, it won't be the Wii, it'll be a Wii2, similar to the way the PS3 is pretty much a PS2, with a few extra bells and whistles and HD. Hell, we can take it all the way back to the NES...
I don't really think you can add HD and still call it the same console because the graphical power and processing power are going to be higher. Probably a lot higher, and whether Nintendo calls it an updated Wii or whatever, it'll still be a successor and not an updated Wii.
And from looking at Japan, where HD penetration is the highest, and where the Wii is kicking the PS3 and 360 to the curb (not that the Wii isn't doing that elsewhere...), I think it's safe to assume that there's not a lot of demand for HD content.
Besides, I was referring to Pachter saying Nintendo will release a HD Wii to lure core players back. As much as some extreme core users love graphics, the vast majority of gamers do not care for such things. You can look at past winning consoles and I think all but the SNES were graphically weaker than the the competition. When the NES was launched, computer gamers smeared it because of its 10 year old graphical and processing abilities.
Basically, Nintendo doesn't need HD to attract core gamers. Releasing games like WarioWare, MarioKart, Mario and Sonic, and those types of "casual" games in HD won't attract core gamers. What they need are core games... games like Brawl, SMG, Disaster, Fatal Frame, Monster Hunter 3, etc. These types of games will bring the core gamers over... not HD. And those games are coming.
But yes... the next round of consoles will all be HD... but that's another 6 years away hopefully and by then HD will be in a large portion of homes and it'll be cheaper. Whether Nintendo calls the next console Wii2 or WiiHD remains to be seen...[ Lurker ] [ Level 15 ] [ Rank: 683 ]bids
1Animate posted on Wii (Wii) at 8:28PM PST on October 8, 2008. RE: Pachter "absolutely convinced" Wii HD is on the...bids
1Animate posted on Wii (Wii) at 8:27PM PST on October 8, 2008. RE: Pachter "absolutely convinced" Wii HD is on the...@Stever89,
I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo releases an HD Wii that is simply the same Wii we have now but with HD support (not a new console).[ Oracle ] [ Level 26 ] [ Rank: 241 ]bids
2Stever89 posted on Wii (Wii) at 6:44PM PST on October 8, 2008. RE: Pachter "absolutely convinced" Wii HD is on the...@Stever89,
I have no idea if its linking to the site or not.
Here's the URL:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6146958.html?tag=result;title;0[ Lurker ] [ Level 15 ] [ Rank: 683 ]bids
1Stever89 posted on Wii (Wii) at 6:40PM PST on October 8, 2008. RE: Pachter "absolutely convinced" Wii HD is on the...bids
3Stever89 posted on Wii (Wii) at 6:37PM PST on October 8, 2008. RE: Pachter "absolutely convinced" Wii HD is on the...@welshbloke,
I can see why they would want to do that to, seeing as how the HD consoles are blowing away the Wii sales wise, and since they don't have an HD console they can't make core games.
Oh wait.
On a more serious note, this is just plain stupid. Nintendo doesn't need to anything to "recapture" core gamers - they need to make more core games, and they've done that, by showing a load of core games at the Japan and America press conferences. And this isn't like the DS upgrade, because that didn't add any functionality that older games couldn't use. And look at how the DSi is being received...
No, Nintendo would be retarded to throw away the mass appeal the Wii has just so they can target the small percent of gamers who can actually take advantage of HD graphics.
Course, I'm sure most analysis were "absolutely convinced" that the Nintendo console would fall short of selling 20 million lifetime. Like the infamous GameSpot April Fools <a href=http://www.gamespot.com/news/6146958.html?tag=result;title;0" target = "_blank">article</a>. Oh how the tides have turned![ Lurker ] [ Level 15 ] [ Rank: 683 ]bids
17welshbloke posted on Wii (Wii) at 10:25AM PST on October 7, 2008. Article: Pachter "absolutely convinced" Wii HD is on the...Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has said that he's certain a high definition version of Nintendo's Wii home console will be released. Nintendo needs to recapture the market for core gamers and overcome the image it's cultivated as a console for parents and children, said the analyst, speaking to AFP[ Oracle ] [ Level 30 ] [ Rank: 60 ]
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@welshbloke: As JoshuaJSlone said, adding a camera to the DS does not dramatically change the DS. Adding HD support isn't as easy as adding a camera either.
Also, the Wii has been attracting some core games. CoD5 is coming to the Wii, Disaster looks like it'll be a good core game, Sin and Punishment from Nintendo is another good core game. No More Heroes 2 was announced at TGS, the list goes on. Nintendo has said they have the next Zelda, Mario, etc games coming, they just take time. Not to mention the ever present rumor of a Kid Icarus, and other such games. If all these games don't attract a good portion of core gamers, then I doubt a HD Wii in 2 years will. Maybe the very hardcore gamers will still go with the HD consoles, but since these types of gamers are the minority, Nintendo can afford to wait a generation to really grab these gamers.
@kspraydad: If most WiiHD games play on the Wii (a smart thing to do since I doubt many current Wii owners will upgrade to the new WiiHD), then it'd be pointless to have the WiiHD in the first place. And since any game that can be played on the Wii won't be made in HD, on the HD it'll look just as bad as current Wii games do on large HDTVs, rendering the WiiHD pointless. Finally, if companies make two versions of the games, one that is in HD and one that's not, then it makes the WiiHD a new console, and not on extended version of one console, like the DSi is/will be.
Handhelds go through minor upgrades more often and work better because they're cheaper and people probably like getting new ones every now and then, since handhelds tend to break more, since you rough house them more. Unless of course you have that portable Wii screen and battery thing...
@Joe80: I have no real evidence to support what consoles were more powerful than any other, especially since power is such a relative term (hard numbers like processor speed are not direct representations of the true potential and such). Wikipedia gives a good amount of detail on the consoles, but I always take Wiki with a bit of caution. From discussions on other forums (notably VGChartz), the topic of power has come up numerous times, and it's usually stated that the least powerful console wins every generation. As for the computer comparison, the best evidence (and again... I take it with caution since its Wikipedia) is this, which if you look under the 32 bit processors, they were first brought into the market (by Intel) in 1981, and had a speed of 8MHz. This was 2 years before the 8-bit 1.79 MHz NES came out (according to this). And 32 bit is much faster than 8 bit, so the power difference there is rather large (though I cannot give a percentage).
Though I do think Nintendo could claim some core gamers with HD... I just don't think that is the end all way to get there.
Though I think I'll agree to disagree... since I've forgotten exactly what we were disagreeing on. ;)
I was more worried that Pachter was convinced that an HD Wii was coming because it would help attract more core gamers, when I really think more core games are needed to attract core gamers... And since you don't need HD to have core games, I see no reason to sell 60 million Wiis (if WiiHD comes at the end of 2009 that'll be about the total sales of the current Wii), and then be like "HD! Woot!" If it comes much later than that... well they'll have to do more than just add HD because the next generation will be coming up soon and you don't want to constantly tell consumers they need to upgrade to get the most out of the games, and we all know Sony and Microsoft are going to be coming at Nintendo with a vengeance... Look at Sega - too many consoles in too short of a time doesn't help.
Of course... that's what I think. And since I don't run Nintendo (or anything else for that matter), I cannot say they will or won't do it (anymore than Pachter can), though I don't think they will, and I don't think they should either.
P.S. Yes... I do write papers. Long, long papers.