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[GrotesqueBeauty]

so has that other thread reached 500 posts just off of a days-old mockup thing?

Well, that and the exact same rumors that were already posted here first. I guess an IGN editor crossing his heart and hoping to die lends enough credibility for a "new news" thread these days?

Yeah, I don't get it either.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

I understand that but as someone who rarely plays handhelds outside (except when on vacation) they will definitely compete for my game time.

I feel you. 99% of my handheld gaming takes place in the home. But its not the design of the wii 2 controller and its similarity to the NGP that will compete for your game time, but the software. Two different companies, with different IPs, and the different philosophies of game design for each format.

 

[ksamedi]

I feel you. 99% of my handheld gaming takes place in the home. But its not the design of the wii 2 controller and its similarity to the NGP that will compete for your game time, but the software. Two different companies, with different IPs, and the different philosophies of game design for each format.

Sure, I will probably buy NGP because of the exclusive titles. But I expect a huge overlap in genres and IPs as well.

 

[Retro]

Continued with my Mockup Concept...

A standard 360 controller is just about 6 inches wide, making this controller roughly 8 to 8 1/2 inches wide, which is about as wide as a sheet of standard copier paper. Thus, that's one BIG HONKIN' Controller. The reason for these dimensions is to match the 6" screen size. If you make the screen slightly longer/narrower, you could potentially scale the entire controller inward, making it 6-1/2 to 7 inches wide... which would be comfortable even for big hands. And scale is obviously just eyeballing anyways.

As you can see, it features two Bumpers (Light green) two Triggers (Dark Green), 4 face buttons (in a stylized Gamecube layout; two 'beans', one 'main' and a smaller 'secondary'). Two analog sticks and a D-pad, roughly matching the Gamecube layout. I do think my Left Analog stick is a bit too off-center, but in my mind it kind of feels 'right'.

I also added 3 central buttons which is a feature we've only been able to speculate. Obviously there's a precedent for Start and Select, while a central button could function similar to the 360's 'X' button. Obviously I just made them a generic button style, the central button could be a logo, light, etc.

In retrospect, the Mic might be better positioned on the front for times you don't have the screen up but still want to chat. In theory, the microphone could be built to just pick up voices coming behind it, but honestly... it could go on the front too.

Speakers make sense below the screen, you don't really need those facing you since they're only making a few indicator noises, ala' the Wii.

Obviously the button layout and such isn't optimized for comfort and I have no idea what it would feel like to hold it, but... is there really any news to discuss other than "Hey, maybe it looks like this!"?

EDIT:
Added a fourth controller to show the screen when put in the upright position, and I don't like that AT ALL. If you cut the speakers and microphone off the screen and just have the screen attached at the hinge, you get this;

Which is much better. I guess since it's just a crappy mockup it's hard to tell, but in my mind the screen is actually behind the Triggers, so the little stabilizing 'fins' on the screen frame (designed to make it fit snugly against hte back of the controller handles) wouldn't get in the way of the shoulder buttons... If you look at the Side View mockup, the screen is actually well behind...

The same effect can be felt by leaning a 360 controller against the edge of a flat surface (like a desk)... in a way, now that I feel it, it kind of gives your index fingers something to 'rest' on, almost like a groove. If they go this route, when the screen is in the up position, the screen frame could be locked in just such a way that it almost BARELY touches the triggers, creative a sort of ergonomic 'groove' for your fingers to slide into.

 

[Eteric Rice]

There's no way the screen size is right. That's just to damned big.

Anyway, the rumored specs. How big of a generational leap are we talking, here? If any at all?

 

[woahjeez]

Anyway, I don't think Skyward Sword is possible on Wii HD without a literal complete re-development. The game is too centered around motion plus - every aspect of it depends on this. Unless we're getting some really wrong rumours here, it would not be possible.

So you don't think the Wii Remote will be able to sync to this thing? That much was pretty obvious to me, considering the renewed push in getting Wii Motion Pluses in everyone's hands

 

[Snakeyes]

If the specs are legit, Nintendo has made a stupid decision yet again. They should at least have gone for DX11 compliant hardware for future proofing.

 

[Amir0x]

So you don't think the Wii Remote will be able to sync to this thing? That much was pretty obvious to me, considering the renewed push in getting Wii Motion Pluses in everyone's hands

For the billionth time, no way Nintendo is going to flagship a game that uses a controller other than the one that comes with the Wii HD. It's absurd. Unless they're planning to bundle in TWO types of controllers with every Wii HD system, no developer is going to act like the motion control sync even exists on the platform. Everybody knows this. Extremely few developers are going to risk developing for a segmented userbase. They'll go for the controller that comes with this system every single time. It makes even less sense that Nintendo would do this, since it's going to send an extremely confusing message to the average consumer.

And since they won't do that, and they won't be re-developing Skyward Sword, imo there will be no Skyward Sword HD.

 

[Beth Cyra]

If the specs are legit, Nintendo has made a stupid decision yet again. They should at least have gone for DX11 compliant hardware for future proofing.

DX 11?

I can't see how that would be cost effective to put in some really decent DX 11 cards and still be able to sell it to consumers.

 

[Beth Cyra]

For the billionth time, no way Nintendo is going to flagship a game that uses a controller other than the one that comes with the Wii HD. It's absurd. Unless they're planning to bundle in TWO types of controllers with every Wii HD system, no developer is going to act like the motion control sync even exists on the platform. Everybody knows this. Extremely few developers are going to risk developing for a segmented userbase. They'll go for the controller that comes with this system every single time. It makes even less sense that Nintendo would do this, since it's going to send an extremely confusing message to the average consumer.

And since they won't do that, and they won't be re-developing Skyward Sword, imo there will be no Skyward Sword HD.

This is how I thought of it as well.

If we are lucky though, Cafe will have inbuilt upscaling that works as well as Dolphin for Wii and Cube software so we can make SS look even better then it probably already will when/if we play it on Cafe.

 

[Snakeyes]

DX 11?

I can't see how that would be cost effective to put in some really decent DX 11 cards and still be able to sell it to consumers.

Dunno, I just don't want developers to have another reason to jump ship to the other platforms a year later.

 

[From The Dust]

This is how I thought of it as well.

If we are lucky though, Cafe will have inbuilt upscaling that works as well as Dolphin for Wii and Cube software so we can make SS look even better then it probably already will when/if we play it on Cafe.

it would work better since Nintendo has all the toolset for it. the only problem is to find a way to get the Wii/GCN working on the new architecture.

 

[Krowley]

For the billionth time, no way Nintendo is going to flagship a game that uses a controller other than the one that comes with the Wii HD. It's absurd. Unless they're planning to bundle in TWO types of controllers with every Wii HD system, no developer is going to act like the motion control sync even exists on the platform. Everybody knows this. Extremely few developers are going to risk developing for a segmented userbase. They'll go for the controller that comes with this system every single time. It makes even less sense that Nintendo would do this, since it's going to send an extremely confusing message to the average consumer.

And since they won't do that, and they won't be re-developing Skyward Sword, imo there will be no Skyward Sword HD.

I agree with your zelda estimation, but putting a motion controller in the box probably wouldn't be that expensive for them, and if it's there, some devs will probably use it, at least a little bit.

More likely they will try to brand this as a 3rd pillar type of scenario and act like wii will live on and all that (which might be true to some extent for casuals).

It's also possible that this controller has some level of significant motion control built in. It supposedly has a camera, which could work for certain kinds of motion control, and it could easily have gyro's built in, which might make for some interesting game-play possibilities in certain situations. The only thing I really can't imagine being on the controller is a pointer, although I guess you could put a pointer on a controller shaped like that even if it wouldn't be convenient to use.

 

[wsippel]

If the specs are legit, Nintendo has made a stupid decision yet again. They should at least have gone for DX11 compliant hardware for future proofing.

What for? The R700 already series supports all relevant D3D11 features, AMD just used non-compliant implementations. But that hardly matters for a system that doesn't actually use D3D.

 

[Beth Cyra]

Dunno, I just don't want developers to have another reason to jump ship to the other platforms a year later.

A two year time gap makes this impossible though.

Even if they could some how get in top of the line Graphics cards (not going to happen even in the next Ps or Xbox) then Tech will still advance two years.

Also, Nintendo isn't picking out the cards now, they probably picked them out long ago when they where constructing the system. In all likely hood DX 11 complient cards hadn't even started production yet.

I honestly think we will be lucky if the next Gen systems outside of Cafe support more then a second gen DX 11 card.

 

[AniHawk]

For the billionth time, no way Nintendo is going to flagship a game that uses a controller other than the one that comes with the Wii HD. It's absurd. Unless they're planning to bundle in TWO types of controllers with every Wii HD system, no developer is going to act like the motion control sync even exists on the platform. Everybody knows this. Extremely few developers are going to risk developing for a segmented userbase. They'll go for the controller that comes with this system every single time. It makes even less sense that Nintendo would do this, since it's going to send an extremely confusing message to the average consumer.

And since they won't do that, and they won't be re-developing Skyward Sword, imo there will be no Skyward Sword HD.

we'll be getting an hd zelda in the next five years anyway, with an overworld controlled like the ds games that were so popular. michel ancel will be so inspired that he'll scrap his current plan for beyond good & evil 2 and rework the same idea into a superior minigame compilation.

 

[Woffls]

I agree with your zelda estimation, but putting a motion controller in the box probably wouldn't be that expensive for them, and if it's there, some devs will probably use it, at least a little bit.

More likely they will try to brand this as a 3rd pillar type of scenario and act like wii will live on and all that (which might be true to some extent for casuals).

Wiimotes ain't cheap though, especially with nunchucks hooked onto them. How many Wiimotes are in the wild at the moment? 120 million? It makes a solutely no sense to put them in the N6 box.

My guess is that those who dont have Wiimotes now, will probably not want one with their N6, and if people are that desperate for one, they can buy one.

Not buying the 3rd pillar either. I think they want a clean break from Wii, and will, as they've implied so many times, be wanting the expanded audience to move on to richer gaming experiences. They will do that with full Wii backwards compatability, as well as a new experience. I suppose, then, that Wii will be a 3rd pillar, just not the console

Sent from my god damn iPod touch.

 

[Indyana]

For the billionth time, no way Nintendo is going to flagship a game that uses a controller other than the one that comes with the Wii HD. It's absurd. Unless they're planning to bundle in TWO types of controllers with every Wii HD system, no developer is going to act like the motion control sync even exists on the platform. Everybody knows this. Extremely few developers are going to risk developing for a segmented userbase. They'll go for the controller that comes with this system every single time. It makes even less sense that Nintendo would do this, since it's going to send an extremely confusing message to the average consumer.

And since they won't do that, and they won't be re-developing Skyward Sword, imo there will be no Skyward Sword HD.

I don't believe they are going to launch this year or delay Zelda SS, but the screen could be attachable to the new Wiimote (and nunchuk). Edge said that the motion control capabilities are better than Move and I can't imagine people waving a large gamepad with a 6" screen.

Continued with my Mockup Concept...

I liked it until I realized that the screen is unprotected. If the gamepad falls, the screen would get damaged very easily.

 

[Ridleyscott]

we'll be getting an hd zelda in the next five years anyway, with an overworld controlled like the ds games that were so popular. michel ancel will be so inspired that he'll scrap his current plan for beyond good & evil 2 and rework the same idea into a superior minigame compilation.

or that weren't popular... I guess that was implied.

 

[GregLombardi]

If Wii 2 is only marginally more powerful than PS3/360, Nintendo has to have some other concept that will sell the system. They are well aware that marginally better graphics don't sell consoles (see this generation, in its entirety).

The question is: What else does the console do that is sellable?

And does it matter if they're in first place in the new generation as much as we are assuming it does? They have made a truckload off DS / Wii. Don't they still have like $8 billion in the bank?

 

[_Alkaline_]

If this console lacks pointer controls, I'll consider not buying it. Aside from the Galaxy games, pointer controls were the best thing to come out of the Wii.

Could you imagine having to go back to analogue controls for Sin and Punishment 3?

Not that we'd have to worry about it.

 

[AniHawk]

or that weren't popular... I guess that was implied.

implied, ridley... or implode?

 

[PantherLotus]

If Wii 2 is only marginally more powerful than PS3/360, Nintendo has to have some other concept that will sell the system. They are well aware that marginally better graphics don't sell consoles (see this generation, in its entirety).

The question is: What else does the console do that is sellable?

And does it matter if they're in first place in the new generation as much as we are assuming it does? They have made a truckload off DS / Wii. Don't they still have like $8 billion in the bank?

I don't follow the logic of this post, GL. Or are you just stating knowns: Nintendo's marketing strategy isn't about graphics, so what could it be?

To your last point, it never mattered whether they were in first place.

 

[From The Dust]

If this console lacks pointer controls, I'll consider not buying it. Aside from the Galaxy games, pointer controls were the best thing to come out of the Wii.

Could you imagine having to go back to analogue controls for Sin and Punishment 3?

Not that we'd have to worry about it.

touchscreen pointer

 

[CoffeeJanitor]

I cannot wait to see what the controller actually looks like. Props on the mockups for all of you that have made them, but they kind of look like rotten ass right now. The only thing that's keeping me from liking these possible controllers is that I just can't see a way for the form factor to work.

 

[OG_Original Gamer]

As I already wrote, IBM had complex in-order CPUs running at 5GHz, air cooled, years ago. Their current top of the line server CPU, using an even more complex out-of-order design, run at up to 4,25GHz air cooled using four of it's eight cores (TurboCore mode), or 4GHz using all eight cores (MaxCore mode). Even the blade version with extremely limited cooling achieves 3GHz.

They acheived those freqeuncies without the use of turbo mode (5ghz).

 

[PantherLotus]

It probably looks like a big PSP.

 

[EatChildren]

If this console lacks pointer controls, I'll consider not buying it. Aside from the Galaxy games, pointer controls were the best thing to come out of the Wii.

Could you imagine having to go back to analogue controls for Sin and Punishment 3?

Not that we'd have to worry about it.

I feel your pain .

 

[PantherLotus]

Pointer controls are mostly not-needed if a touch screen is available, FPSs notwithstanding. I'd take a touch screen multi-touch UI over a wiggly laser pointer pretty much any day of the rest of my life. Unless I can have a mouse, of course.

 

[Shiggie]

It probably looks like a big PSP.

Yep.
And all of these detachable screens are waaaayyyy out there and no way in hell Nintendo would let something like these flimsy and detachable mockups in the hands of kids/anyone.

 

[Pie Lord]

I just saw the picture on the other thread, is it real?

You're going to have to be a lot more specific than that.

 

[CoffeeJanitor]

You're going to have to be a lot more specific than that.

The short answer is that none of these are real. The long answer is that everything up to this point has been hearsay, so you should probably just come back at E3.

 

[jj984jj]

It probably looks like a big PSP.

So it looks like a NGP?

It is starting to sound like the size of an NGP with handles though. I doubt the screen will be anywhere near the same quality though.

 

[_Alkaline_]

I feel your pain .

A world without pointer controls and without Sin and Punishment is a world I do not want to be part of.

 

[Krowley]

Pointer controls are mostly not-needed if a touch screen is available, FPSs notwithstanding. I'd take a touch screen multi-touch UI over a wiggly laser pointer pretty much any day of the rest of my life. Unless I can have a mouse, of course.

Yeah, touchscreen works pretty well, even for FPS.

I tried Hunters for DS at my friends house, and I thought it worked quite nicely.

 

[PantherLotus]

Yep.
And all of these detachable screens are waaaayyyy out there and no way in hell Nintendo would let something like these flimsy and detachable mockups in the hands of kids/anyone.

Extremely good point.

The other point, and one that makes me question the supposed leaked designs, is that the controller looks like a GC controller with a screen squished in. But that doesn't seem to be how Nintendo rolls in terms of design. They're not just slappin' shit in between existing buttons, they're redesigning from the ground up.

Conjecture, of course. I just think it's silly to think we're going to see the Wii Classic Controller Pro handles with a screen in between. I mean, I hope that's not the extent of what we're looking forward to.

 

[bgassassin]

Something that could get the new console selling well (at least in Japan) would be to get Square Enix to release Dragon Quest X as a launch title, or near launch if the console does come out this year.

 

[AceBandage]

Something that could get the new console selling well (at least in Japan) would be to get Square Enix to release Dragon Quest X as a launch title, or at least near launch if it does come out this year.

Won't happen.
It's for Wii, only Wii, always will be Wii (at least for the next decade anyway).

 

[PantherLotus]

Oh god it's you again, making definitive statements based on absolute conjecture. I hate that.

Something that could get the new console selling well (at least in Japan) would be to get Square Enix to release Dragon Quest X as a launch title, or near launch if the console does come out this year.

It'd be neat if the controller played DS games, too.

 

[Disorientator]

The pointer needs to stay for a new PES Play Maker with the HD engine.

This.

PES Pointer controls must get mainstream.

 

[JaseMath]

the supposedly real picture featuring a black wii2...

No. It's fake.

Won't happen.
It's for Wii, only Wii, always will be Wii (at least for the next decade anyway).

I don't know, could be. I know Yuji Horii said it was for Wii, but if the Wii 2

Spoiler

Wii HiFi

stays in line with the current naming scheme, he could have just as easily meant the Wii family of consoles.

 

[PantherLotus]

Stream probably just means there won't be a hard disk media format. No disks, no floppies, no cartridges. Take your controller to a download station at some italian cafe, get your games and come home and play them on the big screen. or play them with other schmucks there at the cafe.

 

[Pie Lord]

Stream probably just means there won't be a hard disk media format. No disks, no floppies, no cartridges. Take your controller to a download station at some italian cafe, get your games and come home and play them on the big screen. or play them with other schmucks there at the cafe.

That makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[Fourth Storm]

I'm still crossing my fingers for the stylus/pointer. Seems the French site was right if IGN is to be trusted. Thus, there must still be one "huge surprise" left that hasn't been unveiled yet. Still makes alot of sense based on what we know (capacitive touch screen, sensor bar, etc). To relegate the best part of your last system to an optional add on is downright stupid.

 

[Father_Brain]

All these descriptions of the controller - huge LCD screen, one unit sans pointer, dual analog, eight buttons, camera - really are continuing to paint a picture of a Spruce Goose-esque monstrosity. It's as though Nintendo has overlearned the lessons of Wii's failure to capture third party support and retain the core market, and has responded by deciding to run away from everything that made Wii so successful in the first place. For now, I have to hope that they know what they're doing, and we're merely getting an incomplete or simply inaccurate picture.

 

[The Lamp]

I feel like it might be called Project Cafe because of how chill, connected, and streamlined the experience might be.

You go to cafes to catch up on work, buy some coffee, stay as long as you want, chat with friends, learn something, do a puzzle, whatever. Just to get away from busy of your day for a while. And you come and go as you please and have time.

Could also be alluding to internet cafes.

Interesting.

 

[bgassassin]

Won't happen.
It's for Wii, only Wii, always will be Wii (at least for the next decade anyway).

I don't know. In that March interview Horii only stated that they were "working toward releasing it on the Wii". I have a tough time believing they still do that with a new console on the horizon. Could explain why info has been scarce on the game since it was first announced it was coming to the Wii.

It'd be neat if the controller played DS games, too.

I agree. Unfortunately that might be going against Nintendo's desire of not causing competition between the handheld market with the home console market. Off the top of my head I can't think of a way to do it, but it would definitely have to be done where it wouldn't impact the handheld sales.

 

[PantherLotus]

That makes no sense whatsoever.

enlighten me, lord of all informed speculation.

 

[Beth Cyra]

No. It's fake.


I don't know, could be. I know Yuji Horii said it was for Wii, but if the Wii 2

Spoiler

Wii HiFi

stays in line with the current naming scheme, he could have just as easily meant the Wii family of consoles.

This is streching to a point it hurts.

 

[JaseMath]

This is streching to a point it hurts.

How?