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[fabricated backlash]

And, sucks for them, but digital distribution is a future that cannot be stopped. Note, I did not say the complete eradication of retail says, but the growth of digital. It's not an inevitability, because it has already begun. When Microsoft/Sony, and Nintendo, realise the growing acceptance of digital purchases has wormed its way into the mind share of average joe, and that they can make a greater return on digital distribution versus retail, they won't stop for a second to do just that.

Digital distribution is only going to get bigger than it already has, and it is, for most part, good for everyone. As I like Nintendo, I don't want to see them get left behind, especially when they too could make great use of a digital, connected world.

Well didn't Iwata himself say that they're preparing exactly that? They're currently looking into finding ways to not piss off retailers, while finding a viable DD offering. From my experience, neither Sony nor Microsoft have thus far found a DD offering that is a serious alternative to physical media. For one the price difference is negligible and is often higher than what you can find at retail.

I absolutely agree that Digital game sales are the model for the future. The convenience and benefits it can possibly bring to consumers is just too enticing. But as long as there are no clear legal rules to keep MS, Sony and Nintendo in check, I'm not hopping on this train just yet.

A reasonable amount of flash memory should really be enough for most consumers. I'd say 16GB or upwards should be enough for most, with the option to get some cheap external HDDs to expand the capabilities.
But this also means, that Nintendo can't rely on installs to make up for shoddy disc drives and horrible reading speeds like MS and Sony did this gen.

I wonder what Nintendo will do to keep load times reasonable. Wii U is slated to have 2-3 times the amount of RAM as XB360/PS3, and uses 25 GB disks. Think the disk drive will be faster than PS3's ? Will they use another pool of slow memory to act as a buffer? Or will they use some of the flash memory for that purpose?

Spoiler

Just thinking out loud

I sure hope that we won't have to endure another round of crappy disc drives like this gen.

 

[z0m3le]

I don't give a shit what Gamestop want. Or Sony. Or Microsoft. Or Nintendo. Or anybody. None of you should. Because they are businesses, and the bottom line is the dollar. Sony/Microsoft/Whoever don't want to prevent used game sales for any other reason than capitalising on as much potential income as possible, at the expense of whoever they can. Gamespot only care about retail says because it is their source of income. It is pro-business anti-consumer behaviour.

And, sucks for them, but digital distribution is a future that cannot be stopped. Note, I did not say the complete eradication of retail says, but the growth of digital. It's not an inevitability, because it has already begun. When Microsoft/Sony, and Nintendo, realise the growing acceptance of digital purchases has wormed its way into the mind share of average joe, and that they can make a greater return on digital distribution versus retail, they won't stop for a second to do just that.

Digital distribution is only going to get bigger than it already has, and it is, for most part, good for everyone. As I like Nintendo, I don't want to see them get left behind, especially when they too could make great use of a digital, connected world.

You missed the point, Gamestop and consumers are in the same boat when it comes to digital downloads and used game sales, admittedly for their own individual self interests that don't really conflict with each other. There is nothing inherently better about digital downloads of full retail games vs hard disc copies for the consumer, a hard disc copy can backed up onto a hard drive on consoles (<rumor) and can be traded in with plenty of consumer valued deals that makes new games more accessible for lower income gamers.

Everything in my post is allowing digital downloads to grow, but puts it in a perspective that it is not going to be free of hassles for not only the game industry's retail side (gamestop does sell a very large percentage of the US gaming market) but also for us gamers. Have you ever gone into gamestop with 10+ games and ended up with $200+ I done so multiple times, even once trading in 13 games for over $400 worth of store credit (all newer 360 games that I beat, even bought my friend a DSlite so we could game together)

Your original post is speculation, but so is mine, both are valid and both offer perspectives that we should take into account, your reply to mine basically ignores that there is no inherit value to digital downloads over retail copies. Consumers should matter to all of us, as that is what we are.

 

[Samurai_Heart]

I wonder what Nintendo will do to keep load times reasonable. Wii U is slated to have 2-3 times the amount of RAM as XB360/PS3, and uses 25 GB disks. Think the disk drive will be faster than PS3's ? Will they use another pool of slow memory to act as a buffer? Or will they use some of the flash memory for that purpose?

Spoiler

Just thinking out loud

Oh please have a good disk drive, so many wasted hours just installing almost every PS3 games I have XD. Anyone else hoping theres an opt in choice for automatic patching as well, I mean the way Sony has decided to do it's patching system hurts.

 

[BD1]

I'm totally 100% in the Twilight Princess camp. I think Link should look like the Wii U Zelda demo.

The Legend of Zelda franchise is at a cross roads. Skyward Sword bombed in Japan, which you could reasonably argue was because the Wii is a dead console, but that would also ignore the fact that it's popularity has been waning for years. In the west, Skyward Sword did OK, but it's clearly not a sales giant at the moment. So does Nintendo continue to try and find that "universal" balance or do they push hard the opposite way and make it more of a "western" audience game?

I think they'll stick close to the look of the Wii U demo with less whimsy and stylized stuff, with design choices made more in-line with the Western, "core" dude bro audience in mind.

 

[ozfunghi]

The part where I state I want/need to know more on their storage solutions. Here. This part of the post;



You're welcome.

I also read things in your post such as "Nintendo seems to be behind in all these areas" and "blatantly shortsighted and ignorant" etc... So spare me your witty response.

 

[AceBandage]

The Legend of Zelda franchise is at a cross roads. Skyward Sword bombed in Japan, which you could reasonably argue was because the Wii is a dead console, but that would also ignore the fact that it's popularity has been waning for years. In the west, Skyward Sword did OK, but it's clearly not a sales giant at the moment. So does Nintendo continue to try and find that "universal" balance or do they push hard the opposite way and make it more of a "western" audience game?

I think they'll stick close to the look of the Wii U demo with less whimsy and stylized stuff, with design choices made more in-line with the Western, "core" dude bro audience in mind.

I'm betting on them trying a formula like 3D Land, where they make it more like the old 2D games, but still keep all the 3D Staples.

 

[Shikamaru Ninja]

The Legend of Zelda franchise is at a cross roads. Skyward Sword bombed in Japan, which you could reasonably argue was because the Wii is a dead console, but that would also ignore the fact that it's popularity has been waning for years. In the west, Skyward Sword did OK, but it's clearly not a sales giant at the moment. So does Nintendo continue to try and find that "universal" balance or do they push hard the opposite way and make it more of a "western" audience game?

I think they'll stick close to the look of the Wii U demo with less whimsy and stylized stuff, with design choices made more in-line with the Western, "core" dude bro audience in mind.

I'm betting on them trying a formula like 3D Land, where they make it more like the old 2D games, but still keep all the 3D Staples.

Nintendo actually has an open window for the next Legend of Zelda in Japan. It has been theorized that a lot of RPG gamers have flocked to hand helds for the 20-30 hour RPG experiences. It can be argued that since many Japanese homes have one television shared with the family, it seems that RPG gaming has delegated to private experiences on the hand helds. It explains why Monster Hunter, God Eater, Phantasy Star Portable, Dragon Quest IX, and why even the hand held Zelda titles have thrived on portables.

With that in mind, the concept of being able to zap your game from the television to the tablet may replicate that same experience and invigorate console RPG - Adventure games on a Nintendo console hybrid.

The Zelda team will be doing a lot of firsts on the console, and I am sure Aonuma and the team are excited for at least one more serious attempt at capturing the Japanese console audience.

 

[z0m3le]

Nintendo actually has an open window for the next Legend of Zelda in Japan. It has been theorized that a lot of RPG gamers have flocked to hand helds for the 20-30 hour RPG experiences. It can be argued that since many Japanese homes have one television shared with the family, it seems that RPG gaming has delegated to private experiences on the hand helds. It explains why Monster Hunter, God Eater, Phantasy Star Portable, Dragon Quest IX, and why even the hand held Zelda titles have thrived on portables.

With that in mind, the concept of being able to zap your game from the television to the tablet may replicate that same experience and invigorate console RPG - Adventure games on a Nintendo console hybrid.

The Zelda team will be doing a lot of firsts on the console, and I am sure Aonuma and the team are excited for at least one more serious attempt at capturing the Japanese console audience.

yep, I see this feature as a huge selling point, especially for family gamers.

 

[BD1]

I'm betting on them trying a formula like 3D Land, where they make it more like the old 2D games, but still keep all the 3D Staples.

I wish they'd go back to a game based around exploration, a la the pre 3D games. I'd love if the game started and you were alone in a field (Maybe Link was a horsemen attacked by monsters, he awakes without his memory) and the DRC acted as your compass and ancient map of Hyrule. From there, you use those tools to explore Hyrule and get thrown into a crazy quest to save the Princess...

 

[herzogzwei1989]

The Legend of Zelda franchise is at a cross roads. Skyward Sword bombed in Japan, which you could reasonably argue was because the Wii is a dead console, but that would also ignore the fact that it's popularity has been waning for years. In the west, Skyward Sword did OK, but it's clearly not a sales giant at the moment. So does Nintendo continue to try and find that "universal" balance or do they push hard the opposite way and make it more of a "western" audience game?

I think they'll stick close to the look of the Wii U demo with less whimsy and stylized stuff, with design choices made more in-line with the Western, "core" dude bro audience in mind.

I didn't know Skyward Sword bombed in Japan. Did Twilight Princess outsell it, on Wii or at least Wii+GCN ?

I hope Nintendo goes with the CG-like look of the Wii U demo, it's like Twilight Princess on steroids.

 

[HeySeuss]

Wasn't it heavily rumored that they would be using a cloud storage system from the company they bought a year or two ago?

 

[herzogzwei1989]

*gone fishing, in the subtropics*

Hope there's something new when I get back.

 

[Roo]

Wasn't it heavily rumored that they would be using a cloud storage system from the company they bought a year or two ago?

Acer acquired the cloud-service provider iGware a few months ago
and since Nintendo is a really close partner with Acer people assumed it was safe to say they would provide a cloud-service solution for them. I think they even were in talks about it but nothing has been oficially confirmed.

Tbh, I think Nintendo WILL have Acer's cloud service, it is just too good to let it go
but again, we have to wait to know the details at E3. Maybe they could talk about it at their Fiscal Year earnings meeting

 

[GAS]

Maybe these news are on the wrong side of the (not so) thin line between the "April fool's day" and the reality.....
but everyone decide for himself.....

http://www.nintendoenthusiast.com/r...tm_campaign=retro-working-on-zelda-and-new-ip
(Totally fake, but with good picture)

http://www.1up.com/previews/nintendo-dubstep-experience-3d-reinvent
(Totally fake, but with a funny video)

http://www.nintendoenthusiast.com/n...ntendo-funds-new-stamper-studio-phoenix-games
(Totally fake, but...... it's something that really hurt that's not true)

 

[TunaLover]

26 days to go ugh T___________T

uh?

 

[AceBandage]

uh?

Till the year end review from Nintendo.
They'll tell investors how their fiscal year went, and why they should be excited for the upcoming one.

 

[BY2K]

Maybe these news are on the wrong side of the (not so) thin line between the "April fool's day" and the reality.....
but everyone decide for himself.....

http://www.nintendoenthusiast.com/r...tm_campaign=retro-working-on-zelda-and-new-ip
(Totally fake, but with good picture)

http://www.1up.com/previews/nintendo-dubstep-experience-3d-reinvent
(Totally fake, but with a funny video)

http://www.nintendoenthusiast.com/n...ntendo-funds-new-stamper-studio-phoenix-games
(Totally fake, but...... it's something that really hurt that's not true)

First one confirmed fake by the author of the story.
Third link doesn't work. Half of the time that site doesn't work.

Till the year end review from Nintendo.
They'll tell investors how their fiscal year went, and why they should be excited for the upcoming one.

Then their stock will fall again because it's not announcing games for iOS/Android... :/

 

[TunaLover]

26 days is alot of time, I shouldn't asked u__u

 

[disap.ed]

Acer acquired the cloud-service provider iGware a few months ago
and since Nintendo is a really close partner with Acer people assumed it was safe to say they would provide a cloud-service solution for them. I think they even were in talks about it but nothing has been oficially confirmed.

Tbh, I think Nintendo WILL have Acer's cloud service, it is just too good to let it go
but again, we have to wait to know the details at E3. Maybe they could talk about it at their Fiscal Year earnings meeting

I think Nintendo was already a customer of iGware, not of Acer.

 

[Bagu]

http://www.nintendoenthusiast.com/n...ntendo-funds-new-stamper-studio-phoenix-games

Because link doesn't work
Working exclusively to bring “revolutionary experiences” to Wii U & 3DS…

1st April – Nintendo is proud to announce the opening of a brand new software development studio in the heart of the English countryside. Established just outside the village of Henley-in-Arden, 20miles south of Birmingham, Phoenix Games™ is already hard at work on the research and development of three brand new projects for Nintendo’s Wii U™ Video Game Console, and Nintendo 3DS™.

Leading this new studio are video game veteran’s Tim and Chris Stamper. Perhaps best well known for their previous studio Rareware™, based in Twycross. Tim and Chris have exclusively worked on Nintendo platforms for nearly thirty years, and following the sale of Rareware™ to Microsoft in 2002 have been eager to return to Nintendo’s family.

“We’ve always felt at home developing on Nintendo systems, we share the same mentality, thought process and care for our titles and properties. We’ve found working with Nintendo over these past few months exhilarating and are blown away by their plans for the Wii U™.” says Tim, whilst his brother Chris had this to say “We left Nintendo in 2002, and shortly after we realised something wasn’t right with Microsoft. We cut our losses and left Rare in early 2007. Early last year when Reggie Fils-Aime gave us a call and decided to share with us the first details of ‘Project Cafe’, as it was then known, it instantly sparked our interest. They truly have one amazing machine with the Wii U™ and we cannot wait to show the world what it can do at E3 in June.”

Tim and Chris are also joined by famed-developer and long-term friend David Doak, best known as the producer for both Goldeneye 007™ and Perfect Dark™ on the N64™ video game system.

About Phoenix Games

Founded in 2011, Phoenix Games is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nintendo Company, Ltd. We’re a state-of-the-art team working closely with our partners in Japan to bring cutting-edge games to Nintendo platforms such as the Wii U™.
Our studio is located in beautiful Henley-in-Arden, Hertfordshire. With rolling hills to the north, rivers threading through town, abundant wildlife, and a laid-back, cosmopolitan culture, Henley is a dynamic and truly wonderful place to live. With plentiful outdoor activities and a vibrant, diverse music scene, there’s something for everyone in Henley, especially if you’re a connoisseur of all things barbecue.
Our team is composed of industry veterans and leaders with decades of experience creating compelling games for the global market. Led by Tim and Chris Stamper, famous for the award-winning Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Donkey Kong Country™ series which reflect our passion, creativity, and dedication to excellence, and we’re working hard to ensure our future titles uphold the industry-leading Nintendo standard of quality.”

About Nintendo

The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™ home console, Nintendo 3DS™ and Nintendo DS™ family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.9 billion video games and more than 620 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi™ XL, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance™, Super NES™, Nintendo® 64 and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of Europe, based in Grossostheim, Germany, was established in 1990 and serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in Europe.

 

[BY2K]

Because link doesn't work
Working exclusively to bring “revolutionary experiences” to Wii U & 3DS…

1st April – Nintendo is proud to announce the opening of a brand new software development studio in the heart of the English countryside. Established just outside the village of Henley-in-Arden, 20miles south of Birmingham, Phoenix Games™ is already hard at work on the research and development of three brand new projects for Nintendo’s Wii U™ Video Game Console, and Nintendo 3DS™.

Leading this new studio are video game veteran’s Tim and Chris Stamper. Perhaps best well known for their previous studio Rareware™, based in Twycross. Tim and Chris have exclusively worked on Nintendo platforms for nearly thirty years, and following the sale of Rareware™ to Microsoft in 2002 have been eager to return to Nintendo’s family.

“We’ve always felt at home developing on Nintendo systems, we share the same mentality, thought process and care for our titles and properties. We’ve found working with Nintendo over these past few months exhilarating and are blown away by their plans for the Wii U™.” says Tim, whilst his brother Chris had this to say “We left Nintendo in 2002, and shortly after we realised something wasn’t right with Microsoft. We cut our losses and left Rare in early 2007. Early last year when Reggie Fils-Aime gave us a call and decided to share with us the first details of ‘Project Cafe’, as it was then known, it instantly sparked our interest. They truly have one amazing machine with the Wii U™ and we cannot wait to show the world what it can do at E3 in June.”

Tim and Chris are also joined by famed-developer and long-term friend David Doak, best known as the producer for both Goldeneye 007™ and Perfect Dark™ on the N64™ video game system.

About Phoenix Games

Founded in 2011, Phoenix Games is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nintendo Company, Ltd. We’re a state-of-the-art team working closely with our partners in Japan to bring cutting-edge games to Nintendo platforms such as the Wii U™.
Our studio is located in beautiful Henley-in-Arden, Hertfordshire. With rolling hills to the north, rivers threading through town, abundant wildlife, and a laid-back, cosmopolitan culture, Henley is a dynamic and truly wonderful place to live. With plentiful outdoor activities and a vibrant, diverse music scene, there’s something for everyone in Henley, especially if you’re a connoisseur of all things barbecue.
Our team is composed of industry veterans and leaders with decades of experience creating compelling games for the global market. Led by Tim and Chris Stamper, famous for the award-winning Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Donkey Kong Country™ series which reflect our passion, creativity, and dedication to excellence, and we’re working hard to ensure our future titles uphold the industry-leading Nintendo standard of quality.”

About Nintendo

The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™ home console, Nintendo 3DS™ and Nintendo DS™ family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.9 billion video games and more than 620 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi™ XL, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance™, Super NES™, Nintendo® 64 and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of Europe, based in Grossostheim, Germany, was established in 1990 and serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in Europe.

That is just tasteless. Holy crap.

 

[Nibel]

:lol

Such a shitty AFD joke

 

[TwilightPrincess]

http://www.nintendoenthusiast.com/n...ntendo-funds-new-stamper-studio-phoenix-games
(Totally fake, but...... it's something that really hurt that's not true)

Must be them.

http://games.ign.com/objects/716/716343.html

 

[IdeaMan]

^ I still don't believe that even if the next generation was 50x current gen, that budgets would get much bigger than they are just because of the tech. They may get big because companies are trying to outdo each other but that could happen even if we stopped at Wii Tech.

BTW where has Ideaman got to? Wanna drop us some more info my main man?

Yeah man, throw us dogs a bone!

Don't have the time these days to be seriously involved in the thread

But at the same time Microsoft did it the entire generation, and Sony adopted it with the Vita (which unlike the 3DS doesn't have internal memory and neither a small 2GB solution included).

Or the new iPad, the 64GB model costing $800+ and you can't use SD or USB or anything else (officially) to expand said storage.

At least Nintendo is giving people the chance of using any USB/SD/HDD rather than mandatory ones. That one-big storage won't be included (probably 2-4GB flash inside) it might open for problems with some developers, we'll see. In most cases, the mandatory installs on PS3 games were mostly to reduce loading times as close as possible to the Xbox 360 versions.

And for downloads, people will just plug any SD or USB, use it and if they want more just buy/plug another one. But guess to see how it will work will have to wait for/after E3.
For all we know, like the Xbox 360 USB solution, there could be limits like the 16GB cap and the up to 2 USB devices at the same time.

It's more on v4 dev kits. Not enough for downloading complete HD game emptying a blue-ray though. I remember a website has been spot-on on the amount currently in the system. Still, it could change with future revisions and on the retail version.

Think of the internal flash as an "appetizer" for digital distribution/dlc/patch/apps, then if you want more, you switch to other storage means available.

...
Full retail downloads will also hurt gamestop and to look at it completely objectively, Sony and Microsoft might actually make enemies of both customers and retail if used game sales (25% of gamestop's yearly business) is shutdown, it could even mean that they don't even stock used games from those systems, which customers will quickly take notice of.
...

Don't forget the NFC feature. We can easily imagine a cross between digital and retail distribution thanks to this.

 

[thegodsend]

so it's 8gb then, as reported by kotaku. I believe there was no other concrete number circulating.

well, that's really not that much...

 

[GAS]

Thanks to everyone that have posted the new about the Stomps brother, but maybe is true and the site was "killed" by a grroup of "unknow" minininja"....... i hope

 

[IdeaMan]

Speaking of disk drives, i want a discrete system, i'm so pissed at consoles making noises comparable to a hoover ><

In addition, i really hope the supposedly tiny fans that they will include in the box will be efficient and rather silent, well, at least without annoying high-pitched hiss.

 

[Roo]

I think Nintendo was already a customer of iGware, not of Acer.

Not really. Acer and Nintendo have been close partners quite a long time and according to this article iGware is/was literally an unknown service till Acer bought them.

Acer plans to acquire cloud-service provider iGware, the company announced today.

According to Acer, the companies have agreed to a selling price of $320 million. In addition, iGware can earn $75 million if it hits certain performance-based milestones. With iGware's technology, Acer says that it will deliver a new service, called Acer Cloud, "to serve and benefit Acer customers, and enhance brand value."

iGware has largely been under the radar in the cloud space, but the company has achieved some success. According to Acer, iGware's cloud software and infrastructure tools are available on over 100 million devices around the world. The company's most notable customer is Nintendo, which it partners with to power online services for the hardware maker's Wii, DS, and 3DS. Acer says that iGware has also inked a deal with Nintendo that will see it support the company's Wii U.

For Acer, its decision to acquire iGware underscores the company's desire to be more than just a PC maker. In a statement today, Acer said that it expects Acer Cloud will be integrated into "all Acer products, including PCs, tablets, and smart handheld devices." The company said that its Cloud feature will be "built on an open platform."

Acer's acquisition comes at a difficult time for the company. Last week, research firm IDC reported that Acer's second-quarter worldwide PC shipments were down 10.1 percent year over year, pushing the company down from the third spot to fourth behind HP, Dell, and Lenovo. In the first quarter, the company's worldwide shipments were down 15.8 percent worldwide and 42 percent in the U.S. year over year.

Those losses, in addition to flagging financial performance, have pushed the company's shares on the Taiwan Stock Exchange down. During the last year alone, the company's shares have declined by more than 49 percent.

In the short term, Acer doesn't see iGware's technology helping matters. However, the company did say that its acquisition is a "mid- to long-term investment."

Once closing conditions are met, iGware will become a new Acer division, called Acer Cloud Technology Company. The PC maker said that it expects products with Acer Cloud to start launching next year.

Source

I'm pretty sure they said something about selling a part of the actions to Nintendo to share costs. I'm trying to find that article.
Either way, I'm sure Nintendo will use this service as one of the solutions to the lack of HDD.

 

[Nibel]

Speaking of disk drives, i want a discrete system, i'm so pissed at consoles making noises comparable to a hoover ><

In addition, i really hope the supposedly tiny fans that they will include in the box will be efficient and rather silent, well, at least without annoying high-pitched hiss.

PS3 and Wii are fine, especially my fat PS3.

The 360 on the other hand.. Man, as if there's a hurricane inside its case. Note that I got an Elite and not the Slim.

 

[z0m3le]

so it's 8gb then, as reported by kotaku. I believe there was no other concrete number circulating.

well, that's really not that much...

It's still twice what the 360 has for flash memory, and will allow for quite a few game cube titles (depending on the size of the games, but full size would still be 5 or so)

Glad I bought the external hard drive, but then I always planned to have a 2TB drive hooked up to this console, I just hope it has USB 3.0

 

[Übermatik]

so it's 8gb then, as reported by kotaku. I believe there was no other concrete number circulating.

well, that's really not that much...

Basically yeah.

Which means if nintendo do plan to release DLC and downloadable games like they have already stated they will (Iwata Asks/Investors meeting and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon), then there has to be another solution.

Here are the options, listed in order of likelihood:

a) Expandable hardrive memory via USB - Nintendo may even sell 2 variations of the console to include one with a HDD.

b) Cloud service to store 'floating' downloads - though I fail to see how this would be a viable means of storing large games.

c) 2 SDKs. One with a hardrive, one without.

 

[cyberheater]

PS3 and Wii are fine, especially my fat PS3.

The 360 on the other hand.. Man, as if there's a hurricane inside its case. Note that I got an Elite and not the Slim.

It's the only reason I traded in my original Xbox360 and got a Xbox 360 slim. It's so much quieter. It's basically silent.

 

[disap.ed]

Because link doesn't work
Working exclusively to bring “revolutionary experiences” to Wii U & 3DS…

1st April – Nintendo is proud to announce the opening of a brand new software development studio in the heart of the English countryside. Established just outside the village of Henley-in-Arden, 20miles south of Birmingham, Phoenix Games™ is already hard at work on the research and development of three brand new projects for Nintendo’s Wii U™ Video Game Console, and Nintendo 3DS™.

Leading this new studio are video game veteran’s Tim and Chris Stamper. Perhaps best well known for their previous studio Rareware™, based in Twycross. Tim and Chris have exclusively worked on Nintendo platforms for nearly thirty years, and following the sale of Rareware™ to Microsoft in 2002 have been eager to return to Nintendo’s family.

“We’ve always felt at home developing on Nintendo systems, we share the same mentality, thought process and care for our titles and properties. We’ve found working with Nintendo over these past few months exhilarating and are blown away by their plans for the Wii U™.” says Tim, whilst his brother Chris had this to say “We left Nintendo in 2002, and shortly after we realised something wasn’t right with Microsoft. We cut our losses and left Rare in early 2007. Early last year when Reggie Fils-Aime gave us a call and decided to share with us the first details of ‘Project Cafe’, as it was then known, it instantly sparked our interest. They truly have one amazing machine with the Wii U™ and we cannot wait to show the world what it can do at E3 in June.”

Tim and Chris are also joined by famed-developer and long-term friend David Doak, best known as the producer for both Goldeneye 007™ and Perfect Dark™ on the N64™ video game system.

Get Martin Hollis on board and go for it!

 

[bgassassin]

http://www.nintendoenthusiast.com/r...tm_campaign=retro-working-on-zelda-and-new-ip
(Totally fake, but with good picture)

Couldn't view

http://www.1up.com/previews/nintendo-dubstep-experience-3d-reinvent
(Totally fake, but with a funny video)

XD

http://www.nintendoenthusiast.com/n...ntendo-funds-new-stamper-studio-phoenix-games
(Totally fake, but...... it's something that really hurt that's not true)

*reads Bagu's post*

That's just mean.

Not really. Acer and Nintendo have been close partners quite a long time and according to this article iGware is/was literally an unknown service till Acer bought them.


Source

I'm pretty sure they said something about selling a part of the actions to Nintendo to share costs. I'm trying to find that article.
Either way, I'm sure Nintendo will use this service as one of the solutions to the lack of HDD.

I don't think Acer has been linked to Nintendo till the iGware deal. And that it's this deal that would cause Nintendo and Acer to work together.

 

[IdeaMan]

PS3 and Wii are fine, especially my fat PS3.

The 360 on the other hand.. Man, as if there's a hurricane inside its case. Note that I got an Elite and not the Slim.

It's unbearable as it is. It can get better with tweaking but we shouldn't need to do that.

I miss the total absence of noises of passively cooled consoles with cartridges Maybe some days, we'll have fanless systems, with tiny watercooling solutions, ultra efficient heat pipes, that + games on flash memory, so 0 DB platforms guaranteed

 

[TunaLover]

so it's 8gb then, as reported by kotaku. I believe there was no other concrete number circulating.

well, that's really not that much...

8gb of internal storage probably means only 7gb in practice, since you have the system OS, session log info, pre-installed channels, and hidden stuff.

If Nintendo allows launch games from other devices as SD/HDD it's fine, but if you need move the games/saves/DLC/apps to Wii U memory beforehand, then 7gb is certeanly too tiny.

 

[Roo]

I don't think Acer has been linked to Nintendo till the iGware deal. And that it's this deal that would cause Nintendo and Acer to work together.

Oh, I see
well, that's what I've been reading since we knew about the acquisition
but if it's true then I apologize

 

[Shurayuki]

Oh, I see
well, that's what I've been reading since we knew about the acquisition
but if it's true then I apologize

I think that's the way it is, apparently Nintendo always works with what Wei Yen (Wikipedia hooray) is involved in. (Flipper, Ailive, iGware)
Too bad it doesn't seem like he's up to something new, so no scoop.

 

[ElFly]

Microsoft launching without a HDD, and surviving the time, has been fine. They didn't need to launch with a HDD for the same reason they didn't launch with HDMI support: it wasn't necessary for the time. And, over time, Microsoft has adapted to demands for more space. Not just with USB support, but also a revised console that supports traditional HDD, as well as selling HDD upgrades.

The problem with Nintendo is they play to the beat of their own drum. Nintendo looks out for Nintendo. And this makes sense, from a business perspective, and is fine, because often times them doing this is a good thing.

But, we're at a point in the industry where digital distribution is huge, and is only going to get bigger. Not just shit like DLC and patches, but entire games. Internet is getting cheaper, speeds are getting faster, space is becoming more affordable (Thailand floods aside ). And it goes beyond this. Indy devs now have an outlet that they once never did. The way certain games are distributed, to save on retail production costs, has changed.

And Nintendo seems to be behind in all these areas, because again, they play to the beat of their own drum. They don't see these things are necessities or of their own interest, and in typical Nintendo fashion struggle to see why they should give a shit.

USB HDD support is good, but I want to know all the details before I bank on it. As I see it, the Wii U's internal flash space and USB HDD support screams of a Nintendo too worried about HDDs breaking down and deciding they don't need a lot of storage space, thus everybody else can dealwithit.gif. And they will.

But, not laying hardware framework for a digital future is, in my opinion, blatantly short sighted and ignorant to how the industry is evolving. And evolving for the better, might I add.

The thing is, Nintendo has survived time and time again without going with the times. Worst case, they will have a second gamecube in their hands, and will only have mario kart wii u having great sales for it.

But, as with the gamecube, their portable side is doing good and they can release next-next-gen with all the DD bells and whistles.

Of course this doesn't paint the rosiest future for the Wii U, but IMHO a retail distribution console still can survive well for another generation. Only trick is in getting enough 3rd parties to throw real support behind it.

If things go wrong, Nintendo totally has another chance at the bat with the successor to the Wii U.

 

[BlackJace]

Speaking of disk drives, i want a discrete system, i'm so pissed at consoles making noises comparable to a hoover ><

In addition, i really hope the supposedly tiny fans that they will include in the box will be efficient and rather silent, well, at least without annoying high-pitched hiss.

Half of the time I wouldn't even notice when my Wii was on, it was just that quiet.
I think the Wii U will follow suit. Ninty knows how to make something attractive for living rooms.
Now the early 360s on the other hand...

 

[Roo]

Half of the time I wouldn't even notice when my Wii was on, it was just that quiet.

Same here, my Wii is really old (late 2007) but to this day the only noise I hear is from the disc driver trying to read double-layer discs.
Besides that, my little white warrior is really quiet <3 :3

 

[Shurayuki]

My Wii has been noticeable for the longest time (launch unit) :[ Also the disc drive has been pretty noisy reading any game too, one reason i'm going with HDD loader for 95% of my games.
I also have a JPN Wii (don't ask, they homebrewed it like one month after i got it) with a slightly bungled up GPU and like 3 dead pixels....annoyyying. Doesn't really matter since i use it as a karaoke machine mostly...

 

[z0m3le]

The thing is, Nintendo has survived time and time again without going with the times. Worst case, they will have a second gamecube in their hands, and will only have mario kart wii u having great sales for it.

But, as with the gamecube, their portable side is doing good and they can release next-next-gen with all the DD bells and whistles.

Of course this doesn't paint the rosiest future for the Wii U, but IMHO a retail distribution console still can survive well for another generation. Only trick is in getting enough 3rd parties to throw real support behind it.

If things go wrong, Nintendo totally has another chance at the bat with the successor to the Wii U.

It has 8GB flash storage and is confirmed to use USB external hard drives... the 360 has 4GB flash and does fine, hell for half the generation, it had 0 internal storage, so I don't see the problem as that console's DL library is pretty extensive.

Digital Distribution is not a make or break situation for the top console next gen, regardless the Wii U 100% will have an extensive ability, especially since the 3DS's max game size for downloads is 2GB. DD really isn't that important, much less so then Wii's lack of HD was this generation... it's amazing how exaggerated the pessimism gets around here.

 

[HylianTom]

Half of the time I wouldn't even notice when my Wii was on, it was just that quiet.
I think the Wii U will follow suit. Ninty knows how to make something attractive for living rooms.
Now the early 360s on the other hand...

I love my quiet Wii. The first time I heard one at a co-worker's house went like this:
*co-worker turns-on 360*
Me, upon hearing noise after a while: "Really..?! Wow.. haha.."
Co-worker: "What?"
Me: "oh, nothing. I was being wonky with the controls."
*I continue playing, amused.*

 

[fernoca]

It's more on v4 dev kits. Not enough for downloading complete HD game emptying a blue-ray though. I remember a website has been spot-on on the amount currently in the system. Still, it could change with future revisions and on the retail version.

Think of the internal flash as an "appetizer" for digital distribution/dlc/patch/apps, then if you want more, you switch to other storage means available.

Darn, then that's better than I expected..if they do include that in retail units.

The way I see it, as you say it would be an appetizer; so that people download a few games, apps and stuff directly, save games, etc (with also some basic data from the games installed on it)...then when they want more; they just put any SD Card or USB.

Then again, it will depend on how SD/USB is handled.

 

[GameE]

I hate april fools >_>

 

[HylianTom]

I hate april fools >_>

I'm glad that it fell on a Sunday this year. Limits the damage/annoyance. Critical when the wait and anticipation are this torturous.

 

[Rösti]

The Wii U Remote ought to be heavier than the Wii Remote and should thus require a heavier wrist strap than what is currently used for the Wii Remote (Plus). The current strap has a diameter of 1.0 mm/0.04 inches, while the initial strap had a diameter of 0.6 mm/0.024 inches. On the 15th of December, 2006, Nintendo and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a Replacement Program for Wrist Straps following accidents and injuries due to the strap breaking because of its size (and also because of certain people swinging the Wii Remote around like the strap was made of titanium). I doubt Nintendo wants to see Wii U controllers firmly lodged in TV sets or walls, so an even heavier strap is probably to be expected.

The Wii U Remote has been by no means demonstrated as the Wii Remote with all its swinging and shaking, and is probably not too happy to be used as that. It does however involve being moved and that can in certain scenarios, as with hyperactive/ADHD children and other people more active than others, result in it being thrown (into at TV set, onto the floor). Also if someone that lacks strength in hands and wrists, elderly citizen for example, play for a few hours, they may due to fatigue unintentionally drop the controller and if no wrist strap is available the controller may break. So some sort of wrist strap is probably gonna be there, question is what diameter it will have.

High res controller image linked for 56K users: http://www.abload.de/img/2011_hw_2_imge09_e3cqjte.png

I suppose the metal rods at the bottom of the controller could indicate two wrist straps even, for I don't see any other purposes. This is of course not a final version of the controller, so much could change.

 

[axisofweevils]

The Wii U Remote ought to be heavier than the Wii Remote and should thus require a heavier wrist strap than what is currently used for the Wii Remote (Plus). The current strap has a diameter of 1.0 mm/0.04 inches, while the initial strap had a diameter of 0.6 mm/0.024 inches. On the 15th of December, 2006, Nintendo and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a Replacement Program for Wrist Straps following accidents and injuries due to the strap breaking because of its size (and also because of certain people swinging the Wii Remote around like the strap was made of titanium). I doubt Nintendo wants to see Wii U controllers firmly lodged in TV sets or walls, so an even heavier strap is probably to be expected.

The Wii U Remote has been by no means demonstrated as the Wii Remote with all its swinging and shaking, and is probably not too happy to be used as that. It does however involve being moved and that can in certain scenarios, as with hyperactive/ADHD children and other people more active than others, result in it being thrown (into at TV set, onto the floor). Also if someone that lacks strength in hands and wrists, elderly citizen for example, play for a few hours, they may due to fatigue unintentionally drop the controller and if no wrist strap is available the controller may break. So some sort of wrist strap is probably gonna be there, question is what diameter it will have.



I suppose the metal rods at the bottom of the controller could indicate two wrist straps even, for I don't see any other purposes. This is of course not a final version of the controller, so much could change.

The 3DS has two wrist strap holes as well. Which hole you use depends if you're left-handed or not.

 

[Shurayuki]

The 3DS has two wrist strap holes as well. Which hole you use depends if you're left-handed or not.

That's interesting and makes sense.
Also I thought we theorized the metal bars alluded to a possible charging stand?