Nintendo has Plans to evolve the Wii but not just yet, Comparable to Apple

[Zeus]

Speaking to Gamepro, Reggie of Nintendo answered many questions which were thrown his way. Unfortunately, very little was revealed. Reggie talked about the huge success of the Wii, how few people have HDTV sets, and how they are comparable to Apple (innovation by easy to use software). He also commented that Nintendo are ALWAYS looking for ways to evolve their systems, once again confirming that a 'PREMIUM' version of the Wii is coming out complete with DVD playback.



GP: Is Nintendo interested in "updating" the Wii in the future, as it has done with the Nintendo DS and DS Lite (to great success)?

Fils-Aime: We're always looking for ways to improve our systems. You probably know that a premium version of Wii with a DVD player will be available in the future in some markets. But since Wii has been out for only two months, it's a bit premature to be discussing any potential evolution.


Read More: <A href="http://gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=94095" target="_blank">Gamepro.com</a>

[Templedog]

You know... I was a bit disappointed about the Wii not playing DVDs-- it would have been a neat little bonus. Now that I have a Wii though, I probably wouldn't even want to take my game discs out to put IN a DVD.

The Wii needs DVD playback like fish need bicycles, I guess you could say.

[whoisandy]

Why does the Wii need DVD playback when everything else already plays DVDs. I highly doubt people are thinking "hmm, I need a DVD player, oh, well look at this, Wii is getting DVD playback, I should finally get one." Should be other additions besides DVD playback.

[nonzero]

...how they are comparable to Apple

Wii Nano confirmed.

[Hooya]

Wii Nano confirmed.

It can't get much smaller, where would the physically moving parts for the disk drive go?!

It's already only as big as one of the DVD burners in my computer!

[wiggim]

sounds like typical nintendo.. prepare to buy several different variations of the wii, like they done with the gameboy, and the gameboy advance, and the nintendoDS.. like all their consoles they continually release updates each year to fix things they overlooked. (like DVD playback, and higher HDMI/Composite support, probably will be a few new controllers thrown into the mix too)

[bnolsen]

Nice things to add:

- Back end FSAA (get rid of the stupid sparklies)
- Back end hardware upscaling.
- Support for mp4 (h264) video via flash card, usb HD or dvd-r at HD-resolutions or using the upscaling unit.

[Al3xand3r]

You are an idiot wiggim, all the new versions of Nintendo consoles were made in a way that all games were 100% compatible with the last version therefor owners of that one did not miss anything whatsoever, other than aesthetics, and they gained a system for a long time before the people that got the newer version did.

The only thing those newer versions did was help drive sales further by making them appear more modern and attractive to a slightly newer generation. They were not an upgrade so significant as to make a current owner feel they have to purchase it, nor were they adding games not available on the previous version.

They didn't go so far as to release a new controller to more or less replace their old one with like Sony did with their first Dual Shock. Other than that, they are not the only company to offer redesigned versions of the same console. PSOne? Slim PS2? PSX? Newer models of PSP having better screens and buttons (even if the design remained and they didn't announce it to not piss off the first owners)?

They didn't do any more variations for their consoles than Sony has done, while any previous owners had no reason at all to feel the need to "upgrade" as they could play the same games just as well. Microsoft didn't get to do the same because their systems didn't see a success/lifetime as those of Sony and Nintendo (with the PSP being an exception), similar to how Nintendo didn't offer variations of the N64 or GameCube.

As for the DVD playback capable version of the Wii, it will only be available in Japan as confirmed months and months ago and it's a trivial difference that only suits that region, if any at all. There's no reason to whine about it, especially when both competitor companies already offer two variations of their systems in every region and one of them already offers an extra component to buy.

If a redesigned Wii comes, it will have the exact same hardware specs, and when they talk about expanding they could very well mean the addition of channels and other kinds of online functionality that does not require a hardware upgrade. Don't forget that they can update their firmware as well.

[APPS]

sounds like typical nintendo.. prepare to buy several different variations of the wii, like they done with the gameboy, and the gameboy advance, and the nintendoDS.. like all their consoles they continually release updates each year to fix things they overlooked. (like DVD playback, and higher HDMI/Composite support, probably will be a few new controllers thrown into the mix too)

I can safely say ive never seen a NESv2/SNESv2/N64v2/Gamecubev2. They dont rerelease their consoles, they rerelease their Handhelds, and not that much anyway...

Gameboy-Gameboy pocket-Gameboy color-Gameboy advance
were all released because at the time of their predesessor the technology was either too expensive or just not developed.

GBA SP was required because of the new backlight.

GBA Micro is not really a rerelease, more something to get the more casual/female gamers attention.

NDS is to GBA as Wii is to Cube.

NDs lite provided more light, a more aesthetically pleasing design on what wasnt what youd call a beautiful product.

[graveyrd]

I can safely say ive never seen a NESv2/SNESv2/N64v2/Gamecubev2. They dont rerelease their consoles, they rerelease their Handhelds, and not that much anyway...

I'm really not trying to take away from your point.. but I couldn't help myself.. You've never heard of the SNES v2 (I think thats exactly what it was called too) or the top loading nes? http://www.silicium.org/console/nintendo/snes2.htm
http://www.vgmuseum.com/systems/topnes/

I liked the improved nes the best since it fixed the issue of having to blow into the game every time you wanted to play :D

[Al3xand3r]

Eh, why would you put the GBA as if it's simply a new GB version? It's not the same, it may have been backwards compatible, but it was an all new console. If you count GBA as an extra GB version then we should think the same about the PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, etc.

Other than that, it was not "required" to get the new editions because of backlight/extra light. If it was so "required" then nobody would have bought the original versions of the GBA/DS, but they did, because those versions were complete and fullfilled people's desires enough to warrant a purchase.

The fact later versions came, more expensive (than the originals were worth at the time), and with an extra feature or two, doesn't mean that you absolutely had to go out and buy it, since your old still worked just as you thought it would work when you first purchased it, and was fully functional with all the games.

As for the GBA mini, correct me if I'm wrong but I think it's a limited release, sort of like an homage, as I haven't seen it sold anywhere here... Even if not, did it really have any functions the original GBA couldn't do? I think it even lacked backwards compatibility actually...

The only thing I can think of that did make a potentially significant upgrade would be the GB Color, but even with that, all the games still worked fine on the original GB, apart from like, one game, the re-release of Zelda with the color based dungeon added. Hardly a requirement for upgrade again, and I think it's justified for a system as succesful as the Gameboy to get an extra version release over the other systems, after all the years it lived for...

SNES v2 looks nice... Sort of PSOne-ish.