Nintendo Nintendo Confirms New System

[Sultan]

Nintendo Japan tonight confirmed it will release a new game console in calendar year 2012. It will be announced and playable at E3 this coming June.

"We will show a playable model of the new system and announce more specifications at the E3 Expo, which will be held June 7-9, 2011, in Los Angeles," the company said in a brief statement. Nintendo did not reveal any additional details.

Multiple sources tell IGN the console - dubbed Project Cafe - will be "significantly more powerful" than the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and be backwards compatible with current Wii software. The console will also utilize a new, tablet-shaped controller. Sources say it will have a 6-inch touch screen display, dual analog sticks, and has the ability to stream content directly from the console.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told Bloomberg News, "We would like to propose a new approach to home video game consoles" with the Wii successor. He added, "It's difficult to make 3-D images a key feature, because 3-D televisions haven't obtained wide acceptance yet."

http://wii.ign.com/articles/116/1163764p1.html
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It has also been mentioned that the system will be around the size of the original Xbox360.

 

[Rorolina Frixell]

Wow, certainly seems like Nintendo are starting to touch on the hardcore market a little more just makes me wonder if it will be 'significantly more powerful' if it would need a decent TV to make use of it properly.

 

[Linnaete]

I also heard rumours that it will more or less be similar to the current HD consoles in terms of power, so I'm a little confused at the moment. If the 6th console is to be more powerful than its rivals, then it's an interesting move to thrust Nintendo way ahead of the competition on the power front for quite a number of years as neither Sony and Microsoft show serious signs of wanting to replace their current consoles yet. And this doesn't really sound like Nintendo. On the other hand if the console is just about as powerful as the PS3 and the Xbox 360, then it would be a smart move as this generation still has plenty of years to go yet and it may give Nintendo time to claw back a more "hardcore" sector.

What I'm dubious about is the controller. It's like having another handheld console act as a controller and with a screen on it, you will know it will be rather expensive to replace. Just buying it I imagine will set you a steep price with the controller included. If the new "gimmick" here is the use of the controller screen in conjunction with the TV screen, then I suppose it could work if developers think of interesting things to do with that screen. Still, it could be rather distracting to glance at the controller screen every now and then. And I'm glad too that 3D has hit the buffers. I'm not sure I would have liked having that, with 3DTVs being so expensive at the moment and how there have been reports of 3D sickness after watching films. Imagine the 3D sickness after playing games.

 

[Rey]

Project Cafe makes me think it has something to do with Coffee... but really if it more powerful than the Xbox 360 and Ps3 than Nintendo is living up to what people expect from ps3 and 360. 6 inch touch screen controller and tablet shaped sounds interesting. I read last time that the next xbox and playstation isn't coming till 2014 so it is most likely that this is to compete with the 360 and ps3 till then . I look forward to reading more about this..

 

[Channizard]

Nintendo seems to be the one steering the lead in the new aspects of gaming.. 3D, motion.. Heck I wouldn't be surprised if after this console (or even if they started to introduce small aspects on it) they were to introduce virtual reality. I'd always dreamed of the day we would sit in the living room playing a game with only a helmet/visor on.

That said, I'm surprised they're releasing a new console so soon already after the Wii. Waitaminit... GB, GBC, GBA, GB Micro.. aaaall before the DS? Okay maybe not so surprised.

 

[Mr. Gorilla]

Waitaminit... GB, GBC, GBA, GB Micro.. aaaall before the DS? Okay maybe not so surprised.

Poor comparison. The GB, GBC and GBA all had healthy life-spans, and the GB Micro was not a separate console, but another GBA model.

As for Nintendo's new console, it makes sense that they'd be the first to release a new one, as their sales have been steadily declining for a while (In part because pretty much everyone already has a Wii). Somewhat disappointed by the GPU they're apparently going with (Although it's still far more powerful than the 360 and PS3, it's far behind what gaming PCs curretly use).

Oh well, the touch screen controller thing is going to be cool. It's going to be (another) great E3 for Nintendo.