Friday, May 20, 2011

Official: Wii 2 (Project Cafe) coming in 2012 with touch screen on controller *Update 15*


This is quite a big rumor that's looking more and more true:

According to many sources (IGN, GameInformer, Kotaku, CVG) Nintendo is going to release the successor to the Wii just in time for the holiday season 2012. It is said to be "significantly more powerful than the PS3 and Xbox 360". Even more amazing is the rumored inclusion of a HD screen on the controller itself.

It was mentioned before that at E3 this year that the 3DS will be able to connect to an "un-named console" which had to obviously mean the next Nintendo console. It would be interesting to see if the 3DS could actually be used as a controller as well.

Either way Nintendo has some splaining to do at E3!

Here are some quotes from unknown developers who have seen/worked with the new Nintendo system:

"Nintendo's plans sound unreal," one source said. "Publishers are already planning launch titles and it's all very exciting. 

"The hardware is even more powerful than current HD consoles and backwards compatible with Wii. The controller will be all-new and has a HD screen on it."




Link to story


To go along with all of this great stuff, here is what we know so far about the system:


- console is significantly more powerful than the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Nintendo is looking to recapture the hardcore market
- 1080p resolutions
- Nintendo will release a pre-announcement this month
- full reveal expected at E3
- backwards compatible with current Wii software



This news/rumor is quite a lot to take in I know, but everything will be made clear very soon. From judging on how Nintendo does business and with how much profit they have made with the Wii and the DS it makes perfect sense to me that they would again rise up and take back the hardcore market while still having games for everyone, just like they always have in the past. Nintendo has said time and time again that just having HD graphics wouldn't be enough and it looks like the interaction (HD screen on controller) with the system itself and the user will once again be the focal selling point. 


What do you guys think about all this? Excited? Non-believing? Tell me what you think in the comment section!!! 



*Update*


More info has come in since yesterday:


Controller:
- 6" touchscreen, not HD, not multitouch
- D-Pad, L, R, two triggers, others
- 'Front-facing camera'
- A sensor roughly analagous to the Wii sensor bar is incorporated in the controller - i.e. some kind of IR beacons/transmitters. Purpose isn't clear.


Specs:
- Custom triple-core PowerPC  (could also be a rumored AMD Trinity CPU)
- AMD/ATI GPU. 'Probably' derived from R700 series (Xbox 360 has R500 series)


Update #2 
"According to an Ubisoft employee -who wished to stay anonymous-, the publisher pushes all their development teams to cash in with a bunch of 360 ports to match the march 2012 launch. "Even with the extra horse power, in especially the graphical department, we aren't allowed to put extra textures or revise bugged physics that occurred in the original." He also stated that the 3D features the system offers are revolutionairy and stunning, because you don´t need any glasses or 3DTV to experience it! The controller with build in screen and camera plays a huge part of that hologram like 3D effect. "With the optional motion control and the right horse power the only thing I can say is, Nintendo did it right this time!"

I wouldn't get your hopes up for the above rumor but I thought I'd post it just the same. What a crazy last couple of days! It reminds me of when I first started this blog when it was all about the Revolution.....



Update # 3


-Nintendo has been in talks with Rockstar and they have had Wii successor dev kits for months. 
-Grand Theft Auto V rumored to launch with Nintendo's new system next year. 
-Again mentions that the Wii successor is "signifigantly more powerful than 360"


Link




Update # 4  (RUMOR ONLY)
  • Square Enix, Capcom, Sega, Konami, Activision, Rockstar/Take Two, Electronic Arts, Namco and Ubisoft all have development kits.
  • They each have at least one game in development for the Wii 2.
  • Expect games to be coming to this system that you would never expect on a Nintendo console.
  • Nintendo is kissing third party ****s with this console.
  • The new Nintendo controller sounds more ridiculous on paper.  When you actually see the thing, it makes a lot more sense from a design standard. 
  • Expect Nintendo to roll out the red carpet for third parties so their games don’t get overshadowed.  Nintendo has been preaching to third parties that third parties won’t get screwed this time around, so if you’re expecting a ton of amazing first party games at launch…well…think again.  Nintendo wants a launch that creates confidence in third parties again so expect very few first party games at launch similar to the 3DS.
  • Star Fox is coming.  I can’t say when.  Very good chance that it WONT be at E3.  I am hearing Star Fox is coming for the new Nintendo system, but it is very early in development.
  • Nintendo solved every storage issue a third party could possibly have with the new console.  I don’t know if it’s a harddrive or a different, cheaper way to store data. 
  • Nintendo revamping their WiiWare and virtual console services.  I don’t think it will be called WiiWare anymore. 
  • Almost positive that we’ll be seeing Pikmin in some shape or form.
  • A first person shooter that people love will be ported to the 3DS.  I can’t say what game, but it’s popular among FPS gamers.
  • Expect a crapload of 3DS love at this E3.  The show will be wayyy more 3DS than Wii 2 (Project Cafe).  3DS stuff will be at least 60 percent of the E3 pre-show.
  • Don’t listen to anyone who says new Nintendo console will launch by end of 2011.  They are idiots.  This holiday season is all about the 3DS and Nintendo’s E3 show will focus on that.
  • Don’t expect many games to be shown at E3 for new Nintendo console, but expect all of the key features to be revealed.
  • Nintendo is thinking about launching Zelda: Skyward Sword around the same time as Wii 2 since Wii 2 is backwards compatible with Wii 1 games.  They want to follow the same strategy when they launched Pokemon Black/White when 3DS was coming out.
  • I am 90 percent sure you will not see a Zelda: Skyward Sword port to the Wii 2.  It will remain a Wii 1 game.
  • Nintendo approached Hideo Kojima about the new Nintendo console.  Nintendo and Hideo Kojima have a good relationship with each other.
  • A Resident Evil game is in development for the new Nintendo system.  I don’t know if Capcom is developing an RE spinoff or something part of the “main” Resident Evil series.
  • Retrostudios started working on a Wii 2 game.   It is NOT Metroid.  Retro is done with Metroid.

- Retro Studios is making a game for the Wii 2 that "everyone wants them to do"
- Some devs working on the platform, but haven't received controller units yet
- Vitality Sensor not dead, but it's fate may rest with either the Wii or Wii successor.


LinkLink

Update # 5


- should be backwards compatible with Wiimotes
- Project Cafe controller may have some sort of gyroscopic control
- still saying the platform is significantly more powerful than 360/PS3
- Project Cafe controller with built-in screen is indeed the platform's main control scheme
- Nintendo wants to launch in Q1 or Q2 2012 if possible
- controller will most likely not be able to retain any data of its own
- for streaming game content from console to controller, there will most likely be a range for data transfer, and the system will have to be powered on
- controller's internal guts should mostly be related to the buttons and content streaming
- another statement saying that Project Cafe games will be at E3, but will most likely not be playable

Link


Rumor: The game Retro Studios is working on is Eternal Darkness 2 (I don't see how this is the game "everyone wants them to do" I was thinking F-Zero or Star Fox)

Link


Update #6



Link

So there you have it straight from Iwata himself at the Japan conference earlier. No further details were mentioned so I guess we'll have to wait another month and a half for the rest! Excited?


Update # 7


From Nintendo's investors meeting:


 “new concept and structure” for a console, which means they’re not just giving the Wii prettier graphics and slapping a higher price tag on it.


The topic of tablets is brought up, and there’s no need to worry about how the inclusion of a touchscreen will affect the Wii 2′s controller. Buttons aren’t going anywhere. Iwata believes that tablets will be widespread, but buttons are simply more responsive. This ties into the rumors of a controller with dual analog sticks, triggers and eight buttons.


Link


Iwata wants us to be surprised at E3 so I'm willing to bet that there is a lot more about the console that we do not know yet, like how they plan on using the controllers together with the system streaming. I'm excited to see what will happen next


Update # 8


- Project Cafe will be designed around the concept of connecting, sharing, and gaming with others
- Project Cafe will have a huge online presence as one of the primary focuses
- Watch streaming video of games being played from other's machines online
- Possibly join a friend's game online instantly from the video stream of them playing



Link


Update # 9


Could this really be the design of Project Cafe?




This is about the 3rd or 4th picture I've seen with this design. 


According to the original source on this:


“this is not the final design, this unit does not have a working drive or final parts. The unit powers on and is an internal test kit that is no longer being used because more complete units have now been distributed.”

Link


If this does in fact become the final design of the system, I think it looks pretty good but maybe a little too similar to how the Wii's design is. Regardless of the design, the cool thing about it will what it brings to the table for new gameplay experiences. 


*Update 10*


Nintendo won't be abandoning buttons anytime soon:



"Whenever we make a new game console, we've done it without throwing away buttons and the directional pad," Iwata said. "The reason for that it's better to have them, because buttons and directional pads benefit gameplay response."
"Taking this into account," Iwata continued, "Nintendo isn't planning on completely ditching buttons, nor is Nintendo thinking of taking tablets as they are today and implementing them in a game console."
He said that they won't be implementing tablets "in a game console". What this statement means to me is that Nintendo is not interested in putting a tablet on the console itself, he never mentioned the controller which has already been confirmed to have a touch screen. Other sites have taken this statement a little too seriously thinking that it somehow affects Project Cafe's controller.

*Update 11*


Rumor:


Emily Rogers from Gameolosophy.com has promised that she is going to be posting Wii 2 (Project Cafe) screen shots of a game that is going to be available to her.

In the comment section she makes the announcement here: Link

This is a pretty large leap of a rumor since her reasons for having this stuff is because she "dates/sleeps with someone that works with Nintendo". There have been so many rumors and misinformation that I'd take this one with the biggest grain of salt yet.

Update #12


"Nintendo Wants to change the way we play - again. The success of the Wii was proof Essentially thats the controller is everythin bit as important as graphical technology. When Nintendo unveils ITS next piece of hardware on June 7 th , the presentation Will Be as much about the feel, as the look, the ITS of new games. The revolutionary aspect goodwill once again ask the controller found in Itself.


We have already heard that Nintendo will develop a controller with built-in screen. Since the information is leaked, it has drawn parallels to both Apple iPad and how Nintendo used the Game Boy Advance hand control to a few Gamecube games. But the new screen controller has another dimension - convey the sense of touch. Our source using the working title of Nintendo Feel .

Haptic technology is a form of tactile feedback Used To Simulate the experience of touching Different objects best moments on screen. The player cannabis move Their fingertips across a surface and Clearly Feel the Difference Between Soft, smooth or rugged texture. Electronic companies across the World Have Been Conducting research in this field for years. It's Been That rumored Apple is close to patenting a similar technology, and we've seen the Toshiba demonstration of 'New Sensation UI Solution' That Applies a thin film over a screen in order to Achieve a haptic effect. In Nintendo's case, this is a natural progression of Both the Nintendo DS touch screen & the Wii technology.

Hardcore meets casual:
After receiving information about Nintendo Feel from our source, we have been able to confirm that the technology exists. Toshiba demonstration seems to have been presented to the public and we have long had a Novint Falcon at the office. Novint was one of the first companies to seriously introduced the gaming world of haptic feedback.

According to our source, work on the console going on for years, always with the goal of creating an equally direct and easily communicated concept that Wii.

You Have to try Nintendo Feel to really understand. But the idea Itself is very easy to sell, no matter if You are Aiming for hardcore players or The Wider audience That was first introduced to games through the DS, Wii or Kinect."

Link

This is coming from yet another site claiming an exclusive....Man E3 cannot get here soon enough.

Update # 13


Rumor:


- will not include a hard drive
- contains 8 gigs of on-board flash based memory
- supports saving to SD cards
- may cap the system's output at either 1080i or 1080p (1080i is probably a misunderstanding)
- disc format for the new console will hold 25GB of data
- controller can function as a standard game controller that imitates 360/PS3
- in-controller screen can extend what's on TV to the controller, and allow for touch input
- stream console games to the controller to be played, but you must be within a certain range of the console

Link

Would it bother you guys if Nintendo's next machine didn't have a Hard Drive? I would think that 8GB plus the ability to use 32GB SD cards would be plenty for our downloading needs. What do you think?

*Update # 14*

Just a few days ago Nintendo filmed the promotional videos for the yet unannounced Wii successor's controller so you can imagine how nice the hands needed to look. They "had to be flawless" and "couldn't have blemishes, wrinkles or a lot of hair." 


Also we have another confirmation that Grand Theft Auto V will be unveiled at E3 as well. 


Link

Update # 15

- includes a front-facing camera system
- can be used for in-game images
- this source also says there's a six-inch touch-screen
- may include a stylus
- speculation that the 3DS could be used as a controller
- “The functions are the same. It is a standard wireless controller added with a front-facing camera and touch screen. That sounds far too much like a 3DS to me. But I can’t confirm this, Nintendo is being very cautious about the details.”

Link

27 comments:

Biohazard said...

Most of the information I've read about the successor seems to line up with what is being recently reported. I'm not entirely sure on the "HD controller" as Nintendo is keeping a tight lid on how the successor will be played, although it does seem to confirm the "projection" rumors I heard earlier. Overall, I can't wait for Nintendo's E3 Press Conference to see what they have in store for us.

Anonymous said...

seems just what i was telling people came true i knew it would be way more powerful than 360/ps3 i also knew it would be a mainstream/hardcore beast just 1 thing needs to be confirmed Holographic Storage oh im buying 1 day 1.

Travis Hendricks said...

Am I the only one skeptical about these rumors? It seems everyone is ready to jump on board and accept these as fact, rather than rumor.

To me it seems there are a few oddities about this. The timing for one seems very early for a late 2012 release. Nintendo has been moving toward a "release closer to launch" mentality with most of their stuff.

Also, when has Nintendo ever done the "our technology is far superior to yours" advancement? So far, never. The 3DS is roughly as powerful as the 5 year old PSP with better connectivity and 3D. They go for affordable/profitable first and foremost.

I'm not saying it's not gonna happen, because I would love if it did, but I am just not sold yet. That's all I'm saying.

Travis Hendricks said...

Also, it will be called the Wii Plus. I forgot to mention that.

Anonymous said...

so each controller costs $200 hhmmmmm no sense in that whats so ever and why would i be looking down at my own lap and not at the tv HHMMMMMmmm,sounds likebutter hogwash to me.....

the console its self may have a hd screen so its a tablet and a tv console

Anonymous said...

funny every report about this refers to wii as a gimmick so all credabillity is lost as wii was never a gimmick or a fad so take with ton of salt

and why would a controller need a HD screen seems more like a anti wii move before a wii price drop hhhmmmmmm

Anonymous said...

Travis must not have lived through the SNES and N64 eras if he's never heard Nintendo crowing about superior tech, long, long in advance of launch.

Also: it's happening. It's business 101. capture the low-end market then squeeze out the competition after they've either been forced into the high end or, foolishly (e.g. Sony and MS) decided that that market was more important than the low-end.

Furthermore, this is hardly original (or even novel) thinking. All the 'proof' (as if you don't have it everywhere around you) you need is the market for automobiles: Toyota and Honda have been engaged in exactly this strategy for decades now, starting with the very low-end in the 70s (driving the "Big 3" mostly out of the compact game by the end of the 80s, forcing them to take solace in much more expensive light trucks and SUVs, where they also lost tremendous ground) and 'graduating' to the high end with Lexus and Acura.

(Also, the 3DS is far, far more powerful than a PSP and I say this as someone intimately familiar with both, so I'm not sure where this notion that a 3DS is comparable to a PSP is coming from. Heck, one look at the RE games on 3DS should put paid to any fanboy (not saying Travis is one) that hangs onto this silly notion.)

Travis Hendricks said...

Oh yeah, definitely not a fanboy (against Nintendo at least). I've only ever missed the SNES when I went with the Genesis. Not that I think that was wrong, but I did miss Super Metroid until last year. That made me sad.

Either way, it could very well be the skeptic in me that doesn't want to believe, or get too excited, until I see a real announcement. I'm still not sure I believe the 3DS has a consistent Friends List, even if you can't do much with it yet.

And you're right about the N64 being the more powerful of the two consoles. Though I just thought they had "learned their lesson" from that when their sales weren't as high as the Playstation. But then again, this is gonna be more powerful 5 years later, not the same year.

Anonymous said...

anyone thinks nintendo is replacing a wii remote mouse pointer and wm+ and a nunchuck with its own motion with a classic pad or sixaxis type control with a screen is INSANE

that's going backwards not forwards and looses the nunchuck the pointer mouse the wm+ the whole wii set up

now if theres any truth to the rumors then its a cradle that fits a wii remote side on a 6 inch screen fits above a inch wii remote and has two analog sticks that sit top and bottom along the wii remote and triggers at the back and a 6 inch screen in the middle

wii motion is not being replaced with a CLASSIC/OBSOLETE PAD its never ever going to happen

Anonymous said...

I want Wii Remote Plus support to continue on the new console.
Dead Rising 2: Off the Record and Metal Gear Solid: Rising would be great launch games.

Anonymous said...

wii controls NEXT GEN classic pad OLD GEN !!!!!

why are people missing this OBVIOUS fact a screen that slots onto a side on wii remote type device maybe

or a wiimote 2 and nunchuck 2 that detach from a center screen THAT I LIKE

Anonymous said...

nintendo getting it right this time no gimmicks.....

all creditability is lost there wii is getting it right motion .....mouse and fastest selling console in history is getting it wrong and sony loosing 7 billion and ms loosing 20 billion is getting it right

the industry is attacking nintendo again clearly

predator said...

I hear the wii 2 can also fly and clean your car, at the same time

Anonymous said...

AMD trinity is a x86 pc cpu there's no way on earth nintendo using a laptop cpu if anything its a amd gpu and ibm cpu or cpu's

the whole thing stinks of anti nintendo hype

Biohazard said...

@ predator

I hope it also massages my foot.

Travis Hendricks said...

@biohazard only one foot? I thought we were talking about the next generation here.

Anonymous said...

The FPS game being ported is Crysis2 as thats the only FPS game thats good in 3D and crytek said 3DS could run Crysis i bet im right E3 Crysis3DS

Metaldave said...

Give me a link to where it says Crysis 2 or 1 is coming to a Nintendo system. I'd love to see it.

Cesar said...

IGN just came out with more info on specs and pricing and they say the release date could be the end of this year in october.

Travis Hendricks said...

No way its 2011. March of 2012 it will land. Developers will want more time with their games and Nintendo wants the 3DS to have a free holiday season.

Anonymous said...

should be compatable with wiimote nunchuck dont make sense it has to be....no continued wiimote nunchuck support dont make sense loosing pointer mouse and motion is going backwards conbining both control sceems makes perfect sense......wiimote,wiimote and nunchuck,classic pad,zapper,new gamimg tablet pad and drop gamecube pad support as you have both classic pad and a all new pad......fps games can suuport wiimote and nunchuck and classic pad and a ds like analog and touchscreen mouse copying wii but touchscreen instead of wiimote then classic style plus screen as map and menus.....core gaming controls beyond any other system both wiimote and touch screen offer mind blowing fps and action game controls and camera control second analog is for suckers......screen is said to be 800x480 to 500 that is classed as hd in small screen devices......ds meets wii and two great controllers continued support for motion and mouse pointer plus a new control ill take that

Anonymous said...

a pad with a screen doesnt cost 200 dollars or 120 uk pounds thel be about the same price as a wii remote plus no more i hope it ships with both

S. A. Sterkenburg said...

If the reports are true that Cafe will look like an SNES, then I don't think this new image is it. This image (update 9) depicts a system that in no way resembles a super nintendo if you ask me.

Anonymous said...

no hard-drive is a no brainer hard-drives are old fashioned tech hot/ moving parts/ easy to break and corrupt..... big in size and slow read and write...

solid state drives and flash involve no moving parts and have no heat or power drain issues and booting up loading up data can be much faster from flash nintendo has uused flash from n4 days they aint changing now unless its a new tech

hard drives date back to 1950s flash cards can be 64gb so theres no excuse for fanboing harddrives in games consoles

windows etc operate and boot up faster in pcs with flash drives cards etc as harddrives struggle theres fast modes for extra flash as slow memor and operate faster than pcs with out it

also in tests with flash drives for laptops replacing the ps3 harddrive have show massive increase in loading booting speed proving flash drives as console fast storage and back up memory

its obvios wii 2 shall be flash and flash cards solid state storage

gb plus 64gb card is 72gb storage i see no issue with that and it all will load in data faster than a ps3 harddrive ever could hoping for a ver fast disc system also ps3 drive is slowwww

Anonymous said...

I think the controller itself is turning out too complex, if rumors are true... Anyway, thats not nintendo's style. I just hope they show majoras mask or A link to the past remake as the playable demo.

Anonymous said...

according to some GOOFBALL in this thread of posts 3DS is psp powered.....psp running resident evil 5 assets and MT Framework engine SONY FANBOY GO DRINK ELSEWERE THIS AINT NO FAG BAR....idiot boyfan....right back to subject a lot sounds realistic other rumors sound dumb as hell and anyone thinking nintendo will stop there main stream mass market attack is insane there not aiming at hardcore there aiming at everyone just like wii/DS just because its powerful dont mean its aimed at a TINY NICHE GROUP OF IDIOTS SELF PROCLAIMED AS CORE....touchscreen with stylus makes perfect sense feedback makes sense DS meets wii meets classic pad makes sense wii remote continuing makes sense,im just pissed at the anti nintendo vibe around the rumors like ign etc need to down on ninty all the time and insist on ps3 and x360 defence force BS and the guys using pc parts as wii 2 specs these people are goofy as f☆☆k and have zero idea what there talking about

i think its a DS meets wii idea and maybe some head tracking camera based innovation

Anonymous said...

the controller is too complex HUH so a DS and 3DS have complex controls hhmmmmmmmm