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Fils-Aime: Wii HD 'Will Not Be The Next Step For Us'
by Leigh Alexander [PC, Console/PC]
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November 17, 2009
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The Wii is the home console with the largest userbase, and yet many big-budget blockbusters, like record-breaking Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and highly-anticipated Assassin's Creed 2, only release on more powerful platforms.
Perhaps this is why many industry-watchers -- most vocally, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter -- predict that Nintendo will release an edition of the Wii capable of rendering higher-definition graphics, thereby closing the technology gap that still keeps the console just outside most people's definition of "next-gen."
But Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime tells consumer weblog Kotaku that discussions over graphical power miss the point, and says he's "disappointed" that, in his view, publishers elect to exclude Wii from their next-gen offerings.
"I think for those games, typically decisions are being made two years prior," Fils-Aime says. "And so the decisions two years ago were that those types of games would not be effective on the platform. But we've shown that that's just not the case. High-quality, effectively marketed against our installed base will sell, period -- end of story."
Fils-Aime asserts that simply upgrading to HD is "not the way we at Nintendo do things. "The way we at Nintendo do things is, you know, when we will move to a new generation, it's because there are some fundamental things the [current] console cannot do," he says.
Adds Fils-Aime: "What that says is that simply the addition of HD capability will not be the next step for us. There will be more to it. There will be additional capability. There will be additional elements, and, given that, it is far into the future."
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What is Nintendo's aversion to quality graphics? I'm not asking to play Crysis on the Wii. But I would like to enjoy a decent level of visual fidelity. I'm not asking for bloated art budgets. But I do find it ridiculous that I have to keep a separate 480i tube lying around just so when a decent-looking Wii game comes out -- like Mario Galaxy -- it can be enjoyed without looking at ugly, upscaled pixels.
The graphics pendulum swings both ways, Nintendo. Don't let it hit you in the ass.
Also, good graphics doesn't always mean good games, though it helps. But look at metroid prime 3, good gameplay and visuals, and no HD.
I think nintendo is playing smart... PS3 is just starting up, nintendo has been pushing since day one.
*My first post*
I don't think it swings at all. Heck, I'd say an "aversion to quality graphics" is a consistent pattern among winners.
The PS2 and PSX both dominated their generations with the weakest graphics.
The PS2 lacked antialiasing features and texture filtering that even the N64 had five years prior.
Meanwhile, I had Samurai Showdown 3 on the Neo Geo CD and the Playstation, and the Neo Geo kicked the much, much newer Playstation's ass visually. (Note: Neo Geos were priced at $600.)
I'm not aware of a graphically superior system that has won a race since the SNES beat the Genesis, and even that example ignores the graphically superior systems that failed so hard that nobody remembers them.
I think Nintendo is smart to stick to their gameplan. The king doesn't need to move until he gets checked.
With that said, I do think it's time to push some pawns forward. SONY made a similar mistake with their failure to respond to XBOX Live last gen, and 3 years into the next-gen they are still trying to recover that lost ground. Nintendo doesn't need to make a Wii HD, but they also can't afford to be behind in everything but interface. You can't play the disruptor when the crown is on your head.
And please don't get me started on their online infrastructure. It was CLEARLY an afterthought for them when compared to even PSN. Don't even dream about comparing it to Live. Then lastly comes storage. All those channel spots but not enough system memory to occupy HALF of the available slots. Instead of a true storage solution we get a firmware update that allows us to use high capacity SD Cards. And that's ONLY because so many people were complaining about how little storage the Wii had to begin with. Now that I have vented, I do want to hammer home the fact that I do LOVE the Wii-Mote. Well I'm more in love with the potential for the new gaming concepts and applications that it stands for.
"simply the addition of HD capability will not be the next step for us. There will be more to it."
Meaning Wii HD WILL be the next step + whatever else they throw in there. amazing how chopping off 6 words dramatically changes the meaning of the sentence...
The Wii actually has games that have been around for a while and are still making the Top 20 charts including Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit. And even on the DS, people are still buying New Super Mario Bros., and I wouldn't be surprised if NSMBWii shared this kind of longevity as well.
The HD competition need to step up their game if they want to convince the Wii to go HD. In the meantime, the Wii is doing well without it.
I am 100% certain that their next console will have HDMI, but it will likely come with some ridiculous peripheral like an eye scanner or finger pricker so they can test your blood sugar levels and tell you your blood type. The power glove might make a comeback with full 5 finger motion sensing so you can perform any number of inappropriate stroking and jerking motions just to get your character to run to the right of the screen.
And sorry, but I admit that 480p is pretty low-end. However, after 800x600 70% of people just don't care, and after 1024x768 it gets into indifferent territory for most people unless you are physically counting pixels. If you are counting pixels, then you aren't playing a very fun game.
That made my evening. Thank you :)
"The HD competition needs to step up their game if they want to convince the Wii to go HD. In the meantime, the Wii is doing well without it."
I own all three consoles and the HD software is heads and shoulders superior in almost every way possible. Even with 2009 being the Wii's best year ever in terms of games, it offers nothing even remotely comparable to something like Assassin's Creed II, Uncharted or Batman: AA.
The issue isn't even about HD but rather more powerful hardware that allows developers to fully realize their games rather than forcing them to slice away features that cannot be supported on a system barely capable of outperforming the PS2. And let's not pretend sales equate quality because we all know that's a fallacy; Mario Kart Wii might outsell Forza 3 but that doesn't make it a better game. WiiPlay has been a top seller for years and that game is tripe, free controller or no.
Forza 3? Never heard of it; it's a safe bet to assume it's just another racer that requires using a control stick to steer a car.
Mario Kart Wii is definitely the better game.