Published 2009-05-20 5:23PM by Connor Beaton
Rumours of an Wii with high definition graphics have been prevalent for quite a while now, with some sources even claiming to having these rumours confirmed by an official Nintendo representative, even though an official announcement has been mysteriously absent. With E3 2009 up and coming, however, could Nintendo be saving a “Wii HD” announcement for the event?
In terms of graphical power, the Wii can’t muster up much more than a mid-spec computer in 2004 could, meaning a large volume of games released on PS3 and Xbox 360 never receive a port to Nintendo’s motion sensitive machine. While this is perhaps a good thing for the common shovelware, this means the Wii has missed out on such multi-platform gems as X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The Orange Box.
Nintendo have repeatedly admitted that the Wii is not well powered graphically, explaining that the console was more an experiment to finding out if the Wii Remote technology was viable. Well, sales statistics show that it clearly is. This means a natural next step for the Japanese company would be working on a successor. But what sort of features would we expect on this?
I’d expect high definition graphics for a start, and likely a built-in DVD player. Hackers have already demonstrated that the potential for playing retail DVDs is there, and it’s unlikely that Nintendo would build in Blu-Ray support, as Sony has long been a competitor, and the licensing costs would drive the price of the console too high for Nintendo’s casual demographic. The MotionPlus attachment would probably also be built into each Remote by default, and not available solely as a separately sold extra.
I would also expect an upgrade in the Wi-Fi card. If a new console were to be announced, it’d likely be released a year or two after the announcement, meaning 802.11n support is pretty much a must-have. If streaming live HD video via the Nintendo Channel becomes an option, then a Wi-Fi upgrade is necessary, as the Wii’s existing chip doesn’t operate quite as fast as such high-bandwidth data transfer would require.
Of course, this is all speculation; there has yet to be any announcement or public statement regarding these rumours, and Nintendo executives have repeatedly said in interviews that the next console is likely to be “completely different”, so an HD Wii might just be wishful thinking. I guess we’ll have to wait for E3, or perhaps the next SpaceWorld, to hear news about what’s in the pipeline for Nintendo.
