http://gear.ign.com/articles/116/1163325p1.html
Reading this^ article today made me pretty excited. Though they didn't exactly talk about where their sources were, the information is very insightful because if it were true, it seems as though Nintendo is trying to bring back the hardcore.

With graphics better than the PS3 and the system resembling a modernized version of the SNES(pretty much one of the best consoles of all time), all this system would need is solid third-party support and it'd be well on its way to being a great console.

The Wii itself wasn't even that bad, but the graphics are dated considering the fact that it didn't come out before its competitors, but after. And while the motion controls are nice(sometimes), it wasn't exactly attractive to the hardcore Nintendo crowd. Also the system was punished with loads of shovelware due to weak third party.
Of course, most fans did buy one anyway and the casual audiences stripped stores completely of their Wii stock. Perhaps this was all planned by Nintendo to bolster enough money to create such a console that would satisfy the hardcore again.

I can't wait to hear about this in E3 (especially for verification.) The price described in the article seems reasonable enough.

Yeah, I've been following this subject closely. I hope that this will bring hardcore gamers back over to Nintendo's side. Casual gamers are alright, but thy destroy the market for the real gamers.

I'll buy this, I need to hold up my bragging rights of owning every console by Nintendo. (Except for VB)

Dammit! I was going to make a thread about this.

Here's the text from the article in case some of you are too lazy to click the link.

"More details of Nintendo's forthcoming console, codenamed Project Cafe aka Wii 2, have been revealed to IGN, including the system's estimated pricing, release, console design, processing architecture, and name.

According to sources with knowledge of the project, Nintendo's next console could have a retail price of anywhere between $350 and $400 based on manufacturing costs, and will ship from Taiwanese manufacturer, Foxconn, this October, putting the earliest possible retail release anywhere between mid-October and early November.

However, Nintendo could also opt to build up a sizable supply of the system and allocate more time for software and games development by launching in early 2012. Similarly, Nintendo could attempt to lower the retail price of the system with lower profit margins to make the price more alluring.

Since the manufacturing is taking place in Taiwan, the earthquakes and tsunami that hit Japan last month will not impact the console hardware as previously expected.

Additionally, IGN has learned that the system will be based on a revamped version of AMD's R700 GPU architecture, not AMD's Fusion technology as previously believed, which will, as previously reported, out perform the PlayStation 3's NVIDIA 7800GTX-based processor. Like the Xbox 360, the system's CPU will be a custom-built triple-core IBM PowerPC chipset, but the clocking speeds will be faster. The system will support 1080p output with the potential for stereoscopic 3D as well, though it has not been determined whether that will be a staple feature.

In terms of the design of the console itself, the overall size will be comparable to that of the original Xbox 360 and the system is likely to resemble a modernized version of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES).

As reported last week, it will indeed utilize controllers with integrated touchscreens and be capable of streaming games to each controller, though given the power of the system, could also feasibly provide a virtualized console for each individual unit.

Finally, Nintendo is considering naming the console Stream, though it is potentially one of several names currently being vetted by the company.

We contacted Nintendo representatives, but they declined to comment on "rumors or speculation.""



Looks like they're seeing how a replica of the Dreamcast controller will do. A funny comment from someone at the other board I go to:

"Princess Peach All Grown Up College Slumber Party
- A Virtual Experience Streaming Game

:fingerscrossed: "

Cyro Xero : Heh, sorry ^^;

I do hope they come up with some thing more original than "Stream" though. There're already starting to have "Wii-Stream" jokes everywhere lol.

see, I don't enjoy "professional gamers" or "hardcore gaming". Most of the games then are M or T games, sometimes even AO! I enjoy these "kidsy" games. So, I'm probably not gonna get this. Besides, I have a wii and that suits me fine

Speedic : I don't see how "hardcore gaming" has anything to do with what it's rated or how "kidsy" it is. People tend to have a horrible mentality that "hardcore gaming" has to be violent or it has to be a shooter like Call of Duty or something. That's quite the opposite.

I consider myself to be a hardcore gamer and I own a Wii. I love franchises like Sonic and Mario and Zelda a lot more than Halo or COD or God of War. In fact, I think a lot of people who play games like Mario are a lot more hardcore than what I said before, because Mario games tend to be a lot harder than games like shooters and what not.

Cyro Xero : The concept for the controller doesn't appeal to me honestly =/

I fear it will be like the original XBOX controllers, in that they will be bulky and require huge hands.


As for the system, I'm not that interested. I switched over to sony when the PS2 came out, and haven't enjoyed a nintendo system since. I may play it at a friends, but right now I'm not sold, it'll take more than this to interest me personally.

mdynasty926 : see, that's the way I'm too. I love to play games, yet I don't call myself a hardcore gamer...just because I don't touch these very violent games. (even super smash bros. bugs me.)

sounds good but now that the wii might end sooner than later what is microsoft and sony going to do?
I will keep a close eye on this as well

I'm really looking forward to this coming out.