Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Every Tuesday, Mike Sylvester brings you REVOLUTIONARY, a look at the wide world of Wii possibilities.

It may be time for Nintendo to concede that we've entered the HD-era. Anyone looking to buy a new television will have an increasingly difficult time finding a "classic" SD tube amongst the pristine plasmas, elegant LCoS, lavish LCDs, dazzling DLPs, and (soon-to-come) sexy SEDs. And the technologies behind today's televisions are benefiting greatly from economies of scale, making it easier for consumers to consider going big on their next TV purchase.

For too long, big screen gaming had been confined to dollar-munching arcade machines and reruns of Silver Spoons, but more and more people are finding out what it feels like to have a truly super Mario kicking gargantuan goombas across the Mushroom Kingdom. If you haven't yet been bitten by the big bug, today I'll make you feel the itch.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter thinks that, just as Nintendo eschewed the normal method of competing in the "console war"-- a console at least as powerful as its contemporaries-- so will they break the pattern of the traditional release cycle. He sees the falling costs of graphics processors and rising public demand for high definition possibly leading Nintendo to release a Wii that can output in HD in "two to three years."

"Consumers may hope for improved graphics, and my guess is that Nintendo will comply," Pachter told GamePro. An HD Wii would necessarily be an all-new console, with games designed for HD graphics. Are you ready for Wii 2 in 2009? Is the general public ready for the sting of console obsolescence?

We know that we'd like a hard drive on the Wii-- and while we're dreaming, we'd like it to be free and preloaded with Sega CD games-- but we don't have any real evidence that one's coming. We first heard some unfounded speculation about it back in March, from a Japanese magazine.

Now the rumor is back, with just as much to back it up (nothing). IGN editors speculated in a podcast that Nintendo might show one at E3, and CVG saw the fact that Neo Geo games are big as evidence. Then, of course, everyone picked up on the rumors-- including us, right now. Not to say that there's no chance of a hard drive in the future, but we'd like to remind everyone that SD cards exist and are cheap.

Just when you thought you were done with all those pesky 'best of 2006' lists, Engadget offers one you might actually care about -- peripheral of the year. As you might have guessed, the Wii remote is one of the options, and just like Reggie, it seems to be kicking ass and taking names. Voting ends April 15th, and it's just one vote per person, so if you'd like to go help let everyone know that the Wii controller is way cooler than the 360's HD DVD drive, get voting.

We sort of feel sorry for the other entrants. Look the Mighty Mouse is cool and all (it's so smooth!), but there's nothing like your Wii remote. Well, except perhaps your remote, but until you're using that to get your Zelda on, we don't want to hear about all that.

In a Q&A session with GamePro, NoA's King of Awesome, Reggie Fils-Aime, did indeed state that he was "blown away" by the resounding success of the Wii, and while it's exactly what Nintendo was shooting for, he's surprised that it happened so quickly ... so quickly, in fact, that Nintendo can't even seem to keep up with the demand. And of course, comparisons to the DS had to be made; after all, the Wii is taking its cue from the DS in many ways. However, when asked if we'll soon be seeing multicolored Wiis like we have with the DS, Reggie brushed that off as a concern for the future. Right now, they're more interested in getting more units into stores -- and we're sure that's good news for many of you.

It's worth noting that the issue of HD came up, and when asked whether or not Nintendo was planning on any kind of upgrade for the Wii that might add HD functionality, Reggie didn't say that it wouldn't ever happen ... but did cite statistics indicating that 83% of American households are not currently equipped for HD. What good is it to add something that many people can't even use? After all, Nintendo is trying to reach beyond the "hardcore" gamer and into every household ... a strategy that doesn't work very well if one of your biggest games is so dependent on HD that parts of it can barely be seen by the majority of potential gamers. The verdict? DVD is coming, but don't expect an HD dongle any time soon.

We've seen tons of Mario and the more we see, the more we salivate for his new game Super Mario Galaxy. As an astronautical platformer (we made that up), the game was an absolute blast when we played it at E3. It ended up being our absolute favorite Wii title on-hand at the show.

This latest trailer, in spectacular high definition, shows a lot of gameplay that those keen on Mushroom Kingdom's greatest hero might have seen before, but being in beautiful HD this time around, it's worth the possible revisit. Obviously, due to the video's resolution you'll have to head over to Game Trailers to check it out as we cannot embed it into the post as usual.