Nintendo Wii Fanboy

During a Forbes piece that takes a look at the future of gaming, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed that Nintendo is already working on their next console. The likelihood that we could actually see or be told anything concrete about it is nonexistent, however. Nintendo's current console is both selling far too well and, we imagine, development of their newest console is in the earliest stages, considering the Wii hasn't been on store shelves for two years yet.

"We are always preparing for the next hardware," Iwata said. "We are under development. ... But the hardware is a kind of box that consumers reluctantly buy in order to play our games." Well, we wouldn't say reluctantly, because most people seem to be more than happy to pick up a Wii.

In terms of future specs, Iwata commented that every new piece of hardware "needs some revolutionary features." He also added that "This time around, it happened to be we had a revolutionary user interface. Will it be the same for the next generation? I really can't tell." Considering what the company did with the Wii, we're totally expecting bigger and better things from Nintendo.

President Iwata also went on to comment about how hard it is for them to innovate beyond what they've done this generation. "It's natural for the current customer to expect Nintendo is going to once again do something different. If the people are expecting so many different things from Nintendo, it's going to be difficult for us to go beyond that expectation again."

[Thanks, Joe!]

Well, here's a change. Instead of putting the Wii on the level of last-gen consoles, which some developers have done recently, Will Wright believes that the Wii is the only console deserving of a "next-gen" title.

The Spore creator recently told CVG, "Somebody asked me what I thought next generation meant and what about the PlayStation 3 was next generation. The only next gen system I've seen is the Wii - the PS3 and Xbox 360 feel like better versions of the last, but pretty much the same game with incremental improvement." To Wright, next-gen consoles must reach a new demographic, which the Wii has done. Furthermore, it's Wright's Xbox 360 that sits unused, collecting dust, while his Wii gets played constantly.

We don't completely agree with Wright's assessment, since we think that the Xbox 360 and PS3 bring more than graphics to the table. Still, it's nice to hear a well-known developer praising the merits of the Wii rather than dismissing it because of its weaker graphics.

Ever had the fleeting thought that maybe those video game analysts just don't quite know what they're about? Don't worry, it's not just you -- even they admit that the ever-changing market can be a challenge to ride.

Next-Gen's Krist Graft sat down with Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities to discuss the challenges of predicting the business of video games. How does he do it? The same as any 'armchair' analyst, Pachter keeps up with the news. Some firms (like WMS) change their predictions as often as there are new developments, and this tumultuous week has brought about some major updates. What else? Analysts look for comparisons in gauging what's hot in the console war. He pointed to the success of the DS, particularly games that employ the stylus, as evidence that Nintendo is on the cutting edge of the interactivity that consumers want. Trend-spotting like that forms the basis of so much analysis in video games.

What's the final verdict for us? "The Wii's going to crush," Pachter says. Well, we don't understand all this fancy-schmancy business jargon he's using there, but we have to agree.

We'll never stop speculating on just who will win in the upcoming console wars. It's in our nature to do so. Thankfully, however, there's a site dedicated to tracking current consensus amongst interwebbers as to provide hard, undisputable fact to back up our claims (mostly typed in caps and grossly misspelled) across message boards everywhere. That current consensus is that the Wii will be winning in the war to come between man and machine consoles, gaining a very favorable 55.5 percent selection amongst visitors, with the Xbox 360 coming in at about half that with 26.2 percent, and the PS3 tanking at 18.3 percent.

For those of you unaware, Goro Abe is the director of development for Warioware: Smooth Moves, the Wii installment in the popular Warioware franchise. In a lengthy Q & A session, Goro discusses how the team comes up with the quirky minigames the series has been known for and some of the challenges that come from developing a title for Nintendo's next-gen system, and even discusses his role in bringing Wario to Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

[Update: It's Goro, not Masamichi.]