I guess they have a good point. Still, I would love to see some of their games in High Definition. Especially Pikmin, like they said. I love that game. | |
That's probably for the best. | |
I would love it if Nintendo stopped making the same game over, and over, and over, and over... (Zelda, Super Mario, etc.) | |
Do you believe that will EVER happen... | |
Which is why LittleBigPlanet could never have been a PS3 game. | |
You'd think, being the smart people they are, they could find some way of more efficently making graphically impressive games. But no, Nintendo seems to like just doing the lazy option. | |
This is probably not a bad idea-- for Nintendo. Let's face it: their corporate identity is somewhat built on a kiddie/casual game foundation... which SD is fine for. XBox360 and PS3, however, are substantially invested, identity-wise, in Halo/GoW and GTA respectively. They're not going to be able get by with anything but the slickest graphics, even in the B-list games. Personally, I don't know if I care for it: if you make it so it's cheap to make games, you're going to get a lot of games, and most of them will be shitty. SD = more possibility for Shovelware, basically. But I understand that Nintendo is in business to make money, and they can probably make more money by sticking to their niche rather than pushing the evolution of graphics. But, by god, I'm not going to buy another Nintendo console unless it is at least capable of HD. The difference in quality when I switch between Wii and PS3 just drives me batshit. | |
Well... if you have enough monkeys throwing darts, one of them is going to hit a moneymaker to use the old stock market metaphor. The problem is that we aren't seeing too many risky games that were as cheap or as good as Katamari-D. Most of the really good games have been ports from the last gen. Even the critically acclaimed new games like No More Heroes, would've bombed on any other console. If the wii had the processing power of the other two consoles, they could at least get ports of some of the really big games this gen. Fallout 3 could be really cool with motion controls. I'm not saying they can't have a blockbuster or a bunch of them for that matter, they just haven't. I don't see why they can't (with their truckloads of money) get big companies like Bethesda to make exclusive games for the Wii. The console needs a Fallout and/or a GTA; although with the latter they should get the guys who made Chinatown Wars; it was just way more fun than gta4. | |
Goddamnit Nintendo, the textures and polygon counts don't have to be high-def! Mario Galaxy looked amazing and it's certainly good enough for most games. The problem was it looked like ass on my HDTV because it had no anti-aliasing and ran at 480p! Can you say "MEIN EYES! THE JAGGIES!"? :P All you need from HD to look decent is the resolution jump! If Galaxy ran at 720 or 1080 and looked otherwise exactly the same, it would make a world of difference. | |
Making HD games expensive? How is upping the resolution expensive? | |
You think it would be possible to release a firmware update that could remedy that? 480p is a very satisfying resolution if done right, but I don't want to have to buy an Enhanced-Definition TV, as opposed to a High-Definition TV, to get the best effect. | |
I would love it if Activision, EA, Bungie, Bethesda...*long list of nearly every game developer*.... stopped making the same game over and over too, but we don't live in a perfect world do we? Nintendo aren't the only one who makes sequel after sequel. | |
It actually is because there are multiple factors to ensure games in HD run smoothly and visually clean. First is framerate. Remember Nintendo games slowing down? That's part of the factor. Second is the graphics and the game engine. To have characters be "bigger" they require more polygons as well as the environment. I'm no game programmer but yes, creating video games in HD do cost more when it comes to the production. There is no quick switch either. Personally I'm fine with the wii staying with 480p and 720p with composite and component cables. Video game consoles have never been the representative of the latest technology until this console generation. Overall game consoles have been quite conservative with occasional tests. | |
I know PC games have been doing HD res for over a decade | |
We are only talking about resolution here, bigger characters do not necessarily require more polygons. 2D games like Muramasa can easily run in 1080p even on the Wii | |
People are confusing turning up the resolution with actually making more detailed graphical content, obviously. What Nintendo should be talking about is that developers shouldn't feel forced to make their games more graphically advanced than is necessary. Better to go for a nice stylized look that doesn't require as much work. | |
Ok, first things first, I totally agree with what they're trying to say that a console SHOULD support lower graphics and, in general, make programming for your console not a monumental headache (i.e: PS3). Independent developers and small studios can't afford 7 digit budgets for the graphic department alone. THAT said, I'm reminded of that age old saying: Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. I admit I know next to nothing here, but I don't see a reason why you couldn't have a console that supports both lower and higher end graphics. This is another reason I love the PC. You can have low budget pearls with average graphics (thinking painkiller) and big budget titles with the kind of photo-realistic graphics that make the top notch graphic cards sweat and are held as benchmarks(crysis, fallout 3, etc, all on full max). Hell, digital distribution has been propelling the indies into the spotlight. In the end, I think this is more of a developer mentality issue. | |
If you don't like it don't play it. It's great that they do this. Caliostro is right. | |
I'm not big on graphics as long as its a good game it doesn't matter if it is HD or not | |
I forgot one other thing as well. Hardware. Probably the biggest hurdle and cost to ensure that video game consoles can actually handle HD resolution. Remember video game consoles until this generation have never been the latest in technology. Your PS2, Xbox and Gamecube were not special and an everyday computer was more powerful. This console generation it is the other way around. Sure the console is cheaper in consumer cost but production of the unit is just as expensive which is why Sony and Microsoft sold their consoles at a loss and not a gain like Nintendo. | |
The voice of Reason. Though, you can run it on 720p--just get the component cables, especially if you have an HDTV. Makes it run sooo much nicer. Here, I'll even help you out (Look, it's on sale!)http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0011E4J38. That they give the option would be cool, as long as it doesn't become mandatory. Super Mario Galaxy, Twilight Princess, Brawl, The Metroid Prime titles, Madworld--would all look amazing in HD, but even without they're absolutely beautiful. As long as Nintendo doesn't try and make a 'realistic' version of their favorite titles, then all will be well. When Nintendo does come up with a solution that will work as both SD and HD, then it'll be the next big thing (since the current problem is that you have either one, or the other--not both.). Take your time, Nintendo, and be the revolutionaries that we know you are. | |
Again, I hate to be that guy, but my verb senses are tingling... Also, I think this is a good perspective that Nintendo makes. Also, he mentions Pikmin and not Metroid...I wonder if this means that Pikmin 3 is beginning to wrap up development... | |
Excellent. I like this line of thought: it's a good thing that they're considering making their next console more powerful, while still allowing developers with lower budgets to make games for their platform. | |
I would love it if people stopped blindly parroting Yahtzee over and over and over again. Or at the very least be honest and be forced to post an entire paragraph listing every single company that's had a franchise series of titles they kept making because, and this might shock some people, they sold well and were good | |
Nintendo can do whatever they like, they are not getting at my money any more. Why? Well for starters to only things I use my Wii is to play StarTropics (which is a NES game). Also all their big heavy hitters are the same fucking thing over and over again, even my Pokemon enthusiasm is running dry! It takes alot to get me off an RPG....... | |
As far as any of Nintendo's big franchises go, realism takes away from the atmosphere, so even if you were able to play a Zelda or Mario game at 1080p, they probably wouldn't try to make it look realistic anyways. Part of the appeal of a franchise like Mario is that it exists in a cheerful fantasy world and giving goombas amazing textures isn't something that contributes to that.Once the hardware becomes cheap enough you'll see Nintendo adopt HD capability, but I wouldn't worrt about any realistic-looking signature franchises. Just as a side not, some games, like Pikmin, would benefit due to a large part of the game being about the environment, but the style probably wouldn't change much overall. | |
I still don't have an HD TV. So I often find my self squinting to read the text that comes up tiny and hard to read on non-HD TVs. I really do wish modern games would at least have something in the options to change that. So yeah I'm all for a system that has games that don't have to be HD. But really I grew up in the old school, so I really don't care about graphics. | |
This isn't a terrible idea, especially considering I hate HD TV refresh lag, I have no HD TVs, I don't care about graphics, and I miss old cute looking games. | |
Quoted for truth. It's not as if Nintendo is the only one milking the same cash cow. EA is the worst one, but there's also Capcom and Konami. | |
I don't think I need to state my opinion on this in full again. Other than pointing out the glaringly obvious, which I'm also growing tired of. Nintendo doesn't need to put out any real effort on a system, due to the fact that they make more money than a triple-breasted hooker working out of Sutter's Mill in 1850. But I've long given up hope on Nintendo's ridiculous complacency biting them in the ass. | |
This sounds suspiciously like every other time they've avoided new technology, though. Including internet support. I'm not sure "cute" and "kiddy" necessarily excuse lagging behind the times. And with most of the non-Nintendo and thus non-large budget affairs being pretty terrible, I'm not sure why they'd defend it. Honestly, though, I'd still have interest if I'd touched my wii in the last 6 months. I don't really mind that it's not the PS3 or 360 or a PC. The graphics issue seems further indicative of the same old problems, though. | |
Uh, are you sure about that? :P I'm using the component cables already. It still doesn't change the fact that the system only outputs 480p max. The Wii will never run natively at 720p. | |
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Nintendo May Be Considering SD/HD Hybrid Console
Nintendo's major visionaries are worried about the skyrocketing costs associated with creating High Definition games, and may be considering a next generation console that supports HD, but doesn't mandate it.
Imagine if you will that this generation of the console war was an episode of American Gladiators. On the one hand, you have the Xbox 360 and PS3 - hulking brutes bulging with well-oiled muscles and dripping with testosterone-laden sweat, standing high above the floor on two tiny platforms and trying to knock each other off with those padded sticks in order to gain dominance.
Meanwhile, the scrawny-looking Wii has eschewed "The Joust" entirely, and is currently kicking ass in "Assault," deftly diving from cover to cover while dodging a pelting rain of tennis balls. Only instead of dodging them, the Wii is letting itself get hit, because instead of tennis balls, it's actually being shot with mountains of money.
That's kind of the console war in a nutshell: The 360 and PS3 vying for high-definition technological dominance, while the Wii has gone off to do its own thing and has Nintendo has profited immensely. While gamers and developers alike may bemoan the system's technological inferiority and lack of HD support in an age when everything is higher and definitionier than ever before, Nintendo has had sound reasoning to make sure that the only 1080 you'll ever see on the Wii is followed by "Snowboarding": Making high-definition games is goddamn expensive, since the expenses of making a game have skyrocketed, and the profits have not.
In an Investor Relations Q&A, Nintendo's boss tech-head Genyo Takeda agreed that the progression to HD was "a natural flow," especially since it has become increasingly ubiquitous in television programming. However, merely forcing developers to spend more and more money - and consequently take fewer and fewer risks lest they fail and go out of business - doesn't sit right with the Nintendo bigwigs, so Takeda thinks it's likely that the successor to the Wii will still support games made in the current Standard Definition: "If we can find out the most appropriate medium, between SD and HD, and flexibly move around them depending on the game's contents, it will be good, I think."
Nintendo's Guru of Gaming Shigeru Miyamoto concurred, saying that it all depended on the style of game - what would Wii Sports have benefited for making the leap to HD? "For example, we have to ask ourselves if HD is really necessary to develop Wii Fit. Won't HD be better for the games like Pikmin? The developers should choose the most appropriate graphical format depending on the software they make."
It's hard to find fault with the argument that a hybrid wouldn't be convenient. If the Wii's next-generation younger brother has the potential muscle under the hood to support the newest and shiniest games for the developers with assured hits on their hands, but also lets the gamemakers go SD to take risks at lower expenses, it's kind of a "best of both worlds" situation, don't you think?
After all, though one could certainly make the argument that the Wii is just a breeding ground for a collection of crappy minigames and lackluster ports, does anybody think we'd see bizarre risk-taking games like Katamari Damacy that are far from guaranteed to turn a profit if they cost $50 million to make?
(Nintendo D-Pad, via Joystiq)
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