A fully playable demo will be shown off at E3 this June.

IGN just reported it.


Nintendo Press Report


Not sure how I feel about this. Excited, yet worried at the same time.

URL to share (right click and copy)

So there wasn't a live stream though they still might show the footage later, though it would be useless because it seems we have all the info already.

WiiHD Rumours.com :Conference Summary

Basically there wasn't too much said beyond Iwata stating that this console will be a "new concept and structure for a console". He also seems to confirm the tablet style controller as well.

Here's the whole article.

Apparently we missed Nintendo’s investor meeting. Or something. At least, that’s what it seems like as David Gibson supposedly tweeted the details of the event about six hours before I started writing these words, and it was only picked up on in the last hour or so.

Based on the tweets, which I’m just going to assume are accurate, there’s not a whole lot that came out of the meeting, but that was expected. There were no concrete details that relate to the new system, but supposedly it’s a “new concept and structure” for a console, which means they’re not just giving the Wii prettier graphics and slapping a higher price tag on the thing. We already knew that, but I’m getting the feeling we may be underestimating how different this console could be.

The topic of tablets is brought up, and there’s no need to worry about how the inclusion of a touchscreen will affect the Wii 2′s controller. Buttons aren’t going anywhere. Iwata believes that tablets will be widespread, but buttons are simply more responsive. This ties into the rumors of a controller with dual analog sticks, triggers and eight buttons.

In terms of why Nintendo decided to announce the successor to the Wii 2 before E3, it’s simply to get people to their press conference and, assumably get them paying attention to their announcements rather than Sony’s announcements. Iwata says he wants E3 to be a surprise, so if the recent leaks have been intentional in any degree then I imagine the rumor mill could quieten down a bit until June 7th arrives.

Lastly, Iwata admits that Nintendo has relied too much on themselves in marketing their products, and we should “expect to see something on that at E3.” This ties in with recent statements from Iwata via Reuters:

I now regret that we didn’t tie up with someone outside the company to market the Wii. If we had done that, the fate of the Wii might have been different.

Now I am aware that we should not rely too much on ourselves. You will see what I mean by this when we market the 3DS and the Wii in the future.

All aboard the hype train.

Nintendo apparently wants to continue supporting Wii, and wants to release a new game every month to push that idea (?!)

Oh and apparently the Wii Vitality Sensor is still kicking.

Posted by

carlosrox

on: 04/26/11, 11:36

Edited:

04/26/11, 12:49

@carlosrox
It starting to sound like this new console could be revolutionary and evolutionary at the same time. I was totally expecting Nintendo's new console to be the SNES/GameCube version of the Wii, meaning Nintendo was going to take motion control and basically perfect it. It sounds like they are going to do that while also integrating some pretty significant innovations. Which makes sense, since as awesome as the SNES and GameCube were, they lost market share with both those consoles compared to their predecessors.

Posted by

WrathOfSamus777

on: 04/26/11, 11:43

Edited:

04/26/11, 11:45

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand Sony's talkin' shit already.

Sony employee says "Not afraid of a little coffee stain"

Posted by

carlosrox

on: 04/26/11, 11:54

carlosrox said:

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand Sony's talkin' shit already.

Sony employee says "Not afraid of a little coffee stain"

LOL. Oh Sony. Meanwhile, they'll have people at Nintendo's press conference and at Nintendo's playable booths for Cafe taking notes.

Posted by

WrathOfSamus777

on: 04/26/11, 12:13

WrathOfSamus777 said:

carlosrox said:

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand Sony's talkin' shit already.

Sony employee says "Not afraid of a little coffee stain"

LOL. Oh Sony. Meanwhile, they'll have people at Nintendo's press conference and at Nintendo's playable booths for Cafe stealing ideas.

Fixed.

Posted by

carlosrox

on: 04/26/11, 12:17

@gamewizard65

Freedom of speech just means that the government can't infringe on your right of expression (within reason). It has nothing to do with a private website.

Posted by

Jargon

on: 04/26/11, 18:02

That's all from the investor meeting? >=C Gah.

Posted by

Renjaku

on: 04/26/11, 18:30

@carlosrox

That "Nintendo will release a game every month" apparently applies to Japan only.

Oh well. Hopefully E3 has:

-3DS games
-Wii games
-Wii successor

Posted by

MightyOwned

on: 04/26/11, 19:31

Edited:

04/26/11, 19:32

@carlosrox As arrogant as Sony is, a rumour about "an anonymous Sony employee" telling someone a single statement is a news story nowadays?! Ug.

Posted by

Zero

on: 04/26/11, 19:52

Sounds good :) I can't wait to see what they put in to the new system.

Posted by

Cube191

on: 04/26/11, 20:35

If Nintendo wants to win back more support from 3rd parties, they need to have a decent tech bump and a revamped internet model. With DLC becoming such a big part of developers/publishers income and, lets face it, means of fixing broken games, the internet aspect is the most important to getting 3rd parties interests, or at least just as important as powerful tech.

Posted by

FINlos

on: 04/26/11, 21:10

@FINlos

No, you're right. The online aspect is way more important at this point.

Posted by

-JKR-

on: 04/26/11, 21:11

Since you guys love speculation.

Sam Kennedy, 1up said:

For the past week or so the web has been on fire with rumors and speculation about Nintendo's new console, currently being referred to by some by its alleged code-name "Project Cafe" and others by its rumored final name of "Stream." Especially now that the company has itself acknowledged the system's existence and pointed to a giant E3 2011 unveil.

It's no surprise that people are insanely excited about Nintendo's Wii successor -- so far sources have indicated that the system will be more powerful than the Xbox 360 and PS3 (finally, Nintendo games in glorious HD!), and it will have a brand new control mechanism in the form of a touch-screen controller with a camera, eight buttons and two analog sticks. The system will also be backward compatible with Wii games -- dare I speculate (or at least dream) that it will also up-res them to full HD? You know, like the Wii emulator for PC that made such games as Super Mario Galaxy look mindblowingly awesome?

But anyway, while I'm with everyone in being excited about a new HD Nintendo console that has some nifty new controller device, there's actually another reason that I'm looking forward to this new system, one that hasn't really been discussed yet: online.

Yes, I know what you're thinking...Nintendo and online? Forget all of Sony's PSN troubles, Nintendo has been nearly MIA when it comes to online gaming. But from what I've been told by strong sources, Project Cafe is the machine that will change all of that. And I don't necessarily mean online in the traditional sense of multiplayer matchmaking in a game like Call of Duty or whatever -- I mean in the way that it can be used to bring gamers together. Nintendo has stated in the past that it would do more with online when the experience could be handled seamlessly and in a manner unique to Nintendo.

Well, that time has apparently come.

With Project Cafe, Nintendo aims to create the first social game console. What do I mean by this? Well, here's where you have to start imagining the future with me. First off, no more friend codes, that's for damn sure. But start to think about what a company like Nintendo would want to do to have players gaming and sharing together. Take a look at what it's done with StreetPass on the 3DS (where players' items and achievements can be shared with others nearby even when the system is closed) and think about what it could do on its next connected console. Nintendo merely scratched the surface with its Mii parade (where peoples' virtual avatars could migrate to others' machines) and user generated polls on the Wii -- 5 years later, the company has much more ambitious plans. The new console will be designed around the concept of connecting, sharing, and gaming with others. Like you were gaming together in a café, if you will.

I'll take things a step further. Care to guess where the name "Stream" comes from? You've likely seen the supposed leaked image of the system's ability to stream games to its controller screens, but my understanding is that Nintendo aims to take this concept further and stream video of games being played to other peoples' machines so that friends can see what each other are up to. When you look at Nintendo consoles and handhelds, there's often a clear progression of its intent -- what starts as an experimental feature in one generation fully takes form in another. Chris Kohler just pointed out on Wired, for instance, that Project Cafe's touch-screen controller makes perfect sense if you look at Nintendo's past with the GBA to GameCube link cable.

So when I see the current Wii's dashboard of different TV screens, I can't help but think of that concept taken to the next level: seeing all of my friends' games playing in the different windows. You know, not that unlike what OnLive offers with its streaming service. Forget Facebook alerting you to what your friends have been doing in their games -- how about a platform that actually shows you?

But here's where things get potentially even cooler. Imagine seeing your friend's game in one of the screens. You click on it, and -- provided you have the game too -- you then seamlessly join his or her game. No waiting until the next match and no buffering to sync up consoles. Just a seamless online experience, exactly as Nintendo would want it. And the beauty of this is that the concept extends to not only new games, but potentially Nintendo's back catalog of classics. Got a friend racing the AI in Super Mario Kart? What if the game was retrofitted so that you could hop right in at any given moment? That, my friends, may well be the promise of Project Cafe.

And then there's the whole aspect of content sharing. Sony kicked things off nicely with LittleBigPlanet, but there's obviously so much more that could be done with a console designed around social gaming. One of the features I remember Nintendo touting in the early days of the Wii that never really materialized was the ability to push content to the console since it's always on. Sure, we ended up with emails telling us what we played and what not, but the concept was supposed to be so much more -- you were supposed to be able to check your machine each day and have new things waiting for you. So now, imagine checking your Project Cafe each morning and seeing new creations from your friends or even Nintendo. New levels for games, new characters or items to use, new demos for games you're interested in -- there could be all sorts of new things to see and do each time you open your console. I'm telling you, whether Nintendo pulls this off or not, there's a console experience here that's far more enticing than the one we're used to today.

And that's the thing I want to make clear about all of this: I really have no idea how much of this Nintendo will actually achieve with its new console. Again, Nintendo is hardly a company with a proven track record when it comes to online. But Nintendo does get social experiences, and if it's really ready to take the plunge on consoles, I believe it could revolutionize the market again, just as it did with the motion control interface last generation.

So when Stream or whatever it's eventually called is finally released and not everything is exactly as I hypothesized here, don't be shocked or disappointed. I just wanted to give you a taste of some of the rumblings I've heard, if only to paint a picture of what could be, regardless of how it ultimately takes shape. But I can at least assure you of two things: 1. This is absolutely the direction Nintendo is headed with its next console, and 2. Regardless of whether this all materializes in Project Cafe or in some console or handheld later, the future of social gaming as envisioned by Nintendo is sounding pretty darn exciting.

Posted by

Guillaume

on: 04/27/11, 01:48

Excuse me for a bit, I think I need to change my pants.

Posted by

Earendil

on: 04/27/11, 02:02

@Guillaume

Are you sure that wasn't by Carlos or Deerock?

Posted by

Jargon

on: 04/27/11, 02:05

Oh, cool. Can't wait to see what Nintendo has in store for E3. Won't get to caught up in the rumors, but I'm glad that we'll at least see something new soon.

Posted by

missypissy

on: 04/27/11, 02:19

@Guillaume

It's nice to see I'm not the only one who thinks the name 'Cafe' screams online gaming. Those features sound very cool.

Posted by

WrathOfSamus777

on: 04/27/11, 02:26

Edited:

04/27/11, 02:28

@Jargon Come on, weren't you the one arguing that online, in the hands of Nintendo, will be a big deal in setting Wii 2 apart from being ps3+move on paper? =p

Posted by

Renjaku

on: 04/27/11, 02:27

The wait till E3 is going to be unbearable this year.The last few years its not been too bad.
First time in a few years I have genuinely been excited for E3.

Posted by

jonjon85

on: 04/27/11, 02:51

It really sounds like Nintendo's on a rampage...shit. Iwata has been going CRAZY with his plans for 3DS, Wii, and Wii 2 lately.

Apparently he's kissing third party ASS, and he sounds really aggressive now. I never expected this from Iwata. (In Japan) Game every month til the end of the year, free game when the eShop launches, more hands-on events, really pushing the idea of their consoles now, wanting to party up with outside sources, etc. And if anything Sam Kennedy said is true, then holy shit. Nintendo is also being brutally honest, I wouldn't be surprised if he came out on stage at E3 and said the Wii ended being a disappointment to Nintendo lol...

Shit just got real.

Posted by

carlosrox

on: 04/27/11, 03:13