How the Nintendo Wii Will Win in the Long Term

There have been a multitude of articles (such that I won't link them here) about how the Nintendo Wii will not win in the long run. That, it has yesterday's technology today and three years from now it won't be able to compete with "future-proofed" hardware such as the XBox 360 and Sony Playstation 3.

This kind of argument is ridiculous at best. It presents an idea - that Nintendo, having created the Wii, will do nothing with technology for the next three years (or whatever years on in to the future) and that Nintendo will cower asking for mercy from Sony and Microsoft.

Nintendo has already shown the possible path for the Wii in the way it has worked with the Nintendo DS (yet another system supposedly to be extinguished by a Sony product).

There was the original version which I didn't really take much notice of myself. Then there was the DS lite, which didn't really take my interest until I saw commercials for Big Brain Academy. Then, it completely had my interest.

So, I purchased one - the white one. I played the crap out of it. The New Super Mario Brothers - a game that I'd only seen other people play when I was a kid - I finally had for myself. Big Brain Academy - I beat the crap out of it. Eventually, we got one for my son and my wife and we have a bunch of games - the good, the bad and the ugly. Some, like EBA (Elite Beat Agents) were so surprisingly good that it was an incredible experience to play the game.

So, you find that the Nintendo DS, can play Nintendo Gameboy Advance games. Oohhh, look an upgrade path - that works (Sony could learn from this, apparently).

What is next for the Nintendo DS? Who knows? But I can say this, most likely it will have a touch screen, be compatible with all Nintendo DS games and be better (maybe larger screen) and faster than the current models. Maybe, it would be a Nintendo DS Advance model?

But you can see the progression, correct? You can see how, in a few months, perhaps there will be different colored Nintendo Wii's out there. It probably won't encourage any existing customers to buy a second one, but it would delivery some more sales to the system. Then, maybe two years from now as the system does genuinely age - you'll see Wii v2. It would be able to play all the games that the Nintendo Wii can play - and would have newer graphics and its own games. This would encourage new sales from existing customers as well as new sales from people who may not have purchased the original Nintendo Wii - perhaps they were saving for the XBox 360 or the PS3.

You can easily envision a portable Wii model, no? Take thw Wii, two years of computational increases and put it in an even smaller box with an integrated screen that you can carry with you. You could almost do it now with the current Nintendo Wii. Make it battery powerable and presto - people can take and play Wii games together with networked Wiis.

The very idea that Nintendo, as experienced as they are - will sit on the Wii as it is and leave it that way for 3 or 5 years is silly. They have a base system now, one that can be duplicated and emulated in future systems that will add more capabilities. I can foresee a time, two years from now or three years from now - where there is a Nintendo Wii that has similar graphical capabilities as the PS3 or XBox 360 - costs $250 and of course, has the Wii control architecture.

The biggest problem I see out there - is that Microsoft and Sony will wake up and get their own motion sensing architecture, be able to reverse engineer it in to their current architecture and come out with compelling games - for everyone, not just the gamer population.

Wii Scary

I own a Nintendo Wii. Unlike many people, I didn't spend hours in line waiting for it. I was lucky. I went to the local target that I knew was going to get 70 Wii machines and waited an hour before opening to ensure that I got my machine.

There is little doubt that Nintendo is making money on the console itself, unlike Microsoft and Sony. Even if Nintendo was not making money on the console itself, they would have made money on the number of games alone that I have purchased for the device.

1) Wii Play
2) Rayman's Raving Rabbids
3) Zelda
4) Sonic and the Secret of the Rings
5) Excite Truck (which I use as an MP3 player sometimes)

Virtual Console Games
1) Mario 64
2) Sonic the Hedgehog

Accessories:
1) Nunchuck Controller
2) 1GB SD card (not nintendo)

Perhaps that isn't enough, but a number of titles upcoming and out already are on my list of games I want to get. There is a FPS (First Person Shooter) that comes in Rayman's Raving Rabbids that has totally turned me on to the idea of a FPS for the Wii - a full one. Rayman's only let's you control where you fire like some arcade shooters, where I am from the Castle Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Doom 2 generation - and yearn for full control of motion.

Soon, I'll have my choice of an Alien Syndrome FPS and Metroid Prime Hunters for Wii will be coming out soon.

Not to mention that I've gone totally Japanese and own three Nintendo DS devices - one for me, my wife and my 4 year-old son. My favorite game has to be Big Brain Acadamy. It is hard though, to neglect Elite Beat Agents and New Super Mario Brothers.

So, for the Wii, I can't wait for Big Brain Acadamy. I'm even thinking of getting a Pokemon game or two - as long as there is a way to inter-operate between the Wii and the DS. I think, with a little work, a motion sensor and WiFi connection, the Nintendo DS could even be used as a controller for the Wii.

This would be a combination of two great worlds. Motion sensing controlling and touch sensing. I could imagine a game where you are playing by waving your DS around (hopefully with a strap of some sort) and then quickly struggling to scribble on its screen or do something on the DS screen.

Anyway, my thoughts for the moment on the Nintendo. I think they will do well against their competitors.