Wii HD

Greetings programs. So it seems that after all this time Nintendo has finally decided it was time for the HD upgrade. Unfortunately we’re not going to be hearing much until E3 but until then rumors will be flying around the internet. I’m going to comment on some of them as well as give my thoughts on the whole thing.

First is the machine itself. Its boasting power greater then that of the 360 and the PS3. With that you might think the machine would be a beast and be bigger then the PS3 but I think it will still be a small machine. Historically Nintendo machines haven’t been that big so we won’t have to worry about storing anywhere. As far as the specs why shouldn’t it be more powerful? They’ve seen what both Sony and Microsoft have done so why wouldn’t they make a machine with greater power? I’m not sure what more we can see with greater power machines because the things we’re seeing are more impressive then ever so I would be interested in seeing what kind of games this machine can produce. Supposedly we only have to wait until E3 to find out.

Now with machines this powerful that means we can get ports of games like Call of Duty for example but if you already are playing that on one of the other next gen consoles or on the computer why would you care to play it on the Wii 2 or get one for that matter. The answer is simple, first party content. The though of Zelda or Metroid in a HD world makes me wish I could turn a car into a Time Machine and travel to the future just to see it in action if not be able to play it. However I am also a little worried. Since Nintendo has no experience in the HD world how long would it take them to master it? After all if you like at the first few years of the 360 and PS3 the games just looked like prettier PS2 games. It hasn’t been until recent years that the games have started to impress. Gamers don’t want to wait until the second Wii HD Zelda game to see the true power of the machine so I’m a little worried that they might have waited far too long to jump into the HD game.

The second reason one might buy this system is the rumored controller. It said to be more of a standard controller with a LED touch screen on it. No I don’t think Nintendo is selling out by not making another motion controller. Someone must have really liked the idea of the screen and I’m sorry but you’re not putting a touch screen on a controller you wave around. Anyway, I think this screen is to give that DS experience on the home console which I say bring it on. I mean imagine playing Zelda and having your items right there on the touch screen. You press the item and BAM there it is on the screen. We’ll get to experience this first hand on Ocarina 3D this summer. The other possibilities are great, health meter in a game, rearview mirror in a racing game or a map in another. Yes Sega failed when they tried this themselves on the Dreamcast but I think with Nintendo minds behind it they can really make something that will once again change the way we play games.

As you might have been able to tell I’m pretty excited and hope that we get much information at this years E3. It is time to Nintendo made that jump to HD however they have a lot of catching up to do. They have to be smart about this and can’t turn into Sony thinking that people will just buy there system because they’re Nintendo and the number spot this generation. Hopefully the games will be good and there will be many surprises as to what this system can do. Oh and Nintendo, make with the Hard Drive using blocks to count storage space is so 2001. End of Line.