Wii 2 and Xbox the Third hitting in 2010?

Those pesky analysts are at it again, and this time it's serious: Evan Wilson of Pacific Crest Securities says we can expect a sequel to the Wii in 2010, to be followed by a new Xbox later that year. Obviously it's something on the minds of all three of the gaming hardware giants -- in fact, Gizmondo probably has 2010 in its sights as well -- but there's really no telling at this point how accurate this rumor is. What we have heard are some conjectures before now that Nintendo has a shorter life cycle in mind for its graphics-impaired Wii. Also, Microsoft obviously made a huge bet this generation on hitting a year before the competition, and has done alright for itself in the process, so Microsoft might be looking for a repeat. There's no rumor yet on Sony's PS4 plans, but while the company has its hands full at the moment with its purported 2008 comeback, we're sure they're keeping this all in mind. Wilson also predicts a new Nintendo DS and PSP in 2010, meaning any way you slice it you're going need a second mortgage.

[Via Joystiq]

[waiownsyou @ Feb 14th 2008 6:14PM]

I believe the whole XBOX refresh thingy, but not the Wii. It's very unlikely that the Wii will be the first to have a replacement even though it was the last in this generation.

Plus, people still have a hard time looking for Wiis today and the whole media saying good things about physical activity from Wii is going to keep it alive for a while back.

So in conclusion, Wii will not play Doom.

[Mic2000 @ Feb 15th 2008 6:05AM]

I totally agree, but when the next-gen Wii will rise up, I guess it will have the same specs as a current Xbox360.

Another prediction, Microsoft will definitly be earlier then Sony with launching there new Console AND wil use a blu-ray drive.

[Brent @ Feb 14th 2008 6:14PM]

Wii 2 in 2010? Does that mean I can expect to find a Wii 1 in stock by then as well?

[Aguiluz @ Feb 14th 2008 11:51PM]

Which means that the PS3, XB360 and Wii will be phased out and all the goodies are out for it. Which also means I will upgrade from the PS2 because the prices are real cheep. (mis-spelling intended)

Advantage of late adopters: All the good games are out, all for less. :)

[Jamesology @ Feb 15th 2008 1:12AM]

What are you talking about I see Wii's everywhere. Do you live in a small town? Maybe that's why, it's supply and demand. If no one lives there why invest there.

[Scott @ Feb 15th 2008 10:19AM]

Jamesology, please tell us where you see "Wii's everywhere." Yes, I'm calling your bluff!

http://www.xpbargains.com/wii_locator.php
http://wiitracker.com

[Bizam! @ Feb 15th 2008 3:24PM]

If you live anywhere near New York City, go to the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Center, you can literally always get a Wii there.

[pacer93 @ Feb 27th 2008 11:52PM]

Yeah IDK why ecery one is saying you can't find a Wii I live in upstate NY and there is at least one Wii in every department store (wally world/ target/ bestbuy ect.) around. Look alittle beyond your front porch and you should find one/two... dozen.

[rokerovakero @ Mar 15th 2008 12:27AM]

lol. very true, why release a new console when the first isn't slowing down sales to even be in stock at stores?

[fearless_fx @ Feb 14th 2008 6:17PM]

an Xbox 720 or something would be sweet. I'm getting a semi just thinking about Halo 4 or Mass Effect 2 on a next-next gen console.

[Cal @ Feb 14th 2008 8:25PM]

Shame Mass Effect is a 'this-gen' (it's been this gen for two years now, not next) trilogy then...

[rv @ Feb 14th 2008 8:47PM]

I will buy 3 if they call it "Sir Xbox the Third."

[ethana2 @ Feb 14th 2008 11:27PM]

They can do what they please, but I'm not buying one until I can use it to do what I please.

That means homebrew.
It'll be a PS3 or Wii for me, if anything.

[Zach @ Mar 7th 2008 2:48PM]

"this is the end to this story arc" = no halo 4.
i've been a halo fan since xbconnect and halo 1 were the only thing to play, and if they don't milk the cash cow that is the halo series, shame on them. more halo please.
(though i have moved on to COD4 where the little 7 year olds have been replaced with some british/french people making fun of the twin towers)

[Nik Shah @ Feb 14th 2008 6:18PM]

Pssh there is no way Microsoft would have spent how ever many billion(s) of dollars to fix the red ring of death if they were going to replace it with a new system in a few years anyway.

This would be the equivalent of Microsoft providing useful and new features to Vista while they are set to launch windows 7 in 2 years. That is just no going to happen.

[MMalecky @ Feb 14th 2008 6:21PM]

I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE.

[Andy @ Feb 14th 2008 7:11PM]

Can we add "I see what you did there" to "will it play doom" and "will it blend" to the list of stupid over used comments on blogs yet? Add in "Wow, just wow" as well.

[Brian @ Feb 14th 2008 7:49PM]

Sorry, but no. That one still has laugh value. For now.

[Rob @ Feb 18th 2008 9:06PM]

MS replaced the original xbox within 5 yrs.. and they will do the same with 360.

MS has more money then Nintendo and Sony combined.

The Xbox didnt make them any money, and the Xbox 360 is alittle mainly because it leads all new consoles in games per console ( over 7 games per console, compared to 5 for Wii, and 3 for PS3 ) .. MS sees Xbox1, and Xbox 360 as stepping stones to keep building up fan base which they have done a good job of tripling fanbase since xbox1..

They spent 2 billion fixing 360's to let people know they are behind their products.. this has nothing to do with how long current 360 will be out and everything to do with confidence in future Xbox's and customers confidence that no matter what happeneds they'll be covered..

[Liam @ Feb 14th 2008 6:23PM]

The Wii has taken off in terms of system sales, but not really in terms of software. I don't think Nintendo will have set any timetable for its replacement, there's a lot of money to be made from it yet.

As for the 360, that's more believable I suppose; I imagine system sales will only really go down from here on in, while software will rise. It's entering its most profitable period, but it can only remain that buoyant for so long.

[Miles @ Feb 14th 2008 9:58PM]

Does it really need to have good 3rd party support?
Wii is making Nintendo $100 for each sale. If you do that math, I think it was around $80m they were making each month. That's more than enough for Nintendo to not have to worry about 3rd party support.

[Liam @ Feb 15th 2008 4:16AM]

I wasn't talking about third party sales, I was just talking sales. The Wii doesn't have a very good attach rate- yet.

[Darrol @ Feb 14th 2008 6:25PM]

I wonder if Sony is going to stick to their original plan to keep the PS3 around 10 years before the next one.

[Liam @ Feb 14th 2008 6:30PM]

If they want to make anything like the same profit they did on the PS2 for it, they'll have to.

[Rob @ Feb 14th 2008 6:36PM]

Good question. But, the thing to also keep in mind is that Blu-ray and the PS3 are attached to the same umbilical cord. Since the disc format for the games are Blu-ray, Sony would have to continue the same strategy. Unless they plan to switch their disc format to DVD discs. But, I don't see that happening. Sony took a big chance, and financial hit, financing the PS3 with Blu-ray playback capabilities. So, they'd make sure to release the console for as long as it stays profitable. Just take a look at the PS2. It still brings money to Sony. The way the technology is moving along these days, I think the PS3, as we know it today, may have a 5-7 years life span.

[Reader @ Feb 14th 2008 6:59PM]

I was thinking that there's no way Sony could participate in this next gen if it's around 2010. Curious as to how different the Wii 2.0 will be since Nintendo has never placed too much weight on graphics; if they can make it as innovative as the first Wii they'll make some serious bank.

Hopefully by the third generation of modern consoles the three biggies will have learned from mistakes and make massive improvements.

[Seoultrain @ Feb 14th 2008 6:59PM]

PS3 hasn't even hit its stride. They got so far ahead of themselves and made a console so advanced that it tanked in the beginning. If it weren't for it being a subsidized blu-ray player, it would not have sold. But in the next year, the PS3 should make some big steps to catch up to the 360 in terms of popularity. The big obstacle is the apparent difficulty in making a game for this graphics-intensive console.

[ck @ Feb 14th 2008 7:12PM]

Quite a unique interpretation you have there.

Nobody ever said it would be around 10 years *before* the next Playstation is released, just that it would be around 10 years. How long has the PS2 been around? Did that stop them selling PS3s at the same time? No.

[Liam @ Feb 14th 2008 7:35PM]

'Graphics intensive'

Interesting. So you're suggesting games are getting delayed to take advantage of the PS3's extra power? I don't think many games get pushed back because the developer goes "I think we could get a bit more out of this thing, give us another 6 months" and then the publisher goes "Oh-kay!" or something.

No, games get delayed because they're not of a releasable quality. Framerate issues, crashes, glitches, anything like that. Not because they aren't quite as pretty as they could be.

[Skullfighter @ Feb 14th 2008 8:07PM]

I remember when Microsoft announced the Xbox 360. They said they were going to focus on games this time around. They did just that and it's paid off. They went from being the underdog to the leader. (Excluding Wii)

That's not bad considering the name recognition Playstation enjoyed.

I only have 1 thing to say about the "Power" of the PS3. They are only as powerful as their graphics card. Don't you remember? They have one of those because the "Cell" just didn't work out.

[SKI @ Feb 15th 2008 10:50AM]

"Curious as to how different the Wii 2.0 will be since Nintendo has never placed too much weight on graphics;"

They always placed emphasis on graphics (GC>PS2 64>PS1) but changed their minds when hardcore gamers screwed them over. So now it's Wii

[Chris Hutchinson @ Feb 14th 2008 6:26PM]

Maybe it'll be called the WiiSquared...or...the WiiWii...

..just a thought..

[Mark @ Feb 14th 2008 6:57PM]

Or the Wiii.

[jamma @ Feb 14th 2008 7:00PM]

Or if its the second Wii, it would be the Yuu

[Andrew H. @ Feb 16th 2008 2:42AM]

or the Wiiii

[Cal @ Feb 14th 2008 8:32PM]

Nah, we all know it's the Puu =)

[John @ Feb 15th 2008 1:05AM]

Uus

[Zeus.:God @ Feb 15th 2008 3:47AM]

"Yuu would like to play."

"No I wouldn't..."

[JAmerican @ Feb 14th 2008 6:31PM]

They better not rename the system Xbox The Third. That will suck greatly. I don't think they can top Xbox 360 and with all the extra names they came up with Elite, Arcade, etc. They are really hurting themselves in the future.

JAmerican

[Andrew @ Feb 14th 2008 6:46PM]

There's these magical "marketing departments" that spend 8+ hours every day worrying about things just like this, all so you don't have to.

[Skullfighter @ Feb 14th 2008 8:10PM]

@ Andrew

Lol. Too true. I saw an interview with the sound guy working on the Vista intro sound. He went through 178 hours of music to find something perfect.

There is thorough and there is insane.

[Alex R @ Feb 18th 2008 9:58AM]

I agree. I hate the '360' part of the Xbox 360 when it came out, but now i have warmed to it. i actually prefer companies like Nintendo and (maybe) Microsoft because the names of their consoles are different. Nobody knows what the next Wii could be called. (Nintendo 64, GameCube, Wii -- No Correlation) and Xbox could be the same. i just hope it isn't called the Xbox 3 or Xbox 720.
I know I'll get low ranked for this but, can anyone guess what Sony's new console will be called in 2026? Yes! the Playstation 8! how inventive.

[Nate @ Feb 14th 2008 6:32PM]

I'm not buying anything else from microsoft with the word console stamped on it until they make XBL more reliable.

[Andrew @ Feb 14th 2008 6:47PM]

Sans those couple of days after Christmas, it's been very reliable the last couple of years.

[kamandriat @ Feb 14th 2008 7:33PM]

@Nate

wow, i bet you dont even own XBL. sure, it was inconvenient when it was down for those 2+ weeks, but have you noticed that there is practically NO downtime before then? that in itself is astonishing. i, personally, enjoyed filling up that time with mass effect and GOING OUTSIDE. its not going to kill you to not play online for 2 weeks, it probably was one of the worst times of the year for it, but i actually expect downtimes like this more often.

[Nate @ Feb 14th 2008 8:21PM]

@kamandriat

I do have XBL you douche, why else would I complain? And if it was free, like your mom, i wouldn't mind.

Try downloading an HD movie, only a few gigs; it takes hours.

[SmoothC911 @ Mar 7th 2008 3:51PM]

LMAO he said your mom was free XD

[Daman @ Mar 8th 2008 6:03PM]

@Nate....
You do realize that the speed at which you download an HD movie is going to depend on the speed of your internet connection, and has very little to do with Xbox live, right? I'm pretty sure it's your internet connection that's at fault, because I've been downloading HD movies off of Live since January, and it rarely takes more than ten or fifteen minutes (probably because I'm on a college network). Clearly the choke point isn't XBL, it's your connection. Not something you can blame Microsoft for.

[Nate @ Mar 9th 2008 12:09PM]

@Daman

Thanks for the amazing insight that my connection might be a bottleneck. You must work for someone awesome like Verizon or Cisco to come up with a theory like that.

I'm getting betwee 500k and 1 mbit/sec off of my cable line - not bad. I'm also a network engineer, moron. The smallest thing I ever built was for 35,000 users. The biggest I ever worked on was for 2 million.

I haven't downloaded anything lately, maybe they have improved the available bandwidth since then. This post is getting old after all.

[Liam @ Feb 14th 2008 6:35PM]

Oh, and I hope they don't change the Wiimote. It's such a good control device, I've got a fair few. I don't want to have to start using something else in five years.