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Nintendo E3 2011 keynote, live from the Nokia Theater
Do you know what Nintendo's successor to the Wii will be called? No? Us neither. That's embarrassing too, because we're supposed to have the scoop on stuff like this. But beginning at 9 a.m. PDT/12 p.m. EDT, we're finally going to know what Mario and Co. have planned for the year to come. Let's go!
Live from Nintendo's E3 2011 keynote!
Another day another liveblog, but not just another company. Today it's Nintendo that will be keeping us rapt with anticipation, and with any luck the big man, Reggie Fils-Aime, will be taking us on quite a ride. Will we see the unveiling of Project Cafe? Will Nintendo tell us just how its 3DS is going to compete in a PlayStation Vita world? Could we finally get that Nintendogs and Paper Mario mash-up we've been waiting for? We'll be going live shortly, at the following times below: 06:00AM - Hawaii 09:00AM - Pacific 10:00AM - Mountain 11:00AM - Central 12:00PM - Eastern 05:00PM - London 06:00PM - Paris 08:00PM - Moscow 01:00AM - Tokyo (June 8th)
Nintendo Wii HD / Project Cafe rumor roundup: What will E3 hold for the gaming giant?
We're a few days out from E3, that magical place where dreams are made and fanboys and girls from all walks of life are simultaneously appeased and slightly disappointed. Surprises are expected from all of the big three this year -- particularly Nintendo. How will the gaming giant top last year's 3DS debut? All signs point to the announcement of a Wii followup, which we've heard alternately referred to as the "Wii HD" and "Project Cafe." Rumors, leaks, and the occasional bit of confirmed information have been rampant in the months and weeks leading up to the event. We've weaved it all together into one handy guidebook, to make sure that we're all on the same page, come Tuesday morning. Let's start with a genuine bit of information: back in April, the company's CEO, Satoru Iwata, confirmed that Nintendo is, in fact, working on an HD followup to the Wii that is most likely due out in 2012. A few days prior to that revelation, the requisite blurry images of console concepts surfaced, detailing controllers with embedded touchscreens that display the system's 1080p gameplay via a technology called Stream Screen. These certainly weren't the first concepts of the console we've seen -- and they were apparently first brought to light by the folks at 4Chan.
E3 2011: The big schedule
The big week is almost upon us, folks: E3 2011. And if this week is any indication of days to come, we'll have a constant flow of news mainlined directly from Los Angeles to your think meat. With that in mind, there are a handful of focal points throughout the week that will assuredly strike you as high priority, and as such, we thought a roadmap guiding you to those particular moments -- whether you're in Shibuya, or Queens, or anywhere else for that matter -- would be of particular use. After the break you'll find just that: a guide to the biggest presentations of E3 2011. We'll of course be on the ground in LA, keeping you as up to date as our brains and hands will allow. Wondering where to find it all? For E3 specific coverage, head to Joystiq's E3 Hub for all things E-triple.
Nikkei: Wii successor has touchscreen controller, will arrive in second half of 2012
The Nihon Keizai Shinbun -- the same publication that successfully "predicted" the DSi, the DSi XL and 3DS -- posted an article today stating that the Wii successor's controller will feature a six-inch touchscreen, as previously rumored. According to Andriasang's summary of the subscription-only article, the controller will give "tablet-like controls" to games, and will also be usable as a portable game device on its own. The controller also includes a camera and a rechargeable battery. Nintendo originally specified "2012" for the system; Nikkei says it'll be the second half of the year. Of course, even given the history of the paper, this report remains unconfirmed and thus should be taken with a 6" grain of salt.
Nintendo details E3 streaming plans
As expected, Nintendo has confirmed plans to stream its E3 press briefing. The briefing is slated to take place on June 7 at 9am PT (12pm ET) and promises to offer the first glimpse of Nintendo's Wii successor (and probably Zelda or something). In order to secure your "virtual front-row seat", be sure to park your web browser at E3.Nintendo.com prior to the event. Additional video content, including trailers and interviews, will also be featured on the site after the briefing is over. "A variety of exclusive content" will also be accessible on the Wii via the Nintendo Channel. We hope your body is ready.
Probably Not the Wii 2, Part IV: Liiked footage
There's a slight possibility that yesterday, somewhere in Los Angeles, a very nervous person was holding a shaky camera in a dark room, where details on the upcoming Nintendo console were discussed. Though it's a fact that Nintendo held an event for developers in Los Angeles yesterday (as reported by Tiny Cartridge) we're highly suspicious of the YouTube video surfacing with supposed "Project Cafe" information. A black splash screen opens the video with the dubious statement, "Private presentation of 'Project Cafe' by a video games editor," before approximately 40 seconds of similarly dubious slides are shown just feet above what is alleged to be a running "Project Cafe" unit. The slides depict some things you might expect, as well as some things that we very much doubt would leak. Seeing the rumored giant screen-equipped controller in action with an unidentifiable game, for instance, is especially hard to believe. More believable is the bland presentation of the console's dimensions, as well as specs for the aforementioned controller, though the clip taken in entirety is very hard to trust. Take a look after the break and decide for yourself, then vote in our poll!
Nintendo's E3 conference set for June 7
Nintendo will deliver its E3 presentation on June 7 at 9AM Pacific (12PM Eastern), at LA's Nokia Theatre -- so if you're dying to know which of the many preposterous things we've heard about the Wii successor is the preposterous truth, you'll have to wait until then. We can also expect to hear more about upcoming games for the Wii, DS, and especially the new 3DS -- like the 3DS Super Mario game, for example, and probably some games we haven't heard of yet. You'll be able to read about it all in real time right here on Joystiq! There'll probably be streaming video, too, but you should just stick with reading Joystiq. Just because.
Wii 2 rumors: Only 8GB of storage, 25GB discs, and 1080p isn't a definite
Citing unnamed (and un-numbered) anonymous sources (plural), Kotaku is reporting a handful of notable, albeit predictable, details about Nintendo's upcoming Wii successor, codenamed Project Café. For instance, in lieu of a capacious hard drive, Nintendo will buck industry trends and offer a humble 8GB of flash-based memory augmented by SD card support. If rumors are true and Project Café offers a graphical experience at least competitive with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, we're not sure what the storage solution for DLC (Red Dead Redemption's Undead Nightmare was over 1.5GB) or larger downloadable games (Comic Jumper is nearly 2GB) will be. With that constraint, digital distribution of retail titles would seemingly be off the table. Speaking of retail games: Also rumored is the disc format for Project Café. It's said to hold 25GB of data which is roughly three times the size of a dual-layer DVD and over five times the size of the single-layer DVD that most Wii titles use. Also 25GB? A single-layer Blu-ray disc, though it's not clear if Project Café will use that standard or, even if it did, if it would enable movie playback. Despite using DVDs, the Wii famously doesn't support DVD video playback. Speaking of Blu-ray video playback, the magic number usually tossed about by high-def home theater enthusiasts (and Sony marketing goons) is 1080, as in 1080p video resolution. That's one-thousand-and-eighty progressively scanned lines of resolution. Less popular: 1080i, which, yes, has one-thousand-and-eighty lines of resolution, but they're interlaced. If that doesn't sound familiar, that's because it's been somewhat absent since 1080p-compatible televisions and devices have filled the market. Kotaku reports it's heard "mixed things" as to whether Nintendo plans on offering 1080p (or, as Sony would put it circa 2006, "True HD") or 1080i. As much as we want to believe every Project Café rumor we hear, we can't forget the delta between the console that Nintendo announced at E3 2006 and the one sitting on the shelf: DVD playback! USB hard drive support! Between now and Café's 2012 launch date, it's anyone's guess.
Probably Not the Wii 2, Part II: Innovation on a conference table
Upon seeing these clear photographs of what appear to be a physical model of the "Project Cafe" console from this "Innovation Reinvented" slide, we could react in two ways. First, the photographs could lend credence to the slide, suggesting that all of this is real and the Wii successor truly has the listed features and design. Conversely, we could conclude that someone either built or made a convincing 3D model of the device based on that slide, thinking that the hours of labor required would be worth it when someone was maybe kind of fooled. As this is the course of events that would best justify our constant cynicism, it should be no surprise that it's the one toward which we're leaning. [Thanks, David] %Poll-63038%
Nintendo profits fall 66% in fiscal year, 3DS sells 3.61 million
Nintendo's net income dropped to ¥77.6 billion ($946 million) for its fiscal year ending in March, marking the company's third year of profit declines. The figure is also well below the ¥200 billion ($2.13 billion) Nintendo estimated it would make at the conclusion of its previous fiscal year. If only Nintendo had some kind of distraction so investors wouldn't notice ... OMG, guyz, "Wii's successor" in 2012. Looking forward, Nintendo expects to have net sales of ¥1.1 trillion over the next year, a slight increase from the ¥1.01 trillion reported this year, but still below the ¥1.4 trillion in 2010 -- they may just be post-decimal figures when talking trillions, but those are hundreds of billions. The company is planning on a net income of ¥110 billion yen ($1.3 billion) by next March, through "vigorously" marketing the 3DS, releasing The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for Wii and selling software from its "long-selling 'evergreen' titles." Nintendo noted in its financial report that it has not suffered any direct damage of the recent "Great East Japan Earthquake," but that an indirect impact is predicted regarding "individual consumption patterns or economic conditions in the future." Global unit sales life-to-date (March) of the Nintendo DS, 3DS and Wii hardware were 146.4 million units, 3.61 million units and 86.01 million units, respectively. Nintendo is expected to reveal a playable model of the "Wii's successor" at E3.
Nintendo announces Wii successor for 2012
Nintendo has officially announced its intention to release a new console in 2012. According to a note published this morning on the company's Japanese investor relations website, "Nintendo Co., Ltd. has decided to launch in 2012 a system to succeed Wii, which the company has sold 86.01 million units on a consolidated shipment basis between its launch in 2006 and the end of March 2011." The terse announcement does nothing to clear up rumors surrounding the system, which has been linked to high-definition graphics, motion controls and a handheld touch screen. Less trustworthy industry sources have even indicated that the system's rumored codename, "Project Cafe," hints at its ability to shoot a cappuccino directly into your gaping mouth. According to the investor note (posted after the break), Nintendo plans to show off a playable model of the Wii successor during this year's E3, which takes places in Los Angeles from June 7th. Update: Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is quoted in a Reuters article, saying, "We would like to propose a new approach to home video game consoles." This new approach, as you might expect, does not necessarily include 3D displays. "It's difficult to make 3-D images a key feature, because 3-D televisions haven't obtained wide acceptance yet," he said.
Probably Not the Wii 2, Part I: Innovation reinvented
We're getting so many images, movies and epic poems that purport to depict Nintendo's rumored new HD console, which goes by the (also rumored) codename of Project Café, that we figured it's time to start throwing them at the wall and seeing what sticks. Today's artifact has popped up on several forums and blogs (we saw it on Destructoid, but you may have caught it elsewhere). It's a slide from something that reads "Project Café is simply the most developer friendly SDK the industry has ever seen. Deliver unparalleled next generation performance at current generation costs. It doesn't get any easier than this." Also, there's a picture of a box. Is it the Wii 2? Probably not. If pressed, we'd give it a ... 5/10 for believability. The form factor seems like an evolved Wii, so that's about right, but the wording off the slide feels ... off. What do you think?%Poll-63005%
Next generation Wii controller to feature 6.2-inch display, turn living room into giant DS?
E3 is getting close, just two months away now. As such the next-gen Wii console rumors have heated to a boil. One of the most interesting bits of tattle originates from Kotaku. The gaming site's sources claim (with impressive specificity) that the new 8-button controller features a screen pushing a whopping 6.2 inches, two analog sticks, and a camera. The new Wii console (sometimes called the Wii 2, Wii HD, or simply "Project Cafe") is said to support the new controller in addition to Wii Remote-style controllers for backward compatibility with existing Wii games -- at the moment, however, it's not clear if that implies support for existing Wiimotes. But why the giant display? Here's Kotaku's take: The 6.2-inch screen will receive data wirelessly from the Nintendo console and presents an array of options, from putting the player's inventory or map on the controller screen, to allowing players to combine it with the controller's camera to snap photos that could be imported into a game or even turning it into some sort of glorified viewfinder (we're unclear about whether the camera on the controller points at the player or can be outward-facing; we've heard both - maybe it swivels?). In other words, you can think of the new controller-plus-console combination as a modern Dreamcast system or "glorified mega-DS," as Kotaku puts it, where the TV is the top screen and the handheld controller is the lower touchscreen. If true then we'll likely hear the official first word at E3 which kicks off on June 7th. Update: IGN has its own set of "sources" confirming many of these details. Could this be a Nintendo rumor that pans out, for once? We should know in just over a month.
Rumor: Wii successor has controller with giant touchscreen, also uses motion controls
Some purported new information about the still-unannounced Wii successor paints a surprisingly specific picture of the device's controller. Kotaku reports that, according to unnamed sources, the controller for the "Project Cafe" device will have eight buttons, two analog sticks, a camera ... and an enormous 6.2" touchscreen. For reference, the DSi XL has 4.2" screens. The Kindle has a 6" screen. If these rumors are true, this controller will likely be crazy expensive. We honestly can't see Nintendo getting away with selling $200+ controllers. Kotaku also reports that this won't be the only accepted control method. "Project Cafe" will also reportedly support "Wii Remote-style controllers," the site says, though it's currently unknown whether that means the existing Wiimote or a new motion device.
Rumor: Nintendo courting Rockstar for Wii 2 development
The "Wii 2" rumors are raging again, for sure, but now they're in danger of burning out of control -- so let's backtrack. After delivering some spot-on NGP specs days before Sony's official unveiling ceremony, French tech site 01net earned its web cred. That's why the games media took notice (and some even corroborated) when the wonder site reignited the Wii successor rumors last Thursday, and then tossed in some more fuel the following day. This week, 01net has come out with another intriguing report about Nintendo's supposed next console: Rockstar's on board. The site's sources claim that the Grand Theft Auto creator is the first confirmed company to secure a developer unit of the new Nintendo hardware. The sources add that the system, said to be codenamed "Project Cafe," is expected to be released in June 2012. And here's where the rumor starts to grow more wild. Gamekyo somewhat carelessly throws out there that Grand Theft Auto 5 is also rumored for 2012 -- is it? (There's at least been some recent evidence that the next GTA is in the works.) And then, GoNintendo fits it all together: "Rockstar has a dev kit [...] working on GTA V (which is sure to hit PS3/360 as well) [...] hoping to have it available at launch." Eureka? Not quite. But, boy, if Nintendo is on the verge of announcing the one console to rule them all and has a Rockstar logo to flaunt during the presentation? Talk about printing money ...
Rumor: Wii 2 codenamed Project Cafe, controller includes built-in touchscreen
The towering pile of rumors regarding Nintendo's next generation console, supposedly to be announced at E3, continues to grow today with a report from French news site 01net (which divined the hardware specs of the NGP before its official unveiling). Citing unnamed sources, the site claims the system is currently codenamed "Project Café," and adds that it does feature hardware resembling that of the Xbox 360, such as a three-core IBM PowerPC CPU. The real meat of the report isn't in the specs of the console, but rather, its controller. According to 01net, the peripheral will feature a six-inch single-input touchscreen -- which corroborates a similar report published by CVG yesterday. The French site also says the controller features a standard set of buttons, a front-mounted camera (what?) and can even function as a Wii sensor bar, should the player choose to indulge in the console's built-in backwards compatibility. That's actually pretty believable -- after all, the same effect can be achieved using a pair of candles. We'll keep an ear to the ground for any additional reports of a touchscreen-infused remote for the heavily rumored console. At the very least, we can be certain that over the course of the next few nights, visions of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles and Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures will be dancing through our heads.
