Wii successor 3D-compatible, Nintendo to shift towards hardcore gamers

The successor to the Wii home console will be 3D compatible. Also, Nintendo wants to strengthen its ties with third party developers and shift towards hardcore games, company president Satoru Iwata told Japanese newspaper Nikkei (via Gamespot).

Iwata is quoted as saying that he is keen to "expand into elaborate games targeting serious gamers", which appears to be the strategy both for the next home console, as well as for the next handheld, the 3DS.

Iwata went on to suggest that the current DS and its software only caters to those who do not play games; something that he hoped to rectify with the 3DS in terms of advances in graphics and gameplay. Recognising this shift in focus from first-party to third-party development, Iwata told Nikkei that Nintendo went to great lengths to incorporate software developers' requests when making the 3DS and called on these developers to make games for the new system.

"These partnerships are good for both Nintendo and the software developers," Iwata said.

Iwata also announced Nintendo's plans to make the successor to the Wii 3D compatible, telling Nikkei that "a full-scale entry into this field will take some time because 3D televisions will not catch on right away."

Nintendo appears keen to occupy the 3D space of videogaming, which has remained largely untapped until now. Sony has only just launched the first 3D games for its PlayStation3. Microsoft has ruled out 3D for the short term. The 3DS will undobtedly become a huge success, if only Nintendo can offer a clever solution to bring 3D movies and other content to consumers, as well as games.

And the games may be a departure from the current DS offering, too. A shift towards more hardcore games would be all too welcome. Not too long ago, the ´Resident Evil´ franchise was exclusive to Nintendo platforms. So, will we see such collaborations again and, more importantly, will we see them last?

As odd as that may sound, Nintendo's big problem is the huge success of the Wii console. Its successor is doomed to become at least as successful or it may be seen as a failure. Motion control has now been copied by both competitors. Cloud gaming services like Gaikai and OnLive are threatening the traditional console business model. Technologywise, the only way Nintendo can go is 3D. I am most intrigued, though, which technology the company will choose. I do not see them investing in traditional solutions with polarised or shutter glasses and Iwata pretty much said so himself. So, will the Wii's successor also incorporate some autostereoscopic solution, much as we suspected right on this blog five years ago?

EDIT Iwata has commented on the Wii's successor and 3D before. EDGE quotes him in an interview with a Japanese newspaper, speaking about the Wii's 3D potential.

If you display a 3D image, the image quality becomes extremely bad, so we'd probably do it with the next system. We're thinking that the timing should be once the 3D television adoption rate crosses the 30% mark. We're looking at the adoption trends.

In a lengthy interview with Venture Beat, Iwata dismissed the idea that the 3DS' parallax barrier technology could also be applied to big screens.

With this parallax barrier technology, the LCD must be a certain distance away from the screen. It also needs a certain viewing angle. We think it is not a great match for the home TV set. As one of the engineers, I can anticipate that someone will invent a 3D TV that does not require you to wear 3D glasses. As far as today is concerned I do not think they can do it well. We need an invention to make it happen. If you ask me when, I have no idea.

This statement is rather surprising, since there are a number of autostereoscopic technologies out there that are far developed and practically mass market ready.

Source: Nikkei (via Gamespot), Electronista, Gamasutra, EDGE, Venture Beat
Thanks to: Fook