Next Gen programming and Nintendo?

All our debacle about the wii has left me thinkings some.

It seems to me that with next gen games the devs are being divided into two groups, those who get it, and those who dont (leaving nintendo out of it for now)

Some devs are jumping on board, creating next generation games with success, making the visuals seem a huge upgrade from last generation, both in visuals, but also in other effects as well.

But looking at the games released, it seems to me that some devs lack the skill to create next gen games (from a graphic standpoint) Though some of the titles ill mention is multiplatform, there is no reason why they havent done atleat a bit of effort. The gun and tonyhawk games look terrible, Tenchu (there are more ofcourse) but if we look at whats supposed to be AAA games which are still underway, look at Too Human, the models look great in screenshots, but when they start moving it makes you want to curl your toes, and when they open their mouthes they seem just empty husks compared to Mass Effect videos. Also Kane & Lynch seems to have some trouble with the next gen consoles, the game seems good but by Xbox standards.

How does nintendo fit in?

Well Nintendo choose to leave them selves out of the next gen race (this isnt about controllers) from a standpoint of what power is in the consoles, and they are doing good in the category they choose.

The nintendo devs can sit down, relax and create games with nearly the same specifications they could with the GC, which will lead to better all around games (but previous gen games none the less)

When nintendo, in 4-5 years time release a new console will it be as the consoles we have now? or as powerful as the counnterparts from Sony and MS? or will it only be a slight improvement from the Wii?

My thoughts go towards whether or not skipping 5 years of programminig for powerfull hardware is going to be hard to nintendo, will they be able to catch up?

Maybe the choose not to make a next gen console because they didnt want to put in the money it requires to make next gen games?


I hope my ranting makes a bit of sense atleast

lol, dude, this is Nintendo your talking about.

It' ll be more like. OMG imagine how gorgeous Nintendo games will look on Really powerful hardware.

Lol noone will ever doubt their abilities when it comes to producing impressive visuals. their games are soo different from anyone elses.

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Upon their releases and for a good long while after; Sunshine, Wind Waker and the Prime games were easily among the best looking of the generation.

Twilight Princess (on Cube) is another one of those games (like Chaos Theory or RE4) that trancends generations.

Nintendo pwn. Or at least they did when they had comparable hardware.

The real question was, will 5 years on old hardware leave a gap for nintendo, will their programmers be able to program next gen games, enough devs are struggling with it now, i can only imagine how its going to be if nintendo jumps from a 733mhz machine to a 6Ghz one!

I think developers in all companies try to educate themselves in the latest development techniques in order to keep their skills updated. I mean, what if some developers at Nintendo would like to try working at another company or if they get fired. Then they' ll need to know something about more powerful hardware. I think it' s in Nintendo' s own interest to keep the developers skilled at more advanced programing even though they might not use it in the Wii.
But since they lack first hand experience of the kind of programming needed for more advanced consoles I guess it could very well be possible that they will be a little behind once Nintendo takes the next step.

Wii DSLite
Nintendo
Playing = Believing

I think developers in all companies try to educate themselves in the latest development techniques in order to keep their skills updated. I mean, what if some developers at Nintendo would like to try working at another company or if they get fired. Then they' ll need to know something about more powerful hardware. I think it' s in Nintendo' s own interest to keep the developers skilled at more advanced programing even though they might not use it in the Wii.
But since they lack first hand experience of the kind of programming needed for more advanced consoles I guess it could very well be possible that they will be a little behind once Nintendo takes the next step.

My sentiments exactly, thoough there is the possibility that Nintendo will only make baby steps from now on, and thus always be 1-2 steps behind the competitors in terms of raw power.

They apparently have no trouble selling old hardware.

there is the possibility that Nintendo will only make baby steps from now on

It depends. If the developers can' t come up with good ideas for the Wii and it really does turn out to be nothing more than a gimmick, then no one will buy the next Wii. That' ll force them to make a really powerful console.
Even if the Wii is successful, we' ll eventually become used to the Wii-mote.
So Nintendo better learn to use super awesome space technology, or come up with something even better than the Wii-mote if they' re to be successful the next-next-gen.
The thing is, MS and Sony are probably looking at new things as well as they' re probably observing the Wii' s success. Next generation, we might see Nintendo as the least innovative one.
If Nintendo loses both power and their own uniqueness, then they' ll have nothing to offer anymore.

Wii DSLite
Nintendo
Playing = Believing

Another reason why they skimped on HD graphics was to make it cheaper for developers to make games for the Wii. Had the Wii been simply another HD console i don' t think any developer would make games for it. The 360 was first to introduce HD gaming and has a solid online component, and Ps3 was backed by the powerful Playstation Brand plus a slew of HD Technology. What would have seperated the Wii from its competitors - nothing. Making the Wii easier and cheaper to develop for reduces the gamble the developers make should they decide to develop a Wii game.

By focusing on the Wiimote Nintendo differentiates itself from the other 2, something it failed to do in the previous generation with GC.

How does that relate to Nintendo' s in-house programing skills or how they are going to act in the next generation after the 360 era?

Wii DSLite
Nintendo
Playing = Believing

Another reason why they skimped on HD graphics was to make it cheaper for developers to make games for the Wii. Had the Wii been simply another HD console i don' t think any developer would make games for it. The 360 was first to introduce HD gaming and has a solid online component, and Ps3 was backed by the powerful Playstation Brand plus a slew of HD Technology. What would have seperated the Wii from its competitors - nothing. Making the Wii easier and cheaper to develop for reduces the gamble the developers make should they decide to develop a Wii game.

By focusing on the Wiimote Nintendo differentiates itself from the other 2, something it failed to do in the previous generation with GC.

From what you wrote there we can see another one of nintendos great problems. The wii is taking seriously by 3rd party devs, its clearly visible in the upcoming lineups and the poor games thats been released.

Nintendo marketed the Wii as a cheap console, and in return got cheap games by everoyne except themselves!

Maybe the choose not to make a next gen console because they didnt want to put in the money it requires to make next gen games?

Or they can make a console similiar to 360/ps3 in 5 years,since the technology has been outdated and probably cheap and easy to make.

Even if you break 2 legs from a crab it still runs!
What you gotta do is find its weak spot and do massive damage at it.

Is this an intelligent Wii debate? Oh thank god.

Another reason why they skimped on HD graphics was to make it cheaper for developers to make games for the Wii. Had the Wii been simply another HD console i don' t think any developer would make games for it.

If they had wanted to directly compete, they could have had HD graphics and motion control. The developers would take a hit, yeah, but nowhere near as much as the consumer. I' m not talking Xenon or anything, but RAM is incredibly cheap, especially in such a small quantity. Can you imagine what Metroid Prime: Corruption could have done with even 256mb?! It would have been amazing.

From what you wrote there we can see another one of nintendos great problems. The wii is taking seriously by 3rd party devs, its clearly visible in the upcoming lineups and the poor games thats been released.

Nintendo marketed the Wii as a cheap console, and in return got cheap games by everoyne except themselves!

Wii' s been out barely 7 months, we' ve not seen hardly any 3rd party titles yet.



Aslo im hearing people using the excuse that Nintendo took **the easy way**
Bullshite!!

Wii was a massive risk, if that flopped, it would of been exceptionally hard for Nintendo to fight back with another console to be taken seriously. Mainly. The reason Why Nintendo went this way is simply: They thought the idea / marketing and production first. IF MS or SONY thought of the whole ' Wii' project ( you know they both wish they did), they would of jumped at the chance.

It would have been amazing.

From what ive seen / heard, Metroid 3 is amazing.

Currently playing:
Korg DS 10 (ds) /  Metal Slug 7 (ds)
Rhythm Heaven (ds) /  Fire Emblem (ds)
Super Stardust HD (psn) /  Virtua Fighter 5 (360)
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To make everyone happy we can say this:
Creating the Wii was taking a risk. But to Nintendo, creating something that would' ve competed directly with the 360 or the PS3 would' ve been an even greater risk.

Wii DSLite
Nintendo
Playing = Believing

Ginjirou, that would have held more ground in a forum where most hardened 360 fans where happy and satisfied with their 360 efforts instead of claiming the Wii should be doing the same thing, just for a reason to diss it.

Currently playing:
Korg DS 10 (ds) /  Metal Slug 7 (ds)
Rhythm Heaven (ds) /  Fire Emblem (ds)
Super Stardust HD (psn) /  Virtua Fighter 5 (360)
FSX (P

If Nintendo would' ve made a GCN2 they would' ve been dead by now my friend. There' s no doubt about it. Making a GCN2 would' ve been corporate suicide.
With the Wii at least they had a chance, so they took it and it was a success.

Wii DSLite
Nintendo
Playing = Believing

Ginjirou, that would have held more ground in a forum where most hardened 360 fans where happy and satisfied with their 360 efforts instead of claiming the Wii should be doing the same thing, just for a reason to diss it.

Its impressive that people keep getting that wrong. Nintendo put in old hardware so they wouldnt loose money on the consoles they sell. They added a cool new controller. But they might as well just have released it for the GC or the xbox. The Wii hasnt shown anything that the GC cant do.

Wii' s been out barely 7 months, we' ve not seen hardly any 3rd party titles yet.

And the 3rd party titles we have seen have all sucked, no quality games what so ever, the 360 definetly had more quality 3rd party support in the first 7 months. And there is no quality 3rd party games lined up either.

But!

Thats not what this thread is about, back on topic.

Will it effect nintendos ability to make next gen games, that the Wii is anything but next gen?

I think this can prove to be somewhat of a problem for the next generation. I mean EVEN if all Nintendo tech ninjas learn the advanced stuff alongside, I doubt it' ll be enough simply because there will be problems that they didn' t expect and things you only realize if you are working on a real game and therefore using the things you learned in practice.

Therefore I expect all the release titles from Nintendo for the next generation to take significantly more time to develop while, at the same time, looking worse than the counterparts from Microsoft and Sony (If all three consoles would have about the same power).

If Nintendo would' ve made a GCN2 they would' ve been dead by now my friend. There' s no doubt about it. Making a GCN2 would' ve been corporate suicide.
With the Wii at least they had a chance, so they took it and it was a success

Absolutely right, it' s ashame people just cant let it be.

Will it effect nintendos ability to make next gen games, that the Wii is anything but next gen

?

Wii is Nintendos attempt of ' New Gen' which is now, set-in stone (Nintendo show casing Wii fit over everything else).

Miyamoto made it clear last E3 that their next Console will BE HD.. Obviously specs are not known but whats positive about this is, is you know they have Divisions working ' right now' on their next console, and in traditional Nintendo style, you can sure bet they are working on ideas that could take advantages of this area (HD)..

A good guess would be The next Wave Race, working at creating the most realistic HD Sea ever, combined with totally realistic physics. All in typical Bright gorgeous, but this time ' High definition' .

Speaking of Waverace, What so-called next gen game has actually used physics better than GC waverace?? really, I actually cant think of one game that took physics to that level..

Now we have Mario Galaxy, Anyone seen a soo-called next gen game Anything like Galaxy? Anything use gravity anything like Galaxy?? Any so-called Next gen game taking 3d into the next level like Galaxy?

I cant think of one???

There you have it, This thread is not even needed TBH.

Currently playing:
Korg DS 10 (ds) /  Metal Slug 7 (ds)
Rhythm Heaven (ds) /  Fire Emblem (ds)
Super Stardust HD (psn) /  Virtua Fighter 5 (360)
FSX (P

Wow with that posting you went REALLY deep up Nintendo' s ass.

Anyway, it' s not fair you are only counting next-gen games. Why not also count current-gen games? Because there have already been games that did gravity in a way Mario Galaxy does, even with planet hopping.

EDIT: Why did you remove the sentence saying :" Next Gen programming = Nintendo (in alot of ways) have always been 1 step ahead, having less or more horsepower." ? ;)

Becuase it was hard to follow.

We all know this thread is Irrelevant.

Currently playing:
Korg DS 10 (ds) /  Metal Slug 7 (ds)
Rhythm Heaven (ds) /  Fire Emblem (ds)
Super Stardust HD (psn) /  Virtua Fighter 5 (360)
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Becuase it was hard to follow.

We all know this thread is Irrelevant.

Well not really, for people who arent Nintendo fanboys, its intresting to discuss. Sure Nintendo' s next console will be HD, but will it be like the 360, or like the 720 in power?

The way i see it, programming is a progression where you follow each step, if you sit yourself on the ass for 5 years because your idea of next gen is different from anyone elses, you might have a hard time catching up.

Its hard to get around that Nintendo didnt make a console with compared power to the other two because if the console failed and they had spent alot of money, they would be dead in the water.

You could say say nintendo both played it safe and took a chance at the same time, it would have been great if they had taken two chances though.

It is Irrelevant tho, We all know Nintendo have divisions workin on this era and mostly likely on game ideas, the Programming bit is the Easy bit.

Currently playing:
Korg DS 10 (ds) /  Metal Slug 7 (ds)
Rhythm Heaven (ds) /  Fire Emblem (ds)
Super Stardust HD (psn) /  Virtua Fighter 5 (360)
FSX (P

It is Irrelevant tho, We all know Nintendo have divisions workin on this era and mostly likely on game ideas, the Programming bit is the Easy bit.

Well if they release old gen again next time sure its going to be easy for them, but if they release a next gen console, they have to include twice the tech. And thats going to make the games even more expensive for them, since its going to take a lot more time, and trail and error.

Its good for you that you have faith.

your like a ***ing

You ever did programming or how can you say that the programming bit is " easy" ?

I' m not worried about Nintendo' s game developers or programmers. The only new problem Nintendo programmers will have is going from single core CPU to multi core. However by the time Nintendo makes the switch, better tools will be available to lessen the challenge and maximize the returns of more than one core. The GPU is never too difficult for programmers to use.

The true question is, will they be large enough to supply the additional content of more capable hardware? Presumably they will since Nintendo designs hardware with their development team in mind. Maybe that' s why they took such a baby step with Wii, they might have wanted to build arms before walking in the war of modern videogames.

I am curious as to what direction Nintendo will take next though. Where the hell do you go after Wii? I' m guessing that they will make something comparable with 360/PS3 and keep the Wiimote and introduce a new traditional controller as well.

I doubt Nintendo will ever try to compete alongside the heavy hitters if they can be successful staying a generation behind.

NINTENDO (1983 - Present)

Cool, Where have you been lately Nitro? im seeing a few of these Pictures poping up with you at some kind of Games event?

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VX There' s actually one thing That Nintendo could certainly realise they have abit of catching up to do...

Voice Acting

In this day and age im sick to death of reading through narrative with Made-up annoying sounds replacing waht should be proper Voice-acting. Playing through Zelda to Big Brain Academy this is the area that felt Lazy and old.

Voice acting is standard nowadays and i think it' s about time Nintendo Made it theirs.

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Korg DS 10 (ds) /  Metal Slug 7 (ds)
Rhythm Heaven (ds) /  Fire Emblem (ds)
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I think voice acting shouldnt be in all games but in text light games like zelda its crazy not to have it.

But imagine a game like Torment or Baldur' s Gate with fully voiced dialogs, it would take ages to record, be very expensive and require loads of space (go bluray)