Exactly.

Nintendo makes great games, and I'm looking forward to seeing their HD offering, if indeed there is one on the horizon. HD isn't a requirement, but so many people have HDTVs now, that they should be getting with the times. All they need is better on-line to go with it, and they're set.

If I was a cynic (and I am) I would suspect the whole Wii 'experiment' was nothing more than a massive cash raking exercise.

Sony and MS had very expensive consoles on the way which they were going to take massive losses on to produce. Nintendo was already floundering after the lackluster N64 and Gamecube and didn't have that much money in the bank. The decision was made to make the cheapest possible console with a really cool gimmick to sell it. Step forward Mr Miyamoto. Wii and DS explode with comparatively cheap and outdated hardware raking in a fortune for Nintendo.

Fast forward to 2011 and now they have a heathy cash balance to re-enter the market as a serious gaming propsition again.

Just my take on it. If I am right then it was a decision of business genius.

The Wii and 3DS DO use a centralised account, there's only one friend code for the whole console. Once again people are displaying a high level of ignorance for the thing they're criticising.

EDIT: I have to eat my words, easy_going is right.

The Wii does have a centralized account but to play with/against friends you need the game specific codes which are different in each game. These game specific friendcode on the Wii is not _needed_ to play online or anything, but needed for friend invistes, cooperative play etc _within_ most games. Not for Wii online functionality.
The centralized account is just for sending messages and some game features, but in general not for online gaming as _most_ games use specific friendcodes.

You can verify that by looking at your friendcode in game X (Super Smash Brothers Brawl for example) and then put your friends version of the game in your Wii and voila: your game specific friendcode changed as it is generated unique out of hardware and software specific IDs
The 3DS changed that and only has one code for everything.


Nevertheless: I'm totally waiting to buy a Wii HD as the Wii was kind of a letdown with big game releases. I just hope all those rumors are true :) Then it's most likely a Day-1 purchase :)

You're right about the Wii, time for me to eat humble pie!

Oh hey, I'm actually glad you brought forth the FC discussion further. Now I know about the changes they made with regard to the 3DS. This bodes well for any future systems. :)

Star Fox and Metroid seem like very good candidates for HD entries. Zelda as well.

I never thought about this before, but I think you are onto something.

I agree. Even with their tremendous sales of portables before the DS, they still would have benefited from this sort of a plan. At the very least, it's certainly a possibility.

On the topic of Nintendo handhelds, 3DS hasn't exactly been flying off the shelves. I recall reading an article that said Nintendo shipped plenty of units out to make sure there were no shortages, but the system isn't exactly sold out anywhere. Compare these two articles:

Nintendo Expects 4 Million 3DS Sales in First Month

Nintendo 3DS Sales Approach 400K

Now, that is, of course, just the US numbers. Worldwide numbers account to around 2 million according to this article.

Note that these figures are all from websites that don't specifically deal with financial data, so take it with a grain of salt. Sure, the 3DS is successful, but I don't think it's as insanely popular as the original DS was. I think some people feel the 3D is a gimmick. For me, my eyes just can't take the strain of the 3D effect.

Let's also not forget the release of Pokemon White/Black for the DS taking the thunder away from the 3DS launch.

I was under the impression 3DS also used DS carts no?

It can play DS games, but I don't see how that's relevant to what Wraith said...

I meant that it shouldn't take much away from the sales of the 3DS as people could buy a 3DS and still play Pokémon Black/White on it. I think 3DS hasn't been the smash hit some expected it to be simply because people are not ready to upgrade yet and it doesn't offer an overwhelming reason to upgrade.

I see what you're saying but I still agree with Wraith, there's only so much attention to go around and Pokemon B/W probably did take a bit of that. Things don't have to be mutually exclusive to compete with each other.