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October 7th, 2008 @ 15:14
Speaking to the AFP, Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter has said he’s “convinced” Nintendo is planning to release an HD version of Wii in an effort to shed its “toy for my mom” image.
“Nintendo has to overcome that,” he said on the subject of facing more powerfu machines in the face of PS3 and Xbox 360.
“A Wii HD would really position Nintendo well, which is why I’m absolutely convinced there is a Wii HD coming. Businesswise, they can’t have people saying that their machine is a toy for my mom.”
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October 7th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Why would they care about their image when they’re selling so much?
October 7th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Exactly. The Wii doesn’t need to alter its image, its current image is racking in the cash.
October 7th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Is this guy on crack or what!!??
Shed their image, up against more powerful systems… what is he going on about, has he even looked at the NPD’s this year? Nintendo are printing money, and Patcher is suggesting they drop Wii and change their image.
It beggars belief that this guy is held in any regard at all.
October 7th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Couldnt the same have been said for the DS before Nintendo released the Lite, and yet again, the same for the Lite, as Nintendo plans on releasing the DSi? If anything, the ‘Wii HD’ would most likely be the same type of upgrade, nothing else would change.
October 7th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I’d like to see a model with built in upscaling & HDMI so the picture looks better on HDTV’s. You can get cheap DVD players with this feature (and it works well) so it’s plausible.
A proper HD model seems unlikely to me. They’ve already proved it isn’t about power any more. Why would they try to compete in that way now? I’m sure they intend to continue with their ‘withered technology’ strategy.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I’m certainly not objecting to a Wii HD, it’s Patchers thought process behind it which is mind bending.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
He’s been banging this drum for ages. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be a Wii+ or WiiHD in the future though. When the technology allows Nintendo to put in a good upscaler and support 720p for next to nothing, when appropriate they’ll do it to maintain the Wii’s pricepoint.
Just like they’re doing with the DS
A discreet PC graphics card that does this now is hardly expensive. Beyond a scaler chip, they only need to get a beefed up / overclocked GPU to push the extra pixels and they’re there.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
He does say some weird stuff sometimes. Why does it need to change its image? Its image is working. Like wildfire.
Gamers are pissed, but hell - who needs gamers? They have the 360 and the PS3.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
In my opinion, this might have more to do with HD TV penetration than gamers. I suppose Nintendo plans to push Wii HD out the door in a few years like everybody suspects, but maybe they’re trying to get the machinery in motion so that they can speed it up if things turn ugly in a year or two.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
I’d love to know what percentage of Wii owners even realise that you should really use a special cable to hook your Wii up to an HDTV.
It never ceases to amaze me how many people persevere with the shitty composite cables that Sony ship with their machines, so I have a very strong suspicion that a large number of Wii owners really wouldn’t give a shit about an HD version of the hardware. They’d probably still be hooking it up with composite cables anyway.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Well if it supported HDMI and came with that, they would be including one very simple cheap to make cable in the box…
October 7th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Why would they? Sony don’t.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Sony were bleeding money left right and centre on PS3 hardware. Plus as a consumer electronics manufacturer they wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity to fleece unsuspecting punters £20 for an HDMI cable when for most uses, the £3 from Maplin will do.
If they keep the WiiHD on the market the same time as the existing model (ala DS / DSi) then it’ll probably be a zero sum operation to include HDMI cables with one SKU and Composite’s with the other.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Well Wii HD won’t come out anytime soon, but it’s in development for whenever they need to whip it out.
October 7th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
If Pachter says it’s coming that means it wont happen.
That guy never seems to get anything right.
Still he is an analyst after all.
October 7th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Surely that will be left for the Wii 2 went it comes out in a couple of years…