Time’s up: Nintendo Needs to Release a Wii 2

Is it that time of the decade already? Yup, it is, and it couldn’t have come soon enough.

The next generation of video game consoles is coming up like all generational leaps tend to; in a clandestine fashion. Despite the incredibly high quality of titles that have come from the past year, (Super Mario Galaxy 2, Halo: Reach, Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect 2, and God of War 3) video game sales are down across the board. With advancements in 3D technology, the dawn of social networking, and motion controls becoming more and more appealing to the masses, the pieces are all in place for the big three to start all over yet again.

Gaming is in need of a reason to get excited, and this is exemplified by severe stagnation of the system that shook the industry four year ago. My friends, the reign of the Nintendo Wii is at its ending. And yes, the doors are locked permanently.

The Wii’s sales are down by 45% on a year-by-year basis. This week last year, the Wii doubled the sales of the Xbox 360. Doubled. This year? The Wii is trailing the 360 by over thirty thousand units. The Wii is in fourth place, behind the DS, the Xbox 360, and even the Playstation 3 (which is kind of like trailing a runner that keeps punching himself in the balls). The Wii’s game library isn’t doing much better. Software sales can be kindly described as “continually lagging,” and accurately described as “absolutely terrible.” The console is in a downward spiral, and the system’s buzz has tumbled. Now that the Nintendo 3DS is coming out with visuals that can rival the Wii’s, Nintendo must make a change in how they view their console’s hardware. Simply adding the power necessary to keep the Wii afloat via a peripheral would be unbelievably stupid and costly, especially since Nintendo already tried that before with hilarious results:

No, the days of the Wii that we all know are gone. The lack of HD visuals, horrid online interface, and the “kind-of-but-not-really-one-to-one-so-screw-it” approach to motion controls won’t be able to exist in a world where Microsoft and Sony can now compete (and compete well) in the casual market. Nintendo did its job: they resurrected their company’s image and their stock portfolios with the Wii, whilst changing the course of the gaming industry. Now they need to evolve the base that they built. No, they don’t need a Wii HD. Instead, they need a Wii 2: a full enhancing and perfecting of the original Wii.

Oh, and they need it quick.

With Microsoft and Sony entering the casual market for the first time this year, they are four years behind Nintendo. Nintendo has garnered a strong lead in console hardware sales, and with the DS whipping the PSP and passing the baton to the 3DS, Nintendo will have a reliable source of income that will allow them to remain ambitious with the Wii 2. But Nintendo needs to further its lead by releasing the next Wii before Sony and Microsoft make the switch. The goal is to reveal the Wii’s evolution as early as possible so Kinect and Move look even more second rate than they already do.. Unlike previous Nintendo consoles, the transition from the Wii to the Wii 2 can’t be prolonged and filled with delays. That’s how companies go from being in first-place to last-place in a span of three years. Isn’t that right, Sony?

There is no way Nintendo will be able to reinvent the gaming industry again. This does not look like a generation that will be filled with innovation. Instead, this looks like a generation of utilizing the new technology that has arrived in the past five years. Nintendo must take the best of the hardcore gaming scene and mix it with the best of what motion controls have to offer (Sorry guys: motion controls are here to stay. Cue the violins). It’s a task that sounds great on paper, but practically, it hasn’t been done yet. The DS and Wii survived as the “quirky yet ancient” systems because their quirks were new and no one else had them. Well now, stupid quirks and ridiculous taglines appear to be the norm (Controller Free Gameplay: Just like You Never Asked for!). The Wii 2 is on deck. It’s either going to be a model of video game evolution, or a quick add-on to an aging brand.

1) Make the next graphical leap

No, I am not talking about the LAST graphical leap. Nintendo called in sick for that one. No, I am referring to the next one: the successor to the HD displays of the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3. It’s easy to say “well how can graphics become any better? They are awesome now!” Well that’s myopic, and quite frankly, a stupid way of thinking. Games can always get bigger and more detailed, and coders will continue to build better engines and smarter coding. We will require faster processors. Developers are already cramming onto the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, with both systems reaching their limits. Nintendo revolutionized hardware possibilities with the 3DS. Now they must take that same technology (or at least the same line of thinking) and bring it to the Wii 2.

And as for 3D: let’s slap that on too. As I have written before, 3D gaming is a fantastic experience. At E3, 3D made games feel so much more alive and deep. Since Nintendo is so hellbent (and for good reason) on 3D with no glasses, this may wait a bit for television technology to catch up. But the Wii 2 must be designed with 3D in mind, especially since everything from movies to parakeets are being sold with 3D tags these days.

2) Design the perfect motion controller

From a hardware perspective, the original Wiimote was pretty mediocre. It’s lack of 1:1 motion was appalling and its control interface was (and is) even worse. Nintendo needs to design a further improvement on the Wii Motion Plus and create a controller that can offer both one to one controls and a control scheme that can be played classically. Not all third-party developers want to make motion control games, and not all gamers want to play motion control games. That’s what Nintendo needs to fix with this upcoming generation. Despite the high sales of the Wii, the games’ sales have been terrible. Crossover games don’t quite cross over to the Wii, and if they do, they are watered down versions of superior Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 titles. If Nintendo can offer a controller that can play games with motion controls and a classic button-based controls, then Nintendo can have the best of both worlds.

3) Give us an actual online experience.

After five years of friend codes and tossing controllers through walls, I am not giving Nintendo any room for mistakes on this one. I want it all: social networking, friends lists, usernames, browsers, real marketplaces, clean interfaces, movies, music, external software storage, downloadable content and whatever else they can think of. The Wii 2 needs to put the days of Nintendo being more internet-retarded than my grandmother to an end. I am sick of hearing from Nintendo that Nintendo gamers don’t want to play games online. Over here, Nintendo: I do.

And please give us a Pokemon MMO. If not now, at least before I die.

Innovation is great. But now it’s time for Nintendo to stop worrying about innovation and begin pointing their attention towards domination. Here’s a guarantee: the 3DS will give Nintendo a handheld monopoly. It relies on multimedia, stunning technology, and hardcore software. Sounds like a winner. The model for the Wii 2 is in place; hell, Nintendo made it with the 3DS. It’s up to Nintendo to decide whether or not they want to use it.

It sounds easy, but let’s be honest: nothing is ever easy in the world of Nintendo.