Nintendo has the number one game console in the world. The Nintendo Wii is so popular you wouldn’t think Nintendo would be ready to take the next step just yet, but word on the web is Wii HD is on the way.
According to the What They Play Nintendo has been showing off some new hardware to the development and publishing community. Apparently, they plan to release what’s already being dubbed as Wii HD in 2011. From the quote below it appears that it will be all new hardware while maintaining the Wiimote enginuity.
While our sources are reluctant to be too specific about “Wii HD,” they have been able to divulge some (albeit predictable) generalizations. High definition visuals are assured, as is a greater emphasis on digitally distributed and backwardly compatible content, indicating that the new system will feature some form of local storage medium such as a hard drive or large flash memory solution. It has also been indicated that Nintendo’s emphasis is again on what the consumer will hold in their hands and interact with, rather than the “console” itself.
Nintendo also seems to have amped up their spending on Research and Devlopment from $34 million in 2003 to $370 million last year. The new system will also have storage system of some type either a hard drive, a solid state drive, or a large memory card. Only time will tell, but the tought of a true HD Wii is awefully appealing.
