Nintendo aims to fill stockings with Wii slim The Nintendo Wii is set for a revamp this Christmas, with an all-new streamlined design. The 'Wii-design' will see the console now sport a more compact body. Unfortunately, it seems the size reduction has come at the cost of GameCube functionality, with no space left for the controller ports. Wii design The Wii has sold …
First you build a console and sell it. Then you start removing functionality, and sell it for what the original console is now reduced to.
*PS3 has lost functionality with every redesign.
*DS Lite lost the GBA port when they made the DSi.
*Wii loses GB functionality when it goes slim.
*PSP Go lost the UMD drive (and suffered for it).
Back when I was a kid, the rule was release a console, then release more add-ons that enhanced its functionality, not rip bits out.
*The Super Nintendo had an adaptor *added* for Game Boy games. It also got one for satellite service in Japan, and god only knows how many peripherals. Still got my Super Scope, region adaptor, etc.
*The Mega Drive had two major hardware upgrades, and several integrated redesigns that were more advanced than the original. The games might have been shit, but the attempt was there.
*The N64 was given a hard drive.
*The PS One supported an external monitor (though they did drop some ports due to the smaller size)
*The PS2 slim came with the network adaptor integrated, rather than being a separate add on (though again lost the expansion bay). And what about the PSX?
Surely this is the selling point of a redesign or upgrade? More kit!
You take an already comparatively microscopic console with very low power consumption, and a pretty saturated market....
Then you make it marginally smaller and remove some important functionality and claim this is going to sell like hotcakes come Christmas... Yeah right!
I'd also like to take this opportunity to remind people that Nintendo have a lucrative little sideline in re-selling you games you played 2 decades ago to play on your new hardware. (Nintendo milking 20 year old I.P., who would have thought!) I dare say that having a working "gamecube" in every living-room is looking like a decidedly bad idea with regards to selling you downloadable copys of mario sunshine and wind waker when they start flogging the wii-u
I often thought it just missed the size mark. Just a tweak smaller and it could fit into a standard 5-1/4 drive bay. Couple it with an adapter that would allow it to interface with the PC and a portable housing for independent/mobile use and you would have a rather nice multipurpose unit. Oh well, now I just use dolphin so there isn't much point now.
The natural evolution of consoles.
MegaDrive, PS1, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360
Gamecube functionality - I did seek out Mario Kart DD and a gamecube controller. Bit of a pain though with a wire across the living room, and the wireless controllers having suddenly jumped up in price.
Nice idea though, backwards-compatibility in hardware, next to the half-hearted software mode of the 360 and Sony giving up on the idea entirely.
I don't care in the slightest when X preceded Y.
Both went from first release to a slimmed down version to boost sales halfway through their lifecycle. THAT is the natural progression of consoles.
Car manufacturers do the same halfway through a model lifecycle, although it is usually more of a facelift
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