Many people laughed when Nintendo officially launched the Wii home console, largely because they just looked at it from a hardware point of view.
The Wii was basically just a glorified version of the older GameCube, with support for motion controls, through the Wii Remote, but without any of the graphical power or the high-definition support seen in its rivals, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
All of its critics were shocked, however, when the Wii became a global sales phenomenon, selling millions of units and thrashing its more powerful rivals with its mainstream approach.
Now, after almost 5 years since its 2006 release,
the Wii is losing its popularity in front of the Xbox 360 and gamers are beginning to forget about the small little box in favor of the two more powerful consoles.
After launching the 3DS all around the world, Nintendo must now think about a successor to the Wii, in order to keep its advantage over its rivals.
We've already published
all of the rumors concerning the Wii successor which, by all accounts, is set to be announced to the world at this summer's E3 conference in Los Angeles.
Now, let's talk about some of the features that must be included by Nintendo in the new Wii in order to make sure that it will survive in front of the PS3 and Xbox 360, as well as in front of their next iterations, presumably the PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720.
First and foremost, and we're sure analyst
Michael Pachter will agree, the new Wii needs to be a high definition device, largely because the company can't afford to ignore such a feature.
HDTVs are now popular all over the world, with prices dropping since 2006, so lots of people will no doubt be glad that they'll finally be able enjoy some nice graphics in 720p or even 1080p resolutions.
Speaking of graphics, the other important aspect that a Wii HD must have is more powerful hardware.
While quite a few developers managed to release some pretty impressive titles by squeezing every ounce of power from the Wii, not even Nintendo's own games like Super Mario Galaxy 2 or the upcoming Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword can match up to many of the games released for the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360.
Another key feature that will serve to make up for the short life span of the current Wii console is backwards compatibility, so that the Wii 2 could play regular titles made for the current device.
Nintendo pushed a lot of great games for the current Wii, with others
still scheduled to arrive, like Skyward Sword, so it's an obvious move to allow the new console access to the Wii's huge library of games.
The Japanese company also needs to work on the third-party support for its console, as the Wii, although being a sales phenomenon, didn't have a lot of must-have games aside from Nintendo's own Mario or Zelda titles.
For the Wii 2, Nintendo must at least try to attract third-party developers and publishers if it wants the new device to become successful not just through Mario or Zelda titles.
Last but not least, no matter
how little it thinks of online gaming, Nintendo really needs to implement a simpler and more intuitive system for the Wii 2.
Playing online on the current console is one of the most complicated things ever devised, with players needing to exchange long friend codes every time they want to interact.
Nintendo has shown that it is taking steps to improve the online part in its consoles with
the release of the 3DS, which has just one single friend code system, so there's hope for the Wii 2.
These are just some of our wishes for the Wii successor, but don't be shy to submit your own by a leaving a comment below.
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