First of all the Wii is a gaming system not a toy specifically.

Second of all, where the Wii fails it’s hardware doesn’t, yes it’s seemingly “outdated” hardware to some, but it has features the last generation didn’t that make this console fit just nicely in this generation.

Updates for example, could easily alleviate any issues hardcore gamers have with the console, yes it has a lack of great games but that’s not much of an issue to me seeing as it’s selling like hotcakes and that’s enough for mainstream developers to jump on the Wii bandwagon.

But the issue to me is the online features, I’d say aside from anything else the Wii needs a profile system that is universal across consoles (the Wii, DS, DSi, etc) with that Nintendo should be on par with their competitors regarding next-gen features that actually matter.

Your yo-yo analogy may be the dumbest I’ve ever read. And you’ve got your facts wrong. Plenty of people are playing their wii’s. They’ve released play statistics and they’re pretty high. Attach rate is higher than the PS3 and getting closer to the 360. There are plenty of good games on the system what are you even talking about?

About 10 – 11 years ago just about every kid in school had a Yo – Yo, then, once the novelty wore off, that same Yo – Yo would get shoved in a cupboard never to be seen again.

The same thing is happening with the Nintendo Wii, it’s selling but it’s not being used. Obviously this is related to the EXTREME lack of AAA exclusives the console has, however this poses as a real threat to Nintendo.

Should Nintendo release a “Wii 2″ to the same market that snapped up the initial Wii craze, would anyone care? As has been pointed out, the Wii 2, should it keep the same control design, would no longer seem like a novelty. Would those same consumers who remembered purchasing an original Wii and then having no decent games to play for it go out and spend money on a console that may well dissapoint them again?

Nintendo are digging their own grave by refusing to focus on the hardcore crowd as far as games are concerned. Every time someone picks up a Wii at retail, that’s one more person who definetly WON’T want a “Wii 2″.

If I can’t put a 16GB card in it and have it work, it’s not currently SDHC compatible. If they need to upgrade the firmware, that’s easy enough, but it’s not currently compatible. I’m just saying the next Wii should support it out of the box. SDHC are getting so cheap, no one needs an HDD in their console anymore. It’s just another point of failure.

I do agree with you that they don’t need to release the Wii2 right away. I think the Wii easily has 2 years left. Doing things like opening up the SD card to play games from, update it for SDHC, streamline the friend codes and integrate the voice chat further will breathe life into the games. A few new colors would likely extend the interest in the platform for another year or so as well. No they don’t need to be in a hurry, but they have to replace it eventually, and when they do, I hope they address the issues I’ve (and lots of others) have raised.

“I’d say the Wii make even overtake a good percentage of the hardcore market.”

Never.

Really, I don’t think Nintendo needs to release a new Wii anytime soon (maybe in 2011), I really feel that gamers are just looking for too many unnecessary things in the console. The only thing I’d want to see is more community features, this is probably the only thing Nintendo failed at with their latest console, and they’ve already promised to add new community features (it was mentioned in a Forbes.com interview) except I don’t want anything like what Microsoft or Sony is offering I want something fresh and more rewarding, Microsoft only offers gameplay with voice chat tacked on and a payment system for everything and Sony just offers close to the same (with the exception of Playstation Home, which is awesome).

But in competition with the PS3 and 360 I’ve got to say the Wii won’t loose. When it comes to a game console the main thing you buy it for is games and the Wii is getting a good amount of titles in 2009, along with it’s large user base which developers will take interest in, I’d say the Wii make even overtake a good percentage of the hardcore market.

Plus the Wii firmwares design hints at the fact that Nintendo may allow non-gaming applications to be sold in the store, sometime in the future (aside from the Internet Channel) and this may open up the doors to alot of possibilities that could keep Nintendo at their seat in first place.

With regard to your responses to my comments, and whether or not Nintendo will make a Wii2, I don’t have a link but I recall Iwata saying that Nintendo likes to make consoles in pairs. In each “pair” there is an initial model that breaks new ground and then a followup model that is a refinement. Think NES and SNES, N64 and Gamecube. Now were in a new “pair” cycle with the Wii being the innovative console and the next being more of a refinement. Thats why I thinik it’s safe to say we’ll see something very similar to the Wii for the next gen. I’m only calling it Wii2 because I don’t know what else to call it. Perhaps it will be called the Yuu? Who knows. Anyway, that’s beside the point.

“Nintendo has never really kept a controller similar to its previous systems, so who says they’re going to now?”

This is not true. The SNES was clearly an NES controller with better ergonomics, more buttons and shoulder buttons. The gamecube controller was clearly a refinement of the N64 controller, carrying over it’s colored A and B buttons and the yellow “C” buttons became the “C” stick.

“They may continue to innovate and create a whole new console that looks nothing like the Wii and plays in a whole new way.”

Yes, the may, but according to Iwata, this is unlikely based on their “pairs” model for consoles.

“I don’t think Nintendo would choose Super Mario Galaxy to be the first Mario since the NES days to have a sequel.”

Again, I just mention Mario Galaxy 2 because I don’t know what else to call the next mario game. I’m just saying they could bundle the game with a mario title and it would do well based on how well Galaxy was received. Keep in mind, Mario Galaxy is supposedly based on Mario 128 which was a sequel to Mario 64.

The only one of those that is required are the maracas. I wouldn’t exactly consider the others hardware either, and the steering wheel is included with the game.
Besides that, I keep seeing people talk about the Wii2, and who really says Nintendo is going to make a Wii2? Nintendo has never really kept a controller similar to its previous systems, so who says they’re going to now? They may continue to innovate and create a whole new console that looks nothing like the Wii and plays in a whole new way. If they bundle a game with their next console, I doubt it would be Wii sports 2 since the console wouldn’t be the Wii anymore, and I don’t think Nintendo would choose Super Mario Galaxy to be the first Mario since the NES days to have a sequel. I think Nintendo is more innovative than that; there is too much slapping of numbers onto games with no innovation, and that is something Nintendo hasn’t done too often. I don’t expect them to start anytime soon. Just my two cents.

“However, the novelty of the control method has begun to dwindle somewhat in my opinion. ”

On its face, this does appear to be true. Motion controls are no longer as “fresh” as they once were and we’re beginning to see the limitations of the Wii-mote. BUT, what’s more of an issue is developers creative ability. The controller is still an amazing interface. It just needs games that utilize it without being silly waggly gimmicks. Despite fanboys ravings, the IR pointer is amazingly accurate. Playing a game like RE4, you’ll understand. Headshots are a breeze, and FPS controls on games like MP3:C and MoH:H2 are vastly superior to dual thumbsticks.

Anyway, all that being said, my answer to your question is this. I think that the Wii2 will need to AT LEAST match current 360/PS3 graphics. I think they will need an upgraded controller with 1:1 motion, in other words I think they need to build the new Wii motes with built in Wii Motion Plus. Another button or two wouldn’t hurt either. I think they need a better integrated online setup and I think they need 100% backward compatibility with existing Wii games. I think they need at LEAST 2-4 GB of internal flash and an SD HC card slot that supports running games from it. I think they need to hit the $299 launch price with Wii Sports 2 or Mario Galaxy 2 included. Do all this and I think that no only can they continue their run with the expanded audience but they can gain some ground with traditional gamers too.

Now, let me be clear. Nintendo does not need to, and should not try to WIN with traditional gamers. This is simply impossible because so many are teens and tweens and are more concerned with being “cool” and as we all know, nintendo consoles are never “cool”. But at least they can try to make a platform that AAA traditional third parties can thrive on. As it stands, the only thing that is allowing the 360/PS3 to gain any traction at all is the fact that the big AAA developers and publishers are unable to taylor their existing business models to a console that isn’t progressive enough graphically. If the Wii was more capable graphically had it’s current install base, you can bet your ass it would be the lead platform for every EA, Ubisoft, Capcop and Activision game.