I was in a Marketing class today and we were talking about the entertainment industry, which led me to think of Nintendo's method of marketing the Wii.
Wouldn't it be pure genius for them to have some sort of graphical expansion by Christmas? People have already spent the 250 to get the console, one of the high selling points (low price in comparison to its competition). So if Nintendo had waiting a few months when most of the population bought the console already, and released an expansion for the graphics to handle more hardware intense games, people would be more willing to shell out the money to purchase it. The marketing would allow for Nintendo to get the relatively same dollar amount per console as its competitors but only at a split time, not all at once, where people would be more oblivous to how much money they spend.|
tl;dr - If Nintendo somehow put-out an expansion for its GPU, people would be more prone to buy the upgrade since most already own the console, and the money would be spread out: 250 spent on a console months ago, and ___ spent for the upgrade months later looks a lot better on your credit card than the whole sum all at once.
And... who's going to install this expansion? Honestly, it's not the same as the N64's expansion pack. That was a deliberate design decision. Besides, there's nothing wrong with what the Wii can do now.
I think it would be a bad idea. If games make use of that "graphical expansion", what would happen to the people who don't have it ? NWA_31
I love the games Nintendo puts out, but let's be honest a moment. The people who don't have the expansion are left out. Iirc, expansion pack games on the 64 started out optional, but a good deal required the use of it. No company cares if their product alienates those who don't buy them, not even friendly ol' Nintendo.
They could always make the expansion pack come with a game similar to how that expansion pack for the N64 came with, was it Donkey Kong 64? I'd be for it if it meant that we would be seeing more gamey games instead of the Brain Age styled games.
That's what I mean. I don't mean something that converts the Wii into a 360 GPU wise, just something that gives games a little kick in the butt to support things like HDR and Antialiasing at a more advanced level.
They could always make the expansion pack come with a game similar to how that expansion pack for the N64 came with, was it Donkey Kong 64? I'd be for it if it meant that we would be seeing more gamey games instead of the Brain Age styled games.forgot_it
Again, the Expansion Pack was on a deliberate design. Adding or changing a component of the Wii will require users to open their cases and make hardware changes themselves. Besides user-performed hardware changes being a completely stupid move on behalf of Nintendo, is that something you really want to do?
That's what I mean. I don't mean something that converts the Wii into a 360 GPU wise, just something that gives games a little kick in the butt to support things like HDR and Antialiasing at a more advanced level.drphizzle0
[QUOTE="forgot_it"]They could always make the expansion pack come with a game similar to how that expansion pack for the N64 came with, was it Donkey Kong 64? I'd be for it if it meant that we would be seeing more gamey games instead of the Brain Age styled games.FFXIsAstyanax
Again, the Expansion Pack was on a deliberate design. Adding or changing a component of the Wii will require users to open their cases and make hardware changes themselves. Besides user-performed hardware changes being a completely stupid move on behalf of Nintendo, is that something you really want to do?It doesn't necessarily have to be hardware changes does it? The Wii has two working USB ports at the back. One of them could be put to some sort of expansion use.
[QUOTE="FFXIsAstyanax"][QUOTE="forgot_it"]They could always make the expansion pack come with a game similar to how that expansion pack for the N64 came with, was it Donkey Kong 64? I'd be for it if it meant that we would be seeing more gamey games instead of the Brain Age styled games.forgot_it
Again, the Expansion Pack was on a deliberate design. Adding or changing a component of the Wii will require users to open their cases and make hardware changes themselves. Besides user-performed hardware changes being a completely stupid move on behalf of Nintendo, is that something you really want to do?It doesn't necessarily have to be hardware changes does it? The Wii has two working USB ports at the back. One of them could be put to some sort of expansion use.
While I have heard something of a portable RAM drive, I 100% doubt anything like what you're suggesting will come to fruition.
[QUOTE="FFXIsAstyanax"][QUOTE="forgot_it"]They could always make the expansion pack come with a game similar to how that expansion pack for the N64 came with, was it Donkey Kong 64? I'd be for it if it meant that we would be seeing more gamey games instead of the Brain Age styled games.forgot_it
Again, the Expansion Pack was on a deliberate design. Adding or changing a component of the Wii will require users to open their cases and make hardware changes themselves. Besides user-performed hardware changes being a completely stupid move on behalf of Nintendo, is that something you really want to do?It doesn't necessarily have to be hardware changes does it? The Wii has two working USB ports at the back. One of them could be put to some sort of expansion use.
The transfer rate on USB is too slow for such a task. Especially if you had something else (such as the ethernet adapter) plugged into the other port (since bandwidth is shared).
Honestly even though it's a possibility I would say no. HD-Graphics will reach a level of photographic realism in the next few years. Were getting close to the graphical roof. Nintendo isn't bound to hold onto the Wii because It won't have to wait about 2 or 3 years to make a profit like PS3 and Xbox 360. Essentially by 2009 when HD is standard then Nintendo can pump out a brand new system. The format war will probably be done and over with. Not to mention the price cost for HD products will have diminished greatly due to a surplus. In short Nintendo will be a step up because they will have changed their approach to gaming. That put's the ball in Sony and Microsofts court to be progressive without getting sued (And we all know how hard that's going to be especially for Sony). Third parties will have become at the very least adept at HD-Graphic implementation and Nintendo can produce a system at ease without having to sacrifice gaming to release dates.
Nintendo just needs to bring out more then one or two good games. And put astop to porting old ps2 and xbox games to the wii. Its pretty bad when the VC games are the cause of more excitement then actual wiigame releases. I have a wii and it collects dust so I think i have the right to share my opinion and views on the system.
If not even an upgrade will happen, I would hope Nintendo enables the USB ports to be used so you can add your own Hard Drive and/or they can release their own Hard Drives. Hope being the keyword though, I can respect the vision that Nintendo had with the Wiimote with but they made the Wii really underpowered compared to the competition which probably pushed alot of developers away from making some titles.
If not even an upgrade will happen, I would hope Nintendo enables the USB ports to be used so you can add your own Hard Drive and/or they can release their own Hard Drives. Hope being the keyword though, I can respect the vision that Nintendo had with the Wiimote with but they made the Wii really underpowered compared to the competition which probably pushed alot of developers away from making some titles.forgot_it
That is what the USB ports should be used for. Seriously, how can nintendo expect us to play online without keyboard/mic for communication?
[QUOTE="forgot_it"]If not even an upgrade will happen, I would hope Nintendo enables the USB ports to be used so you can add your own Hard Drive and/or they can release their own Hard Drives. Hope being the keyword though, I can respect the vision that Nintendo had with the Wiimote with but they made the Wii really underpowered compared to the competition which probably pushed alot of developers away from making some titles.cheesenator
That is what the USB ports should be used for. Seriously, how can nintendo expect us to play online without keyboard/mic for communication?
I play games online with open communication. It makes one understand the phrase "silence is golden." That's not to say they shouldn't try to make something like a bluetooth headset, but how many players would honestly play mostly with a muted headsets? I know I would.
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