Wii upgrade... Is it possible?

Hey guys! I'm really hyped up about the huge media summit Nintendo's holding on the 24th. Rumours say that Nintendo will reveal new hardware in this summit, though it seems unlikely with GDC around the corner and E3 just a few months away. Unlikely it may be, but the Official Nintendo Magazine has teased about something new which will be on the shelves on 12th March. This is confirmed news -- something is going to be released on 12th March. Whether it's Metroid: Other M, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Virtual Boy 2, Wii HD or DS2 is still a mystery. :cry:

So my question is, just like Microsoft's Project Natal is an Xbox 360 add-on, can Nintendo come up with some external upgrade for the Wii which will upscale its graphics without changing the console altogether? Something like an external graphics card or something. Is it technically possible? :|

Pachter said!

Add ons almost never succeed. Sega added on these things called the Sega CD and the 32x to give the Genesis better graphics. They failed and were the beginning of the end of Sega's consoles. If there's any hardware we see released March 12th, it will only be something small like the Wii Vitality Sensor, or a new color of Wiis in NA, something like that.

I'm not a 100% sure (I'm not very tech suave), but I would say no (when it comes to graphics)

I don't see how it would be when there isn't a hardware port. The N64's expansion pak had a port that it was plugged into from the launch of the console. There's no ports on the Wii itself that allow for anything like that unless you count the SD slots, or the USB ports. As far as my knowledge goes, I don't know if it's technically possible to plug something into the above mentioned slots and actually consider it an upgrade in terms of visuals/processing power/etc. The only thing that I could see working is a usb external hard drive maybe having data already stored on the HDD (or for increasing memory purposes), but I still don't see how it would actually increase the consoles power.

Again, I'm no expert. If anyone actually knows if that is indeed possible, feel free to correct me. I like learning lol

I hope it's a game.

I don't need an upgrade or another add-on

You'd have to change out the Wii's GPU, and that's beyond the average consumer's skill level.

Pachter says he expects a Wii HD by 2010, i'm not sure if he meant external upgrade by that :?[QUOTE="Jamisonia"]

Add ons almost never succeed. Sega added on these things called the Sega CD and the 32x to give the Genesis better graphics. They failed and were the beginning of the end of Sega's consoles. If there's any hardware we see released March 12th, it will only be something small like the Wii Vitality Sensor, or a new color of Wiis in NA, something like that.

LordQuorthon

They could do some RAM crap but i doubt it would be successful. The wii is turning out to be more expensive then a ps3/wii with all the add ons. Sure you don't need them, but if you want the best experience you do.Fightingfan

I'm not a 100% sure (I'm not very tech suave), but I would say no (when it comes to graphics)

I don't see how it would be when there isn't a hardware port. The N64's expansion pak had a port that it was plugged into from the launch of the console. There's no ports on the Wii itself that allow for anything like that unless you count the SD slots, or the USB ports. As far as my knowledge goes, I don't know if it's technically possible to plug something into the above mentioned slots and actually consider it an upgrade in terms of visuals/processing power/etc. The only thing that I could see working is a usb external hard drive maybe having data already stored on the HDD (or for increasing memory purposes), but I still don't see how it would actually increase the consoles power.

Again, I'm no expert. If anyone actually knows if that is indeed possible, feel free to correct me. I like learning lol

redlightstudios

Not the wii, but a new handheld, the pokemon companies confirmed they have the early dev kit for the new system. yay about time though 6 years since the ds launched and its aged.

Not the wii, but a new handheld, the pokemon companies confirmed they have the early dev kit for the new system. yay about time though 6 years since the ds launched and its aged.

dazzzilla

Well prototype ds at E3 2004 to launch was less than 6 months and remember we got a whole new designed system, if anyone remembers the original :P had the black borders around the screen etc.

BTW the thing that's on the shelves is the new magazine, not the hardware they're talking about.

that won´t succeed

[QUOTE="dazzzilla"]

Not the wii, but a new handheld, the pokemon companies confirmed they have the early dev kit for the new system. yay about time though 6 years since the ds launched and its aged.

darkcharizard

They have shown off prototype DS and PSP before at E3 I'm pretty sure.

Just because its not the final build dosen't mean it won't make E3!

As long as its far enough along to illustrate itself properlly it should be their.

You're right, N64-DD was just an external hard drive. But how does an external graphics card work then? I really hope its something like that :)

darkcharizard

The DD was actually an external zip drive (or at least related to that technology). "External graphics cards" are mostly intended to let you add an extra monitor. USB2.0 just doesn't have the bandwidth for much else.

Nintendo has never made an upgraded version of their consoles with better hardware. They only did that with their handhelds. Dont expect an HD wii. Nintendo knows they will lose alot of customers if they upgrade the Wii.

It'll probably just be a new color wii.

The Wii's graphics are good enough for me.

I really wouldn't want to buy an add-on. Not only for the money, but it would make my console not fit in the area it's in now, and I really don't care about graphics but it would be required to play newer games.

Also, I don't think they will make one of these at this point.

This is confirmed news -- something is going to be released on 12th March. Whether it's Metroid: Other M, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Virtual Boy 2, Wii HD or DS2 is still a mystery. :cry:

darkcharizard

There is no way they could release one of those major titles or an entirely new console in less than a month.

Something would have been leaked, and they need time for it to get hyped.

So my question is, just like Microsoft's Project Natal is an Xbox 360 add-on, can Nintendo come up with some external upgrade for the Wii which will upscale its graphics without changing the console altogether? Something like an external graphics card or something. Is it technically possible? :|

darkcharizard

They made something like that. It's called the Wii Motion Plus.

Edit:

Nintendo has never made an upgraded version of their consoles with better hardware. They only did that with their handhelds. Dont expect an HD wii. Nintendo knows they will lose alot of customers if they upgrade the Wii.

painguy1

They did make the upgrade for the N64, but it wasn't a new console.

I could see them doing something like that, but I'm almost certain that they won't.

The thing with this is, a Wii HD doesn't help the lack of multiplat development on Wii issue unless it is a new system and gets its own games

If its just a slightly more powerful Wii that is allowed to run 720p it still won't be able to run a majority of cross platform games, and it'll get treated the same way by devs like it is now

I'd buy a Wii HD even if all it did was make existing Wii games look prettier but i doubt Nintendo actually does it

They probably could put out a home console with 360 level specs today and sell it for a profit at $200. They prolly won't

But in 2011 they will

I think by the time fall 2011 rolls around, Natal/Arc will be getting a lot of promo's, casual games, and releasing a 360 level Wii 2 will cost very little in 2011, so much so that i'm thinking nintendo will release a HD console in fall 2011 with around a 3Ghz Single Core CPU, 512MB RAM, and a 500Mhz GPU with 16GBs SSD for $200 or $250.

The Wii's graphics are good enough for me.

I really wouldn't want to buy an add-on. Not only for the money, but it would make my console not fit in the area it's in now, and I really don't care about graphics but it would be required to play newer games.

Also, I don't think they will make one of these at this point.

[QUOTE="darkcharizard"]

There is no way they could release one of those major titles or an entirely new console in less than a month.

Something would have been leaked, and they need time for it to get hyped.

[QUOTE="darkcharizard"]

So my question is, just like Microsoft's Project Natal is an Xbox 360 add-on, can Nintendo come up with some external upgrade for the Wii which will upscale its graphics without changing the console altogether? Something like an external graphics card or something. Is it technically possible? :|

awssk8er716

They made something like that. It's called the Wii Motion Plus.

Edit:

Nintendo has never made an upgraded version of their consoles with better hardware. They only did that with their handhelds. Dont expect an HD wii. Nintendo knows they will lose alot of customers if they upgrade the Wii.

painguy1

They did make the upgrade for the N64, but it wasn't a new console.

I could see them doing something like that, but I'm almost certain that they won't.

They only feasable way i could see a Wii HD upgrade would be the Wii stand.

Work with me here.

Put some hardware in the stand maybe? a CPU, RAM, maybe some flash memory and have it plug via USB into the Wii

I don't know if this would actually work, maybe Nintendo could find a way i dunno

I honestly think and hope the announcement has to do with one of the big three games.

The thing with this is, a Wii HD doesn't help the lack of multiplat development on Wii issue unless it is a new system and gets its own games

If its just a slightly more powerful Wii that is allowed to run 720p it still won't be able to run a majority of cross platform games, and it'll get treated the same way by devs like it is now

I'd buy a Wii HD even if all it did was make existing Wii games look prettier but i doubt Nintendo actually does it

They probably could put out a home console with 360 level specs today and sell it for a profit at $200. They prolly won't

But in 2011 they will

I think by the time fall 2011 rolls around, Natal/Arc will be getting a lot of promo's, casual games, and releasing a 360 level Wii 2 will cost very little in 2011, so much so that i'm thinking nintendo will release a HD console in fall 2011 with around a 3Ghz Single Core CPU, 512MB RAM, and a 500Mhz GPU with 16GBs SSD for $200 or $250.

darth-pyschosis

Exactly, if all the Wii HD is is the Wii with HD output then that would do nothing to get it more games like multiplats and 3rd party dev.

The Wii HD basically needs to be a new console all together on par or more powerfull then the 2 other HD consoles. That way it will be able to get multiplats (very important) escpecially with the 2 other going motion, I'm sure their will be amazing motion multiplats coming for them (as 3rd partys actually put effort into 360/ps3 games) and the Wii already has that covered just needs the tech boost to be eligable for their multplat games!

There is no way they could release one of those major titles or an entirely new console in less than a month.

Something would have been leaked, and they need time for it to get hyped. awssk8er716

No one exepects them to release a new Nintendo Console, or Big Three Game, what is expected is an announcement of some sort.

I heart viral marketing.

There is a point of interest/ odd looking feet on the bottom of the motion plus device.

a hardware upgrade through an attachment? nope...not a hope in hell. theres no ports available to put somethign like that in (USB2.0 is not even remotely close to being fast enough.). ..well i suppose they could release some kind of upscaler box thats optimized for the wii. so instead of attaching the video cable from the wi to the telly..you could attach it to this box and then the box would have a HDMI cable going to the telly. the box would then take the output from the wii, scale up the image (and maybe apply some AA if possible) and then send it on to the telly. however that could cause problems with response times in games. anywho its moot since ninty are not going to do that. its impossible to upgrade the guts of the wii. if ninty want to do that..they need to release a new console.osan0

It'll probably just be a new color wii.

roboccs

[QUOTE="osan0"]a hardware upgrade through an attachment? nope...not a hope in hell. theres no ports available to put somethign like that in (USB2.0 is not even remotely close to being fast enough.). ..well i suppose they could release some kind of upscaler box thats optimized for the wii. so instead of attaching the video cable from the wi to the telly..you could attach it to this box and then the box would have a HDMI cable going to the telly. the box would then take the output from the wii, scale up the image (and maybe apply some AA if possible) and then send it on to the telly. however that could cause problems with response times in games. anywho its moot since ninty are not going to do that. its impossible to upgrade the guts of the wii. if ninty want to do that..they need to release a new console.darkcharizard

It'll probably just be a new color wii.

roboccs

1. Its not possible

2. If it was possible, you don't want them to do that

3. An upscaled game won't change the fact its not true HD. Its like playing a DVD on an upconvert DVD player and calling it HD.