Sony has indicated its opinion that the Wii and Wii U are of their own generation as opposed to competitors to Microsoft and Sony’s current and forthcoming consoles.
Nintendo is currently preparing for the release of its first hi-def console this holiday season. We don’t yet know the exact technical specifications but word on the street is that they’re around the same as the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, perhaps slightly better.
It’s predicted that the PlayStation 4 and Xbox 360 will be released sometime towards the end of next year despite the fact neither console is confirmed. The combination of the Wii U’s release window and the decision not to make the machine significantly more powerful than current-gen machines has caused some to categorize the Wii U as “stop-gap” console.
Shuhei Yoshida has come out with an entirely different opinion. He suggests that both the Wii and Wii U cover a different market that runs in parallel to that of Microsoft and Sony’s consoles.
“Personally, I have always thought Wii was in a generation of its own,” Yoshida told Eurogamer when asked whether he considered the Wii U a next generation machine.
“I always thought PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are in the same generation, but Wii was not the same. To me, the industry was growing really fast when those three platforms came up because the focus is so different. The PS3 and the 360 were the closest in terms of high definition and networked services. But Wii carved out a large niche to itself. To me, it was like two generations going at the same time.”
He went on to say: “Wii U is the next generation of Wii. That I understand. To me, it’s its own generation.”
E3 brought little very little official news of the PS4, and nothing on the next Xbox, though there were a few titles demoed on PC that seemed to boast suspiciously next-gen graphics (not to mention the Final Fantasy next-gen tech demo and Epic Games’ recent Unreal Engine 4 demonstration.
We know the PS4 will be coming but will the Wii U, with its massive head-start be a competitor?
“That’s a trick question!” Yoshida laughed. “We are not talking about future PlayStation platforms at this E3. But everything competes for consumers’ time and money and attention.
“When you talk about the gaming industry today, it’s a lot bigger than five years ago – there are a lot more people playing games, on a smartphone, on Facebook, in addition to PC and consoles. It’s already multi-platform, way beyond the three – Sony and Microsoft and Nintendo.
“So we are competing with everyone for consumers’ attention, not just Nintendo and Microsoft.”
