According to American McGee, the Wii is the ONLY Next-Gen Console.

[KentaRawr!]

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/15/mcgee-only-real-next-gen-is-wii/


Eurogamer quotes game designer American McGee in an upcoming interview by CVG as saying, "The only truly next-gen console out there is the Wii. Everything else is just a video card and processor upgrade."

McGee, whose next game Bad Day LA hits the Xbox and PC in a few months, says Nintendo will "capture the hearts" of gamers while "Microsoft and Sony stab each other in the neck" as they compete over market share.

We've heard one developer pick the 360 over the PS3 before, but this is the first time we've seen someone in the biz say that the Wii is the only step up to next-gen.

I understand that this news isn't exactly important, but I think that it might offer an interesting discussion. I will post my own opinion as the topic rolls on.

[Yamaneko]

One man's opinion who happens to have never really made a great game.

[Moon Rabbits]

One man's opinion who happens to have never really made a great game.

LIES.

[Flying Mullet]

"The only truly next-gen console out there is the Wii. Everything else is just a video card and processor upgrade."
95% of all next-gen game systems have basically been a video card and processor upgrade. I don't see how he can stand behind that statement.

[Duncan]

One man's opinion who happens to have never really made a great game.

You've obviously never played Alice.

[Roto13]

"The only truly next-gen console out there is the Wii. Everything else is just a video card and processor upgrade."
95% of all next-gen game systems have basically been a video card and processor upgrade. I don't see how he can stand behind that statement.

I guess that makes it true, then. :P

[Madame Adequate]

"The only truly next-gen console out there is the Wii. Everything else is just a video card and processor upgrade."
95% of all next-gen game systems have basically been a video card and processor upgrade. I don't see how he can stand behind that statement.

I guess that makes it true, then. :P

True, and entirely irellevant.

[XxSephirothxX]

I dunno. I'd say the evolution of the controller from the NES to the SNES, and even to the N64, really made a considerable impact on how videogames were played and designed. That's not just a boost in performance power.

[Arrianna]

I just can't get past the name long enough to care. :p

[Flying Mullet]

But now you're into a discussion of what makes a game system "next generation":

Is it a new way for the user to interact with the system; a controller with more buttons, an analog stick, Eyetoy, motion sensors, etc...?

Is it a large enough increase in graphical horsepower that the game can be presented in a new manner; Mode 7 graphics on the SNES, a move to 3D graphics, 3D graphics with the ability to add a lot of realism to the graphics or show a lot of seperate independent entities on the screen at once, etc...?

Is it a new way that the system interacts with the user; stereo sound, surround sound, a rumble pack, etc...?

[KentaRawr!]

Personally, I think Next-Gen just means it's the next generation's console. If a system with about the power of the SNES was to be released, would we say it's from a few generations ago? Of course not. But we CAN say it basically has the same power of a system from a few generations ago.

Does the dictionary have "Next-Gen" in it? :confused:

[Moon Rabbits]

If American McGee said pigs could fly, I'd believe him. K? K.

[Duncan]

The whole thing depend on what the definition of "next-gen" is. The generic version of the term simply means the next generation of a console. So, by that definition his statement is invalid. However, if you take "next-gen" to be more like a defining aspect of the console, or maybe something that helps define the market going forward then his statement makes more sense. I believe that is how he meant it. Other "next-gen" defining aspects would have been the Playstation's use of CD's, or the X-Box's extensive online capabilities. With this generation, everybody's got online and CD/DVD media so the Wii controller could possibily be the defining aspect of the "next-gen". Course we'll have to wait a few years to see if he's right or not.

[Zeromus_X]

"The only truly next-gen console out there is the Wii. Everything else is just a video card and processor upgrade."

Pretty much.

[Markus. D]

I can agree with that n_n"

[Madame Adequate]

Next-gen DOES just mean a hardware upgrade though. Whether new stuff comes with it in terms of control systems or whatever doesn't make it any more or less next-gen. The X-Box, PS2, and GC were all more powerful - and little else - than the DC, PS1, and N64, and now we all quite blithely consider those to have been the next gen. It's not even up for question that the PS2 wasn't a next-gen console, because it clearly was.

I think he means 'innovative', which has nothing to do with next gen, but the latter is likely a more powerful statement.

[Breine]

I can see what he means, and I kinda agree that the PS3 and X-box 360 are sort of just upgrades whereas the Wii has actually brought something innovative to the bussiness - instead of focusing on graphics they focus more on gameplay.

[stuffing]

Nintendo is the only company with the guts to try something new.

[Flying Mullet]

I am curious if this increase in horsepower will give us new types of games, just like the move to the PS2 and XBox gave us games like GTA III.

[Arrianna]

But now you're into a discussion of what makes a game system "next generation":Ok.


http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/15/mcgee-only-real-next-gen-is-wii/

Eurogamer quotes game designer American McGee in an upcoming interview by CVG as saying, "The only truly next-gen console out there is the Wii. Everything else is just a video card and processor upgrade."

McGee, whose next game Bad Day LA hits the Xbox and PC in a few months, says Nintendo will "capture the hearts" of gamers while "Microsoft and Sony stab each other in the neck" as they compete over market share.This is nothing more then the usual BS and propaganda that has gone on anytime there is competition for any limited market. All Next-Generation means is that it is the next one out. Nothing more nothing less. These are the same people who claimed that disk based systems would go nowhere. As such I cannot take such blatent propaganda and vitriol seriously.


You want to talk about guts? Try seting yourself up as the new standard and pricing a product hundreds of dollars above the next competitors. Now that takes guts!


Until all three consoles are out on the market we are going to see and hear endless soundbites about how one system rocks over all others and how the ones yet to be released cannot compete. It's nothing more then them trying to convince the customer because if they succeed, true or not, they win.

[Flying Mullet]

But now you're into a discussion of what makes a game system "next generation":Ok.


http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/15/mcgee-only-real-next-gen-is-wii/

Eurogamer quotes game designer American McGee in an upcoming interview by CVG as saying, "The only truly next-gen console out there is the Wii. Everything else is just a video card and processor upgrade."

McGee, whose next game Bad Day LA hits the Xbox and PC in a few months, says Nintendo will "capture the hearts" of gamers while "Microsoft and Sony stab each other in the neck" as they compete over market share.
You do realize that we're talking about that article you linked too, correct? Check the first post and thread title.

[Arrianna]

Uh... yeah. That's the reason I reposted the part of it I was directly responding to. :p

[Vincent Valentine]

"The only truly next-gen console out there is the Wii. Everything else is just a video card and processor upgrade."
Which is exactly what every gaming console for the last 30 years has been... a flashy remote whose credibility as a intuitive, pratical imput device isn't an established fact, nor will it be until it's actually out there on the shelves and people are able to test it...


You've obviously never played Alice.
I have. It's a game that has an interesting look, without any strong gaming mechanic to hold the whole thing together, which is essentially what the majority of American McGee's game have always been... Bad Day L.A. being the most recent example of that.

Honestly, if he gave up on the interactive market and stuck to more passive forms of entertainment (animation and the such), the guy would probably do a lot better for himself.

[Flying Mullet]

Uh... yeah. That's the reason I reposted the part of it I was directly responding to. :p

Okay, makes sense. I thought you were posting further evidence or something. :p

[Madame Adequate]

Arrianna, would you kindly stop being so insightful and accurate? It's somewhat disconcerting to have a sane person around here.

[KentaRawr!]

Which is exactly what every gaming console for the last 30 years has been... a flashy remote whose credibility as a intuitive, pratical imput device isn't an established fact, nor will it be until it's actually out there on the shelves and people are able to test it...

I'd have to disagree. From SNES to N64, the way we played games changed foreva. Of course, that's the only one I can mention, because I'm a stupid youngling. :choc2:

[Dreddz]

According to everyone, American McGee's opinion means nothing.

[KentaRawr!]

According to everyone, everyone's opinion means nothing.

Fix'd. n_n

[The Hubsta]

Is he seriously called American McGee?
Christ, no wonder his brain isn't working properly. He probably suffered deep psychological damage due to growing up with the torment of having the same name as the collective people of a country.

[Vincent Valentine]

From SNES to N64, the way we played games changed foreva.
How exactly? If I may be so bold as to ask.

[KentaRawr!]

The jump to 3D. :p

[Vincent Valentine]

The jump to 3D. :p
3D was around before the N64 came about, but it's definately true that the machine had something of a profound impact in that respect. I don't think you can compare the Wii Remote to the 3D revolution though.

For instance... the Nintendo DS may be a wonderful little machine, and it may have given something fresh and new to the gaming industry (and to gamers), but one could hardly call it revolutionary.

It's the games that make a machine worth buying. American McGee can't say it's truly "next-gen" purely because of a few of the machine's unique features.

[KentaRawr!]

Well yeah, I know that. But it was more than just a graphics update, even if it did look graphically better. :tongue:

[ShunNakamura]

From SNES to N64, the way we played games changed foreva.

Most certianly... For some reason I couldn't stand the N64 and since then I have been wary of newer nintendo systems. Also that is what pushed me to the PS.

[Madame Adequate]

The jump to 3D. :p

Because that wasn't done by the PS1 and Sega Saturn a good couple of years before the N64.

[KentaRawr!]

I know THAT. But by from SNES to N64, I mean like, systems that came in between those two. But since it's a common mis-conception that the N64 is the first console to use 3D, I can understand the mis-understanding.

[Moon Rabbits]

From the hands of American McGee himself:



First off, you guys take your meds. Calm down.

I stand by my remark, but I can understand why so many people are taking exception to it. It seems that most people picked up only on my "Wii is the true next gen" comment, and nothing else that I said.

My point isn't just about the Nintendo hardware. It has to do with the production model, the creative focus, the positioning, and a lot more to boot. I guess the easiest way for me to explain it would be: Are two bigger, faster, more complicated rockets "next-gen" when compared to something like Space-Ship One? I think the fact that Nintendo is going so far out on a limb, and in a direction that focuses on delivering an innovative game play experience, to a wider market, makes them more "next-gen" than the others.

This might just come down to a difference of opinion (and a valid one) about what constitutes a "game system". Nintendo's focus is clearly on toy-like game play, accessible to everyone, marketed to everyone. Sony and Microsoft are trying to shove all the wiz-bang of a $100 million Hollywood blockbuster movie into a gaming console - and they're marketing to a strictly hard-core audience. Both models have their merit. But when it comes time for ME to decide which machine is going to sit front and center in my home, for my friends to play with, it's going to be a Wii.

It's "narrow-gen" vs. "next-gen". Sony and Microsoft, narrowing their focus on hard-core gamers. Nintendo, bringing gaming to the masses. I prefer what Nintendo's doing. That simple.

I'm mailing electrocution to all of you who posted in the "Ask American" section, btw.

[Madame Adequate]

Right.

The most succesful console franchise of the past decade is narrowing its vision and appealing to a hardcore market.

[Arrianna]

Arrianna, would you kindly stop being so insightful and accurate? It's somewhat disconcerting to have a sane person around here.You're welcome. :D

Evidently round two of "we're better then yoouuu.." just started. :laugh: