Isaiah's Tech

Today we've just heard the latest rumour about the upcoming Nintendo Wii 2 / WiiHD. The rumour states that the next-gen Wii will feature a primary Blu-ray drive with, of course, 720p / 1080p output. It's expected to launch worldwide on the exact same day sometime in 2010. Yes, the current Wii is fairly last-gen (graphics-wise), but it's still the leading console of this gen (between the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3). If a new Wii comes out next year I'd be surprised because it still seems to be selling pretty hot, even though Nintendo is reporting a slight decline in sales.

Oh yeah, we're also hearing that Netflix support will be coming to the original Nintendo Wii.

Nintendo Wii 2 Rumours: Crunch Gear
Netflix Coming To Nintendo Wii: Lifehacker

It's up to you whether you want to believe what analysts have to say, but I just thought that this was worth mentioning. An infamous analyst, Michael Pachter, has just announced his thoughts on the future of the 3 big console manufacturers: Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft.

First, Pachter went on to say that Nintendo's Wii will stay atop the console war, simply because of its "low price point, innovative control mechanism, and compatibility with standard definition televisions." He also suggests that the WiiHD - a Nintendo Wii with HD support - will help lead the way to staying at the top of the list - even for the next generation. According to him, the HD-capable Nintendo Wii could be available as early as next year.

Next up, he talks about the future of Sony's PS3. He doesn't say much about it, but he does mention that the PS3 will eventually catch up - and take the number 2 spot - to the Xbox 360 because it simply won the Blu-ray vs HD DVD war. I'll be in this boat soon enough.

He had some tough words for Microsoft's Xbox 360. According to his predictions, the Xbox 360 will eventually fall back to the number 3 spot because of its inability to sell consoles in Japan. But, he did go on to say that the Microsoft could sell twice as many Xbox 360s than the original Xbox and that's always a good thing.

[Joystiq]