15th April 2011, 5:55 PM
It really is important to developers. Part of it is simply porting. It's very hard to port a game designed with higher specifications to a lower system. Even the Genesis suffered due to this, with ports that had reduced colors and poorer sound (though for the most part, instead developers simply made unique games for the Genesis). The other part is, if it's going to control in a classic way, go for the system that lets you have the most freedom. When it comes to game design, the more powerful the system, the more freedom you have to do what you want. If Nintendo doesn't try to make a powerful system this time around, they'll do poorly. Sony and MS have both put out their own motion controls, and in some ways the camera approach is actually better.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)