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[Blood Diamonds]

Link?

from the OP:

From the new Dev portal:


Our new website makes publishing simple

This new website had one goal—to make your lives easier. We’re hard at work making more and better tools to help you self-publish, digitally publish, and publish at retail.
Our plans are big, because yours are

We’ll soon have advanced project tracking and ROM submission, project-based message boards and more, helping you with every step—from concept, to publish, to counting your accolades. And as always, you’ll have the best global developer support team ever, right from the start, making the Nintendo Developer Portal your go-to resource.
Nintendo Dev Interface

Our newest gem in the box is the NDI Client. NDI stands for Nintendo Dev Interface, but it’s really going to be your new best friend. The NDI Client will help make sure you have the optimal development environment on your development system — by downloading and installing it all for you! You can tailor it to the platform you’re developing for, the SDK you want, even the region you’re working in. It allows easy download of all the relevant guidelines and documentation you need to do your work. It even allows you to update the firmware of certain development kits.

 

[Terrell]

from the OP:

And, to expand on that, the people who are familiar enough with developing for Nintendo hardware in the past stating that even that snippet is a major improvement from the norm. Heck, even a pleb on the outside looking in can see it's a pretty major overhaul over their prior offering.

 

[AmyS]

Just for reference, the last time Nintendo talked about hardware specs, relatively seriously, was 15 years ago, right after GameCube had been shown off.

https://web.archive.org/web/20021011031745/http://members.aol.com/mips36/shigeru_miyamoto.htm

Miyamoto talks about Nintendo GameCube

Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo Director of Technology, talks about how easy it was to create the GameCube demos, created with code similar to actual games. "Until now, us software developers were always being put on by the hardware developers" - whenever new hardware comes out, software developers are always amazed, their imaginations stirred by the hardware spec numbers. However, the reality so far is that the new system's real speed is not even a tenth of the peak performances shown in the specs. GameCube, though, is different - "I finally feel like I've met a set of honest hardware guys."

Miyamoto talks about Polygons

Polygon movement is essential in the creation of 3D games. Therefore, we are taking various steps to simplify polygon movement. Namely, this includes calculation of polygon display, properly shading and lighting the polygons and applying the textures. Whenever new hardware comes out, the manufacturer always talks about how many million polygons it puts out, but never mentions that when textures are applied only half that can be handled. Then when you do the lighting calculations, the number halves again. So the actual number of polygons is half of half, or about 1/10th of what they say. So if the specs say the machine can do 80-100 million polygons, that really translates to roughly 5-8 million.

Polygon-pushing power isn't enough; game machines have to be able to handle things like terrain and collision detection too. When the CPU handles these tasks, it can't do much else. With the GameCube, we've divided the tasks up as much as possible to eliminate bottlenecks. If you simply look at the documented specs for existing systems, they may seem to be the latest and greatest things at the moment, but in a year or so they'll already be outdated. On the other hand, looking at the GameCube, I think it will have a shelf life of many years. We wanted to make a piece of hardware that would free developers from worrying about technical stuff like polygons or bottlenecks.

Daily Radar UK - 11/08/00

Miyamoto talks to Famitsu about demos & GameCube technology.

Speaking as a developer, what types of software are you interested in creating for GameCube?Miyamoto: I think players are generally bored with games these days. I think that means developers are also somewhat bored. The GameCube has the potential to break everyone out of that cycle. We created the demo's shown on August 24th in just a few days, meanwhile we were working on other projects. Some of my co-workers told me to focus on actual games and not produce the GameCube demo's. But they were finished quickly, and they were a lot of fun.Still, there hasn't been an announcement regarding official games in development?

Miyamoto: Our public relations department ordered me not to show any other demo's, particularly ones which looked like actual games in development. So I haven't publicly shown any pictures of games that I'm focusing on now.

You mentioned at Spaceworld that five titles will launch alongside the GameCube next July?

Miyamoto: All of them more or less, are being developed under my supervision. We're still not sure how many titles will be available at launch though. Could be six or seven now.

But Nintendo will definitely have 5 internally developed games available for launch?

Miyamoto: Yes, Nintendo is planning to release 5 or so own its own. Please wait until E3 next May for more details though. If I revealed more now, Microsoft might change the specs of the Xbox . [laughs..] I don't want people to focus on specs though. Some people might say; 'GameCube isn't great, just look at its CPU power.' The truth is though, for tasks such as drawing pictures or making music, GameCube doesn't use the CPU. I think the balance of the GameCube hardware will lead the industry for years to come.

Existing consoles aren't capable of producing the demo's we showed at Spaceworld. In fact, I think the demo's resemble graphics created by multi-million dollar workstations. But, that's not what I want to emphasize. The main concept is; Nintendo has created 'The machine to make great games.' If you look at the specs, it could be a powerful multimedia machine. Almost anything is possible on it. But the GameCube hardware will be used strictly for great games.

Famitsu - 10/12/00 Question: What are some of the main technical advantages of the GAMECUBE over the PlayStation 2, in particular for game developers?

Miyamoto: Well, of course I've never worked on the PS2 hardware, so I really don't know, but what I've heard from many different people is that they have somehow created a machine that is even more difficult to make games for than the N64. In terms of the GAMECUBE, we have created the hardware so that it's much easier to program for than N64, and yet we can guarantee several dozens of times better performance than N64. In other words, GAMECUBE is probably far superior to the PS2 in terms of the friendliness for game developers.

 

[antonz]

The problem with the original Foxconn rumor is AMD has more or less leaked the launch window with their financial discussions barring some major surprise of Nintendo going with someone else. Chips generally arrive around 2 months before release so it seems safe to say there is no may or june production for july release.

 

[10k]

You're gonna get an NX reveal before the fiscal year ends March 31st. It's gonna be the equivalent of the XB1 and PS4 reveal where hardware specs, the console, controller, messaging, branding, and new tech will be emphasized. You'll get maybe 3-4 trailers of upcoming launch games. They'll talk about both the handheld and console. This event will probably be in February or March.

At E3 the prices for both SKU's will be revealed, along with launch day titles and titles filling out the rest of the calendar year. The handheld will most likely release in August to build some hype from E3.

The console will launch in the typical Black Friday slot.

The NX handheld will launch with some smaller titles, third party ports and Remasters. Maybe Pikmin 4 and Pokemon Z.

The home sku will launch with Zelda U/NX and Super Mario 3D in November while being able to play all the handheld games released from August till November.

$179.99 for the handheld
$299.99 for the console.

 

[Mory Dunz]

Wow at those launch titles. They almost make the Wii U's look good by comparison.


GC is especially pathetic.

 

[Lupin the Third]

The problem with the original Foxconn rumor is AMD has more or less leaked the launch window with their financial discussions barring some major surprise of Nintendo going with someone else. Chips generally arrive around 2 months before release so it seems safe to say there is no may or june production for july release.

What exactly did the AMD financial briefing reveal?

 

[Anth0ny]

Wow at those launch titles. They almost make the Wii U's look good by comparison.


GC is especially pathetic.

wii u is by far the worst launch lineup for a Nintendo console ever

just boring as fuck

 

[KingBroly]

They're not going to announce prices at E3. They never do.

I guess that one thing about Nintendo's new developer portal is that it's not Nintendo-like. It's very PR like. 'Your new best friend' isn't very Nintendo-like, you know? I mean...I guess I might be wrong because I'm not in that world, but that's just what it strikes me as.

I kinda agree that Wii U has a poor games lineup from Nintendo. I mean, the games are good, but they're not inspiring, and come across as extremely cheap and stale. The launch lineup was like 'yay! Minigame Collection and yay! 2D Mario platformer that hardcore gamers loathe!'

 

[antonz]

What exactly did the AMD financial briefing reveal?

Still no partner announced but that 2nd half of 2016 would see delivery of a Semi-custom designed chip.

 

[Lupin the Third]

Still no partner announced but that 2nd half of 2016 would see delivery of a Semi-custom designed chip.

Did some research. So apparently there are 3 chips in the pipeline at AMD w/an unannounced partner: all semi-custom, one an ARM, one an x86 and another x86-64 (a la PS4/XB1). One would take the company "beyond gaming". Very interesting. This sorta stuff should be in the OP.

 

[Trevelyan9999]

Did some research. So apparently there are 3 chips in the pipeline at AMD w/an unannounced partner: all semi-custom, one an ARM, one an x86 and another x86-64 (a la PS4/XB1). One would take the company "beyond gaming". Very interesting. This sorta stuff should be in the OP.

ARM = NX Portable
x86-64 = NX Console

NX Platform dev-kit will most likely be able to recompile code between both automatically after I read about the new developer portal website Nintendo opened just last week. Nintendo is really going to try to makeep a lot more easy to develop games on their platformsite it seems.

x86 = Server based chip not gaming related.


All just a guess of course.

 

[Pokemaniac]

ARM = NX Portable
x86-64 = NX Console

x86 = Server based chip not gaming related.


Just a guess.....

"x86" and "server" are not two things that go together particularly well. Using 32-bit when 64-bit is readily available is generally antithetical to what servers are typically used for.

Also, while using separate architectures for the handheld and console is something they probably could do, it introduces a lot of potential issues and seems needlessly complicated.

 

[Trevelyan9999]

"x86" and "server" are not two things that go together particularly well. Using 32-bit when 64-bit is readily available is generally antithetical to what servers are typically used for.

Also, while using separate architectures for the handheld and console is something they probably could do, it introduces a lot of potential issues and seems needlessly complicated.

So if the console is x86 like it seems, what would the portable be? Or would they just do ARM for both?

 

[Lupin the Third]

So if the console is x86 like it seems, what would the portable be? Or would they just do ARM for both?

This seems less likely because there's only one ARM chip in the works there. Again, assuming these are all Nintendo.

 

[MilkyJoe]

Citation needed.

Price drop over 3 years of any graphics card ever?

 

[blu]

Did some research. So apparently there are 3 chips in the pipeline at AMD w/an unannounced partner: all semi-custom, one an ARM, one an x86 and another x86-64 (a la PS4/XB1). One would take the company "beyond gaming". Very interesting. This sorta stuff should be in the OP.

That x86 is most likely an x86-64. People often don't bother with the '64' detail. Not to mention AMD don't have a contemporary x86 design.

 

[Trevelyan9999]

That x86 is most likely an x86-64. People often don't bother with the '64' detail. Not to mention AMD don't have a contemporary x86 design.

So in your opinion which one is for NX Portable and which for the NX console?

 

[Lupin the Third]

So in your opinion which one is for NX Portable and which for the NX console?

Again, assuming these are all for Nintendo, I can't imagine they would use either x86-64 for a handheld. That architecture is not renowned for the comparatively light power consumption that a portable demands. ARM in the handheld, easily. Now if only we knew more about the horsepower/design of these x86-64s...

Still would like blu's insight though.

 

[Graphics Horse]

I guess that one thing about Nintendo's new developer portal is that it's not Nintendo-like. It's very PR like. 'Your new best friend' isn't very Nintendo-like, you know? I mean...I guess I might be wrong because I'm not in that world, but that's just what it strikes me as.

Impression I get is they're trying to make it more indie friendly.

 

[Pokemaniac]

So if the console is x86 like it seems, what would the portable be? Or would they just do ARM for both?

ARM for both seems like the best option.

 

[Lupin the Third]

ARM for both seems like the best option.

But AMD isn't making two ARM chips. Just one, and two x86-64s.

 

[Pokemaniac]

This seems less likely because there's only one ARM chip in the works there. Again, assuming these are all Nintendo.

But AMD isn't making two ARM chips. Just one, and two x86-64s.

It is possible that Nintendo is getting the console SoC from AMD, and the handheld SoC from a more cell phone-oriented vendor. Differences in GPUs would be significantly easier to account for than differences in CPUs.

 

[Trevelyan9999]

It is possible that Nintendo is getting the console SoC from AMD, and the handheld SoC from a more cell phone-oriented vendor. Differences in GPUs would be significantly easier to account for than differences in CPUs.

I'm thinking that even if they are different CPU's the NX "Platform" dev kit would just recompile it down from console to portable and that might be Nintendo's plan since the beginning. For us to say it's difficult to due means nothing if Nintendo already found an "automatic" way of doing in the dev kit.

 

[Lupin the Third]

It is possible that Nintendo is getting the console SoC from AMD, and the handheld SoC from a more cell phone-oriented vendor. Differences in GPUs would be significantly easier to account for than differences in CPUs.

Then what does Nintendo need a "semi-custom x86-64" for?

 

[ramparter]

Impression I get is they're trying to make it more indie friendly.

Well Wii U has almost no 3rd party support but every week we see 1-3 indie games released. They even featured the indie games in the E3 digital.

 

[Pokemaniac]

I'm thinking that even if they are different CPU's the NX "Platform" dev kit would just recompile it down from console to portable and that might be Nintendo's plan since the beginning. For us to say it's difficult to due means nothing if Nintendo already found an "automatic" way of doing in the dev kit.

The issue isn't really that it would be hard for developers to compile their code for both. That is largely a solved problem.

There are two big issues with using multiple architectures. The first is that it creates a lot more work for Nintendo when maintaining their OS, development tools, etc. The second is that, unless all games are distributed as bytecode (which means a performance hit and extra work from Nintendo to maintain the bytecode language), it will encourage design patterns that will make the platform a lot less flexible as time goes on.

Then what does Nintendo need a "semi-custom x86-64" for?

I don't think it was ever officially stated that any of these chips were being made for Nintendo. That was just assumed because "gaming".

 

[AzaK]

If you actually read the thread, most people are OK with parity to PS4 or ever so slightly higher performance at best. I'm not sure what thread you're reading. And while I'm not sure what adding something that differentiates them has to do with anything, but I found it funny you mentioned cartridge slots, because card/cartridge readers are actually cheaper than optical disc drives to manufacture.

I don't think they are to be honest and I'm not talking about just this thread. I'm talking about Bosman and the other media I'm hearing/reading. The point being we know FUCK ALL about the NX. "industry leading chips" means next to nothing. I mean NOTHING. That could be anything from a cellphone chip to a high end discrete GPU.

No, Sony's MO had been quite clear, as they have repeated it since they entered the market: loss leader hardware with an impressive-looking spec sheet. Trying to make it seem like hardware that's less impressive is part of their "DNA" is laughable, when it's a exceptionally clear departure from the well-established norm for them. You're redefining history, at this point.

Are you talking about SONY or Nintendo when you say "Trying to make it seem like hardware that's less impressive is part of their "DNA" is laughable, "

I'm sure that if Microsoft hadn't opted for something more modest, it'd still be "game on" in the arms race for consoles, but they could afford to be more modest in their design with Microsoft bowing out of the arms race the way they did.
And while Kutaragi's penchant for exotic parts was already out of the picture, there was still a distinct possibility that Sony engineers would continue the trend in his absence, albeit to a less absurd degree as we saw with PS3. But from a business case perspective, it was all but assured not to be the case.

Where did you hear that SONY knew what MS was targeting?

And it's the same situation for Nintendo. If you look at their past alone, we know what we're in for. But from a business case, it's a disaster. So no, much like Sony and Microsoft were forced to change how they operate in the business, so too does Nintendo.

Yes they are forced to change. So lets look at the evidence. They have partnered with Japanese companies. They have got into theme park licensing. They have made Amiibos. They are making mobile games. Tell me where ANY of that means they are making a parity or + console?

The drastically different new dev portal (which we're hearing is mighty friendly to them in ways it never used to be), merging their in-house studios, cozying up to indies, launching an "ecosystem" platform that's unlike anything they've done... interestingly convenient that you leave these massive changes out because they don't suit the tale you're spinning.

Merging studios and the handheld+console divisions means nothing more than they can save money on OS and other software. Where does that point to parity+?

Which is something only those on the fringe of this discussion are talking about and not what you were originally addressing in your post; you discredited even the option for parity with your commentary, because that's what Bosman was proposing when you said he's likely to have a "meltdown" when NX is revealed. Let's not re-frame the discussion at the 11th hour, it's fairly clear that you're not even of the opinion that parity with PS4 is possible.

I will have to look at Bosman again because I don't recall him thinking "We'll get a PS4 NX". But either way my comment was broader. Nothing and I mean ABSOLUTELY nothing has shown us that Nintendo is going for a parity+ console. The only thing we have is "industry leading chips" which I've said before, at the moment, is worthless.

It's my understanding that they had to engineer the SHIT out of the PPC architecture they were using to get it to the level it was at the power envelope they had, so it really wasn't as "frugal" of a design as you're making it out to be with Wii U.

I'm not convinced the engineering effort was costly vs the money they saved by using beefed up old tech,

Beneficial? No, looking at their market position and the kind of consumer they have to get to buy this thing, it's a damn NECESSITY.

No it's not a necessity. Because there are infinite ideas out there and Nintendo are fucking smart motherfuckers. If anyone can find a new market and tap into it whilst generating massive profits it's Nintendo.

At or every so slightly above PS4 is what I'm talking about, have always been talking about, what Bosman was talking about when you proclaimed he'd have a meltdown at the horrible reality that awaits us all and what the vast majority of the thread has been talking about essentially the entire time, either as a possibility or an impossibility.

Whatever. I still don't think they will necessarily hit PS4 level. In fact, what I'm saying is that there is NOTHING. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that really tells us that they will hit PS4 level. Again I'll say that "industry leading chips" means nothing. N O T H I N G. It's about as useful as Reggie talking about the Wii U and saying "Wii U will be 1080p". Everything thought "WOW! Awesome" because they expected X but it really meant Y.

 

[James Scott]

If the games are playable on either piece of hardware, why would you need both at launch? It's the least profitable time for Nintendo to have a consumer buy hardware, anyways. So long as consumers are buying at least one piece of hardware and software with it, I don't think they'll mind if you wait to buy the other piece of hardware that the consumer will already own a software library for if the games are cross-compatible in some way.

So there's really nothing to consider, launching both simultaneously hurts no one.

One would imagine that there will be game the portable will not run like Zelda and certain AAA games.

 

[Father_Brain]

Let me put it slightly differently: Nintendo cannot hope to credibly compete with Sony/MS for the Western core console market *unless* they made huge investments in software aimed at that market a while back and have successfully kept that completely under wraps.

Even in that scenario, though, I still think they'd have a better chance trying another tack given how painfully late they'd be to this party.

 

[StevieP]

Price drop over 3 years of any graphics card ever?

Speaking about confirmation bias? Something something glass houses. But yeah, a sentiment echoed across the entire internet that is repeated in casual gamer circles is apparently worth less than your own estimation of the situation that appears to be backed by... absolutely nothing. Sure, we'll go with that.



RAM alone is 1/4th of the expense of a console usually and the RAM used in PS4 (GDDR5) is now available on a smaller and more efficient manufacturing process as of January (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GDDR5), which trims a lot of expense just with that one component alone. Assuming of course that they don't find an even cheaper or more efficient RAM solution, which is often a hallmark of Nintendo console design.

Higher-performance CPU/GPU chips on smaller processes will be available, as well, as mentioned many times in this thread, which can reduce costs if they aren't pushing their extreme higher limits, which they wouldn't really have to.

So the 2 most expensive components are now able to produce more power than what's currently in PS4 and likely for less money.

Need more citations?

Yes. Because the ps4 being a metric means you're going to have similar costing. I don't see a ps4 costing 200 dollars to build so they can sell for 250 in 6-9 months when they're going to start building these things. Especially considering the possibility that they're going for amd tech, which is on the same node that they've been since 2011. Your only possibility of a build cost to come anywhere close to your 250 figure AT RETAIL (which has to include retailer cut and ship/packing costs) is if they're not including an optical drive or onboard storage, which is somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 in build cost.

 

[Grampa Simpson]

If you actually read the thread, most people are OK with parity to PS4 or ever so slightly higher performance at best. I'm not sure what thread you're reading. And while I'm not sure what adding something that differentiates them has to do with anything, but I found it funny you mentioned cartridge slots, because card/cartridge readers are actually cheaper than optical disc drives to manufacture.

My fear is that if they go for PS4 performance, they'll price them out of the one market they're good at controlling - the youth market.

I'd rather that they have three systems early on:

NX Console (PS4 Level) $300/350
NX Handy (Vita Level) $175
NX Mini (NX Handy as a home console w/HDMI and the same controller as the home console) $125

I just think that having a presence there is really important.

Nintendo is still likely to surprise us with an interesting controller though.

 

[Yoshi]

Wow at those launch titles. They almost make the Wii U's look good by comparison.


GC is especially pathetic.

GameCube had Super Monkey Ball at launch, that was one incredible launch!

@poster above me: NX handy would then need a new name for German speaking markets, because here, Handy is the name for mobile phones (though many use "smartphone" instead of handy now).

 

[Trevelyan9999]

The issue isn't really that it would be hard for developers to compile their code for both. That is largely a solved problem.

There are two big issues with using multiple architectures. The first is that it creates a lot more work for Nintendo when maintaining their OS, development tools, etc. The second is that, unless all games are distributed as bytecode (which means a performance hit and extra work from Nintendo to maintain the bytecode language), it will encourage design patterns that will make the platform a lot less flexible as time goes on.



I don't think it was ever officially stated that any of these chips were being made for Nintendo. That was just assumed because "gaming".

It is almost 100% confirmed that it is the NX that these chips are for or at least one of them. There is no other company developing APU's for console "gaming" other than AMD and the NX is coming out in 2016 right in line with AMD's statements for their Semi-Custom SOC generating revenue.

 

[Nightbird]

It is almost 100% confirmed that it is the NX that these chips are for or at least one of them. There is no other company developing APU's for console "gaming" other than AMD and the NX is coming out in 2016 right in line with AMD's statements for their Semi-Custom SOC generating revenue.

Are those chips good or are they pointing at a WiiU situation again?

 

[Oregano]

My fear is that if they go for PS4 performance, they'll price them out of the one market they're good at controlling - the youth market.

I'd rather that they have three systems early on:

NX Console (PS4 Level) $300/350
NX Handy (Vita Level) $175
NX Mini (NX Handy as a home console w/HDMI and the same controller as the home console) $125

I just think that having a presence there is really important.

Nintendo is still likely to surprise us with an interesting controller though.

Personally I feel much more comfortable pinning the handheld at "comfortably above" Vita levels than pinning the console at even approaching PS4 levels.

 

[Ryoku]

What do you guys think of the chances that Nintendo would use GDDR5X instead of GDDR5 or HBM?
http://www.guru3d.com/news_story/graphics_card_memory_gddr5x_to_make_an_appearance.html

 

[Kissenkopf]

Are those chips good or are they pointing at a WiiU situation again?

Yeah, my question aswell.

 

[StevieP]

What do you guys think of the chances Nintendo would use GDDR5X instead of GDDR5 or HBM?
http://www.guru3d.com/news_story/graphics_card_memory_gddr5x_to_make_an_appearance.html

I haven't yet read that story but when you're considering newer stuff, ask yourself (for 14/16nm finfet as well): "can it be mass produced by the manufacturer's suppliers by summer 2016 for a non-inflated cost, and reliably without a lot of waste product"? I mean, the parts of a wafer for i7s that doesn't hold up to scrutiny becomes an i5 or an i3 or a pentium or an etc etc... that isn't the case with console production. They all have to be the same.

 

[Graphics Horse]

It is almost 100% confirmed that it is the NX that these chips are for or at least one of them. There is no other company developing APU's for console "gaming" other than AMD and the NX is coming out in 2016 right in line with AMD's statements for their Semi-Custom SOC generating revenue.

I guess... but would we know if Qualcomm or others were developing such an SoC?

 

[10k]

The x86 is the home console.
The ARM is the handheld.
The other is unrelated to Nintendo.

Maybe the architectures wont be as unified as Nintendo wanted?

 

[ElFly]

The only way to get x64 and unified architecture would be going to Intel and ask for a modification of the chips that power the Asus Zenphones. After the OG Xbox debacle, don't know if Nintendo will risk going to Intel for a chip.

I think it will be all ARM. AMD was preparing an ARM / x64 hybrid chip but stopped it, maybe Nintendo could get some of that tech.

Chances are it will be different architectures, with the unified part being done at the OS and library level.

 

[James Scott]

My fear is that if they go for PS4 performance, they'll price them out of the one market they're good at controlling - the youth market.

I'd rather that they have three systems early on:

NX Console (PS4 Level) $300/350
NX Handy (Vita Level) $175
NX Mini (NX Handy as a home console w/HDMI and the same controller as the home console) $125

I just think that having a presence there is really important.

Nintendo is still likely to surprise us with an interesting controller though.

They can keep the kid audience on handhelds.
Going for Vita level specs on the handheld at around the price of the new 3DS now and the console going for PS4 spec at around 300. Caters to both markets and if at least one does well they're set

 

[Gurgelhals]

x86-64 sounds like a terrible choice if they intend to release NX in 2016. The Bulldozer-derived cores are on their way out and were never that great to begin with. And a Zen-based semi-custom chip for 2016 is highly unlikely. After all, the real Zen is slated for late 2016; they're not going to have a semi-custom design based on Zen ready before releasing Zen itself.

 

[georly]

They can keep the kid audience on handhelds.
Going for Vita level specs on the handheld at around the price of the new 3DS now and the console going for PS4 spec at around 300. Caters to both markets and if at least one does well they're set

If either is successful, it can help the success of the other if a big portion of the games are crossplay/crossbuy. Say you buy the handheld for monster hunter, but now, if you want, you can play monster hunter at a higher rez on the tv if you buy the console. Maybe 1 game isn't enough, but... after 5-10... and you can now also play them on the TV whenever you want, some people might do it. Same goes for the other way around.

 

[McHuj]

What do you guys think of the chances that Nintendo would use GDDR5X instead of GDDR5 or HBM?
http://www.guru3d.com/news_story/graphics_card_memory_gddr5x_to_make_an_appearance.html

I think the chances of Nintendo using GDDR5 or HBM are extremely low. I'm expecting an on-chip ESRAM buffer with DDR4. By this time next year, it will be even cheaper and the price will continue to drop over the course of NX's lifetime. Nintendo could get similar BW to the Xbone but on a smaller and more efficient bus.

They've liked to use embedded memory for a while now and I don't think they'll stop now.

I keep thinking that it's going to end up a more efficient, up to date (architecturally), and cost effective Xbone Jr: Quad core, 1Tflop GPU, embedded memory, 4-6GB of ram for around $249. Speculation from my ass.

 

[McHuj]

The only way to get x64 and unified architecture would be going to Intel and ask for a modification of the chips that power the Asus Zenphones. After the OG Xbox debacle, don't know if Nintendo will risk going to Intel for a chip.

I think it will be all ARM. AMD was preparing an ARM / x64 hybrid chip but stopped it, maybe Nintendo could get some of that tech.

Chances are it will be different architectures, with the unified part being done at the OS and library level.

I think the problems with the original Xbox had more to do with Microsoft's poor decisions than Intel. Microsoft knew what they were getting, for how much, and how the price was going to change for the lifetime of the product.

 

[atbigelow]

The only way to get x64 and unified architecture would be going to Intel and ask for a modification of the chips that power the Asus Zenphones. After the OG Xbox debacle, don't know if Nintendo will risk going to Intel for a chip.

I think it will be all ARM. AMD was preparing an ARM / x64 hybrid chip but stopped it, maybe Nintendo could get some of that tech.

Chances are it will be different architectures, with the unified part being done at the OS and library level.

I don't understand why you think Nintendo has to get involved with Intel for x64. Especially since AMD is the one who invented it.

 

[ElFly]

I think the problems with the original Xbox had more to do with Microsoft's poor decisions than Intel. Microsoft knew what they were getting, for how much, and how the price was going to change for the lifetime of the product.

That's fair, but dunno how open to negotiations Intel is. They are obviously happy to sell cellphone kits, even though they said they were selling it at a little loss and that they'd cut that out in the near future, so cheap Intel based phones may be out. The Zenphone2 I think is under $300, which is on the expensive side for a Nintendo handheld. But dunno how that applies to designing a console.

I don't understand why you think Nintendo has to get involved with Intel for x64. Especially since AMD is the one who invented it.

They make rad, cheap x64 based cellphones. I don't think AMD does? which makes Intel a better partner for a handheld. It doesn't matter who invented what, since Intel has a license to make x64 chips, in exchange for AMD using the x86 arch. Or something.

 

[James Scott]

If either is successful, it can help the success of the other if a big portion of the games are crossplay/crossbuy. Say you buy the handheld for monster hunter, but now, if you want, you can play monster hunter at a higher rez on the tv if you buy the console. Maybe 1 game isn't enough, but... after 5-10... and you can now also play them on the TV whenever you want, some people might do it. Same goes for the other way around.

Yeah, giving consumers that have both extra benefits would be great. Ultimate off screen play for games like MH and Smash: play on the TV at home, press a button to move to the portable and you can keep playing wherever. Maybe loyalty discounts for investing so much, and having a library of games to play day 1 without additional investment. Would be very cool if they could do cross play as well