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[sörine]

Nintendo won't switch to flash, they'll stick with rom. I'm sure Macronix is cooking up a new high density / low cost solution for them right now.

 

[Oregano]

Personally, my expectations are pretty realistic. I'm going in for the Nintendo exclusives alone. Anything else (like Dragon Quest or Monster Hunter, both of which are likely to happen) will be a wonderful bonus.

That's probably a pretty good plan. It's probably not a bad idea if you're an Atlus fan either but who knows now that Sega owns them.

Well, some of those were indeed underway but got canceled. Crysis 3 being a good example. Even formally announced stuff like Ghost Recon Online or Aliens Colonial Marines got canceled. And some other NDA'd titles ended up releasing (like COD) weren't confirmed until close to release.

There was a ton of speculation on what 3rd party games were Wii U bound and while much of it didn't pan out it wasn't totally unfounded either. By early 2013 plans changed considerably for 3rd parties.

True but people were assuming Wii U was going to get the majority of multiplatform games and then were in denial when game after game skipped the platform. Actually the best times were when publishers came out as specifically announced stuff wasn't for the Wii U, as if they were proud of that fact.

I'm not assuming much outside of games that the publishers themselves have said/teased and games that will likely not leave the Nintendo ecosystem unless the NX is a disaster (MH and Yokai Watch)
Expecting games on a Nintendo console might not be wise (madden, Bethesda games, etc) but at least Japan should very much be on board with the portable/shared library thing

Well I was saying it in relation to the Tekken thing up-thread. I definitely wouldn't assume any game is NX-bound at this point regardless of weird wording,

I think we can realistically expect much of Nintendo's Japanese handheld support and western indie support to migrate to NX. It's not quite that dire.

It's still pretty dire. Their Japanese handheld support has seen much better days and they have the worst indie support out of pretty much every digital vendor(PSN,XBL,iOS,Google Play, Amazon, Steam, etc.).

Spoiler

I also wouldn't be surprised if publishers see Nintendo entering mobile as a loss of confidence in their handheld products and decide to avoid the system.

 

[sörine]

True but people were assuming Wii U was going to get the majority of multiplatform games and then were in denial when game after game skipped the platform. Actually the best times were when publishers came out as specifically announced stuff wasn't for the Wii U, as if they were proud of that fact.

Sure but I'd don't think anyone's suggesting NX will get the majority of 3rd party games either. People's expectations seem pretty tempered already here.

It's still pretty dire. Their Japanese handheld support has seen much better days and they have the worst indie support out of pretty much every digital vendor(PSN,XBL,iOS,Google Play, Amazon, Steam, etc.).

Spoiler

I also wouldn't be surprised if publishers see Nintendo entering mobile as a loss of confidence in their handheld products and decide to avoid the system.

The biggest Japanese 3rd party games are still 3DS bound. That the system is seeing pehaps it's commercially strongest 3rd party lineup in 2016 is pretty mind boggling. Also, I think a solid argument can be made for Nintendo passing Xbox with indie support, due to both policies and market performance. At the least, things aren't as dire as being a Nintendo-only platform.

Spoiler

I think this largely depends on how Nintendo approaches mobile. I doubt efforts like Miitomo or Pokemon Go will cause DQXI, MH5 or YW4 to suddenly lose confidence in Nintendo handhelds and drop NX.

 

[jhmtehgamr20xx]

Flash may not be quite as durable as durable as ROM memory, but reading it isn't going to wear it out. The thing that wears out Flash is program/erase cycles (i.e. modifying data). In a Flash based cartridge, you'd still only be writing the data once. The only part that runs a risk of wearing out is memory for save data.

Thinking on it atm, that is true, and I guess Nintendo could implement a way to lock out any attempts of modifying the data. Otherwise you could get a scenario of people taking the card of one game, erasing the data, then copying the data of an installed game on their drive to the card that way a buddy can play it on their system. And they probably wouldn't want that.

But fore purposes of necessity I'm guessing they'd want to use a cartridge molding in any case, like the Everdrive carts. And if the console and handheld can play the same physical games it'd be as easy as removing the card out of the shell and putting it in the handheld?

Still though, speed is an issue with flash memory, especially regarding larger AAA games (the sort Nintendo's going to need if they want the console to succeed with core gamers in the West)

Nintendo won't switch to flash, they'll stick with rom. I'm sure Macronix is cooking up a new high density / low cost solution for them right now.

I'll have to look into those guys but realistically speaking how much can they hope to do? Even EPROM is going to be costly once the sizes start to add up, and I doubt a manufacturer is going to go all-out in a flash-rivaling solution for what is, by all measures (and with much respect) a video game company. Masked ROM chips (the kind old cart games used) would be even more expensive per bit, I imagine.

Even mobile games can get pretty big in size, as with handhelds. But console games these days are plainly massive in file sizes, and that's with good compression. I don't think a pure ROM solution could work with today's games unfortunately, while still being affordable for publishers and especially consumers.

 

[Riki]

I'm sure Nintendo will stick to discs for their console. They're cheap and easy. Expecting anything else is a recipie for disappointment.

 

[Pancakes R Us]

Might have already been mentioned, but when the PR announcement was made for Tekken 7 coming to other consoles beyond PS4, it was announced for "home systems" and not specifically PS4/XB1 only.

I think most of us expected a NX version, given that the game runs on Unreal Engine 4, Bandai Namco's close relationship with Nintendo, and the fact that there's a fighting game fanbase on Nintendo's consoles already, but the ambiguity of the announcement is another point in a NX port's favor.

Can you elaborate on the fighting game fan base? Is it based on the success of Smash? If so, I don't think this stands, as SSB is a different style of fighting game and appeals to the Nintendo faithful in part because of the Nintendo characters. It's like saying there's a big racing game fanbase on the system because of Mario Kart, but I don't think sim racers would do very well on it.

 

[Vena]

It's still pretty dire. Their Japanese handheld support has seen much better days and they have the worst indie support out of pretty much every digital vendor(PSN,XBL,iOS,Google Play, Amazon, Steam, etc.).

Spoiler

I also wouldn't be surprised if publishers see Nintendo entering mobile as a loss of confidence in their handheld products and decide to avoid the system.

The 3DS Japanese 3rd party support into late 2015/2016 is strong and much better than anything else coming to market on other platforms. Plus Pokemon.

Japanese 3rd parties can only stick their heads in the sand with regards to the home market for so long, and outside of a few key established franchises they aren't finding some miracle western successes that they couldn't have just as easily found on a handheld with an actual home market presence. Its either going to be the NX handheld, or the market is going to fold into mobile when the 3DS migrates out. The software is depressingly bad everywhere else (we've all seen the numbers), and no amount of sacrificial offerings to the PS4 is going to make that a tenable product or bring in market stability. The WiiU and PS4 (which is getting crutched hard by the Vita and PS3) are on similar levels of software with the former being a dead platform and the latter getting its support made feasible by the fading presence of two other platforms.

There is no health in the home console market. Burning the Vita bridge (and whatever fans were caught on the otherside) was the killing blow for anything outside of the major niche lines.

 

[MatrixMan.EXE]

Spoiler

I also wouldn't be surprised if publishers see Nintendo entering mobile as a loss of confidence in their handheld products and decide to avoid the system.

No lies detected.

 

[James Scott]

Do you think Nintendo will pull a MS with their hardware numbers? With a shared library it makes more sense than it would otherwise and it makes them look a lot better where their singular hardware sales would be less impressive
Instead of reporting selling 2 million consoles and 3 million handhelds, reporting "5 million NX systems sold throughout the last two quarters"

 

[Darkangel]

Tremondous relationship? You haven't released a new game for the system since 2012 launch (Need for Speed was a port, and Fifa and Madden were based off the '12 versions not PS3 and 360's '13 versions).

They probably haven't even talked in three years.

Ya, I don't put much stock into anything EA says regarding Nintendo.

 

[MatrixMan.EXE]

Do you think Nintendo will pull a MS with their hardware numbers? With a shared library it makes more sense than it would otherwise and it makes them look a lot better where their singular hardware sales would be less impressive
Instead of reporting selling 2 million consoles and 3 million handhelds, reporting "5 million NX systems sold throughout the last two quarters"

They're pretty honest with their numbers, both on the hardware and software front so I think they'll break it down properly.

 

[Sadist]

I don't think they will stop updating their IR site starting from NX.

 

[Sammy Samusu]

Honestly, Nintendo saying totally new gaming experience makes me shiver with worry.

I mean, it didn't work with the Wii U. At all.

But it worked with DS and Wii.

It's just the way it is, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Failures happen all the time, but the most important thing is to keep trying and being creative.

Do we really want another regular console on the market? We already have PS4 and XBO.

 

[James Scott]

They're pretty honest with their numbers, both on the hardware and software front so I think they'll break it down properly.

Sure, but would they benefit from it?
Imagine being able to say "100 million NX systems have been sold" if they sold like 65 million portable's and 35 million consoles.

 

[blu]

Slow Saturday. Here's my NX home bracket of speculation:

upper extremum - 85W envelope*:

8x A72 @28nm 2GHz / 4x Zen @16FF @ ~2.5GHz - 30-40W**
GCN Cape Verde @ 28nm 512ALUs @ ~0.7GHz - 30-40W***
6GB DDR4, 32MB eDRAM (or another similar pool)

lower extremum - 45W envelope:

4x A57 @28nm 2GHz - 12W
GCN Cape Verde @ 28nm 512ALUs @ ~0.5GHz - 30W
6GB DDR3

* Peripheral buses (e.g. USB) non-withstanding
** The bracket here is really pushed up by the Zen option; the A72 option might take as little as half the TDP.
*** The 16FF option apparently affects the GPU node as well, which in practice would bring down the GPU-related portion of the TDP to or below its lower margin, or throw the GPU family bracket astray altogether. Or heck, bring CoWoS into the picture.

 

[Fourth Storm]

You'll get a donut screen and it'll be awesome.

Hehe, you know I'm not completely dismissing that rumor until I see NX for myself.

 

[SuperLeviathan]

Wii U's "new experience" costs 100 to pack in.
As long as it's not something like that, it's fine

I think that was the rub; what does the Gamepad do that couldn't be done on the 3DS? Quasi-portability instead of real portability?

It hasn't created new experiences like the Wiimote did, it's created control parity between Nintendo consoles and Nintendo handhelds. That probably undid a lot of the excitement.

 

[Rubixcuba]

Nintendo at E3 next year. Digital or full fledged press conference?

 

[Shiggy]

The 3DS Japanese 3rd party support into late 2015/2016 is strong and much better than anything else coming to market on other platforms. Plus Pokemon.

Japanese 3rd parties can only stick their heads in the sand with regards to the home market for so long, and outside of a few key established franchises they aren't finding some miracle western successes that they couldn't have just as easily found on a handheld with an actual home market presence. Its either going to be the NX handheld, or the market is going to fold into mobile when the 3DS migrates out. The software is depressingly bad everywhere else (we've all seen the numbers), and no amount of sacrificial offerings to the PS4 is going to make that a tenable product or bring in market stability. The WiiU and PS4 (which is getting crutched hard by the Vita and PS3) are on similar levels of software with the former being a dead platform and the latter getting its support made feasible by the fading presence of two other platforms.

There is no health in the home console market. Burning the Vita bridge (and whatever fans were caught on the otherside) was the killing blow for anything outside of the major niche lines.

Now please really excuse my ignorance, I do not follow Japanese 3rd parties that closely. But isn't their 3DS support also relatively bad? Do Sega, Namco Bandai, Konami, or Capcom have anything big in the pipeline? I can only think of all the Atlus RPGs and the new Dragon Quest.

 

[Oregano]

Sure but I'd don't think anyone's suggesting NX will get the majority of 3rd party games either. People's expectations seem pretty tempered already here.

Well I think people have largely given up on Western stuff but people still seem overly optimistic on Japanese stuff still. I've seen people suggest FFXV, FFVII and KH3 could come to NX which is frankly ridiculous at this point.

The biggest Japanese 3rd party games are still 3DS bound. That the system is seeing pehaps it's commercially strongest 3rd party lineup in 2016 is pretty mind boggling. Also, I think a solid argument can be made for Nintendo passing Xbox with indie support, due to both policies and market performance. At the least, things aren't as dire as being a Nintendo-only platform.

It's getting surprisingly good support if we consider it's a Nintendo platform which is (likely) being replaced next year but DQ is the only title(s) that arguably make 2016 a stronger year.

But it's not just about the absolute biggest games; the 3DS hasn't had a mid-tier since 2012. The 3DS was in much better shape when it was getting stuff like Kingdom Hearts, Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Dead or Alive and Tales of as well as the biggest games.

I've not seen a full comparison between eShop and XBL to be honest but it definitely seems to me that the Wii U still misses out on more indie stuff(or gets it super late).

Spoiler

I think this largely depends on how Nintendo approaches mobile. I doubt efforts like Miitomo or Pokemon Go will cause DQXI, MH5 or YW4 to suddenly lose confidence in Nintendo handhelds and drop NX.

Definitely, I think that's why Nintendo has been careful not to just slap an existing franchise as-is so far.

Spoiler

It could easily be next gen's go-to excuse though.

The 3DS Japanese 3rd party support into late 2015/2016 is strong and much better than anything else coming to market on other platforms. Plus Pokemon.

Japanese 3rd parties can only stick their heads in the sand with regards to the home market for so long, and outside of a few key established franchises they aren't finding some miracle western successes that they couldn't have just as easily found on a handheld with an actual home market presence. Its either going to be the NX handheld, or the market is going to fold into mobile when the 3DS migrates out. The software is depressingly bad everywhere else (we've all seen the numbers), and no amount of sacrificial offerings to the PS4 is going to make that a tenable product or bring in market stability. The WiiU and PS4 (which is getting crutched hard by the Vita and PS3) are on similar levels of software with the former being a dead platform and the latter getting its support made feasible by the fading presence of two other platforms.

There is no health in the home console market. Burning the Vita bridge (and whatever fans were caught on the otherside) was the killing blow for anything outside of the major niche lines.

I see the market folding into mobile as the more likely option. Publishers will keep trying on PS4 though, we've already seen some(like Koei Tecmo) persevere even when results have been somewhat lackluster.

EDIT:

Now please really excuse my ignorance, I do not follow Japanese 3rd parties that closely. But isn't their 3DS support also relatively bad? Do Sega, Namco Bandai, Konami, or Capcom have anything big in the pipeline? I can only think of all the Atlus RPGs and the new Dragon Quest.

Capcom have Monster Hunter and Ace Attorney, the former much bigger than the latter. MH Stories will probably be massive.

Biggest thing Namco has is Project X Zone 2. Konami and Sega have next to nothing(might actually just be nothing).

 

[Asd202]

Well I think people have largely given up on Western stuff but people still seem overly optimistic on Japanese stuff still. I've seen people suggest FFXV, FFVII and KH3 could come to NX which is frankly ridiculous at this point.

SE have not even announced it for Xbone but will make a port for NX? Not happening unless something big happens.

The biggest Japanese 3rd party games are still 3DS bound. That the system is seeing pehaps it's commercially strongest 3rd party lineup in 2016 is pretty mind boggling. Also, I think a solid argument can be made for Nintendo passing Xbox with indie support, due to both policies and market performance. At the least, things aren't as dire as being a Nintendo-only platform.

That depends what you mean by biggest. When your talking about sales in Japanese market than yes they are but budget wise PS4 have bigger games with MGSV and future SE line-up. Also I think that unless NX will have some kind of "hook" that will grab the market without 3rd party support the home come console will end up like the WiiU. NX handheld will be really interesting to see how it will perform outside of Japan. I won't be surpriesed if the NX handheld sells less than 3DS.

 

[Shiggy]

Capcom have Monster Hunter and Ace Attorney, the former much bigger than the latter. MH Stories will probably be massive.

Biggest thing Namco has is Project X Zone 2. Konami and Sega have next to nothing(might actually just be nothing).

Completely missed that they have a new Monster Hunter coming. Digging the new art style!

Still interesting to see that Project X Zone is developed by Nintendo but published and funded by a 3rd party.

Konami and Sega don't have much for anything.

 

[Oregano]

SE have not even announced it for Xbone but will make a port for NX? Not happening unless something big happens.

It was announced as "First on Playstation 4" but yeah, pretty much.

Completely missed that they have a new Monster Hunter coming. Digging the new art style!

Konami and Sega don't have much for anything.

Sega is betting on PS4 somewhat. They have Yakuza and PSO2(and Persona 5 if you count Atlus).

 

[Sadist]

I doubt FF VII Remake won´t be released on Xbox One. But if NX is powerful enough... I can see Nintendo trying to get it on their platform. Would make one hell of a tagline. "Okay everyone, it's twenty years later, but here you have it: the best version of Final Fantasy VII on a Nintendo platform!"

 

[madstarr12]

Nintendo at E3 next year. Digital or full fledged press conference?

If they're revealing the Console or Handheld version (or both) of NX, they MUST have a conference. It's a big deal, and the best way in getting the the word out to the media. A Digital Event is not big enough for huge reveals like this.

 

[GrandiaX]

Does anyone really care what EA does on the NX? I get that it has a loyal userbase from their sports franchises but what was the last great game they have made?

 

[KingSnake]

Does anyone really care what EA does on the NX? I get that it has a loyal userbase from their sports franchises but what was the last great game they have made?

In today's industry a console can't become mainstream or a success without FIFA and Madden. Because without those games will always be either a secondary console or one just for Nintendo fans. So a (slightly better) Wii U.

 

[Darius]

I also wouldn't be surprised if publishers see Nintendo entering mobile as a loss of confidence in their handheld products and decide to avoid the system.

I on the other hand wouldn´t be surprised if they take a closer look at the total trainwreck PSV has been and the in general mediocre software sales on any PS systems when it comes to more Japan focused IPs in Japan. I really doubt they´ll follow blindly a only PS ecosystem strategy. Keep in mind that their PSV support was mostly due to the positive momentum of PSP over there, and to a lesser degree also PS3 had something like a positive momentum leading into this gen. Currently the PS4/PSV/PS3 ecosystem is keeping them somewhat "viable" but PS3 is already on its last legs and PSV is also declining and PS4 will eventually have to proof its viability in Japan on its own in just a few years.

Here a little list I just copied, a Top 10 or Top 20 would have highlighted even further how bad any system besides the 3DS is performing in Japan.


3DS

Pokémon X / Y: 4.551.661
Animal Crossing: New Leaf: 4.462.399
Monster Hunter 4: 3.862.413
Yo-kai Watch 2: Ganso / Honke: 3.243.900
Pokémon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire: 2.965.898

WIU

New Super Mario Bros. U: 1.225.115
Mario Kart 8: 1.185.462
Splatoon: 857.186
Wii Party U: 811.450
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U: 719.036

PS4

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain: 467.149
Knack: 400.806
Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woes and The Blight Below: 352.290
Bloodborne: 251.502
Grand Theft Auto V*: 214.591

PSV

Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition: 666.390
God Eater 2*: 427.863
God Eater 2: Rage Burst: 356.491
Freedom Wars: 336.416
Persona 4 Golden*: 308.635

 

[Vena]

Now please really excuse my ignorance, I do not follow Japanese 3rd parties that closely. But isn't their 3DS support also relatively bad? Do Sega, Namco Bandai, Konami, or Capcom have anything big in the pipeline? I can only think of all the Atlus RPGs and the new Dragon Quest.

MH:Stories, MHX, YW3, Snack World, Pokemon Z, Ace Attorney, and others I am forgetting. MHX, admittedly, is this year.

I see the market folding into mobile as the more likely option. Publishers will keep trying on PS4 though, we've already seen some(like Koei Tecmo) persevere even when results have been somewhat lackluster.

Sure, its a very real possibility. I just don't think the industry is so suicidal as to die on the sword. Even SE wasn't willing to go that far.

 

[Mithos]

Slow Saturday. Here's my NX home bracket of speculation:

upper extremum - 85W envelope*:

8x A72 @28nm 2GHz / 4x Zen @16FF @ ~2.5GHz - 30-40W**
GCN Cape Verde @ 28nm 512ALUs @ ~0.7GHz - 30-40W***
6GB DDR4, 32MB eDRAM (or another similar pool)

lower extremum - 45W envelope:

4x A57 @28nm 2GHz - 12W
GCN Cape Verde @ 28nm 512ALUs @ ~0.5GHz - 30W
6GB DDR3

* Peripheral buses (e.g. USB) non-withstanding
** The bracket here is really pushed up by the Zen option; the A72 option might take as little as half the TDP.
*** The 16FF option apparently affects the GPU node as well, which in practice would bring down the GPU-related portion of the TDP to or below its lower margin, or throw the GPU family bracket astray altogether. Or heck, bring CoWoS into the picture.

As someone who don't know to do the math, this means compared to an Xbox One or a PS4 what?

 

[Darius]

MH:Stories, MHX, YW3, Snack World, Pokemon Z, Ace Attorney, and others I am forgetting. MHX, admittedly, is this year.



Sure, its a very real possibility. I just don't think the industry is so suicidal as to die on the sword. Even SE wasn't willing to go that far.

As you mentioned SQEX, there are also Dragon Quest Monster Joker 3 and DQ11. SMT4F is also a game I´m looking forward to.

 

[Oregano]

I on the other hand wouldn´t be surprised if they take a closer look at the total trainwreck PSV has been and the in general mediocre software sales on any PS systems when it comes to more Japan focused IPs in Japan. I really doubt they´ll follow blindly a only PS ecosystem strategy. Keep in mind that their PSV support was mostly due to the positive momentum of PSP over there, and to a lesser degree also PS3 had something like a positive momentum leading into this gen. Currently the PS4/PSV/PS3 ecosystem is keeping them somewhat "viable" but PS3 is already on its last legs and PSV is also declining and PS4 will eventually have to proof its viability in Japan on its own in just a few years.

Here a little list I just copied, a Top 10 or Top 20 would have highlighted even further how bad any system besides the 3DS is performing in Japan.

Publishers seem more than happy with the performance of their Vita software though. Its support has actually gotten stronger over the years.

MH:Stories, MHX, YW3, Snack World, Pokemon Z, Ace Attorney, and others I am forgetting. MHX, admittedly, is this year.



Sure, its a very real possibility. I just don't think the industry is so suicidal as to die on the sword. Even SE wasn't willing to go that far.

They won't die though. They all have mobile. It's no coincidence that Nintendo's two big supporters(Capcom & Level 5) are struggling on mobile. The rest have mobile for money makers and
PS Ecosystem for prestige titles. Nintendo platforms are that unfortunate middle ground no one wants to be in.

 

[James Scott]

3DS got Japan's biggest software while Vita got the more mid tier titles. I'm hoping that the NX portable is powerful enough to appease to those devs since they'll need a new main system in about a year or two.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

NX should make a play for Vita's pervert market in Japan.

It's a group of people that will always come out reliably and will defend your system to the death.

 

[Darius]

Publishers seem more than happy with the performance of their Vita software though. Its support has actually gotten stronger over the years.

Sales have been mediocre at best from the beginning and show an obvious negative trend, it´s a sinking ship that´s one of the reasons we see more PSV games("IPs") beeing released as PSV+PS4 multiplat in an almost desperate attempt to transfer the audience to PS4.

 

[Oregano]

NX should make a play for Vita's pervert market in Japan.

It's a group of people that will always come out reliably and will defend your system to the death.

There's probably significant overlap between those people and the people that would never touch a Nintendo system due to kiddy stigma.

3DS got Japan's biggest software while Vita got the more mid tier titles. I'm hoping that the NX portable is powerful enough to appease to those devs since they'll need a new main system in about a year or two.

3DS got the biggest software but it only really three series(MH, DQ, YW). Youkai Watch only became big on 3DS and now Vita is getting DQ games too(though notably not mainline).

Devs/Pubs have already decided PS4 is their next home.

EDIT:

Sales have been mediocre at best from the beginning and show an obvious negative trend, it´s a sinking ship that´s one of the reasons we see more PSV games("IPs") beeing released as PSV+PS4 multiplat in an almost desperate attempt to transfer the audience to PS4.

True but the fact that all those publishers see PS4(and Steam) as more natural paths is damming in the first place. Of course NX isn't formally announced yet so there could be some betrayaltons.

 

[Anth0ny]

Nintendo at E3 next year. Digital or full fledged press conference?

they would be insane not to have a real ass press conference for a new hardware reveal


so I'm thinking it'll be a digital event

 

[Sammy Samusu]

Devs/Pubs have already decided PS4 is their next home.

But have the Japanese gamers? hihihi

 

[10k]

Does anyone really care what EA does on the NX? I get that it has a loyal userbase from their sports franchises but what was the last great game they have made?

Umm, they own BioWare and have the rights to all the sports franchises and Star Wars.

I know it's cool to hate on EA, but they publish very popular games, some of them even critical successes. Being able to play the next Mass Effect, Dragon Age, or Star Wars game on my Nintendo console would be a dream come true.

 

[Oregano]

But have the Japanese gamers? hihihi

Not so far but if publishers/hardware vendors were actually giving consumers what they want the dedicated industry wouldn't be in shambles over there.

 

[Hero of Legend]

they would be insane not to have a real ass press conference for a new hardware reveal


so I'm thinking it'll be a digital event

Hopefully they have a real conference, maybe two with one in Spring ala PS4 and XBO. Besides, they rented the damn theater for the tournaments for two years in a row, so what are they saving exactly?

I do hope that the Wii U's very underwhelming unveiling and message back in E3 2011 tells them what they need to do this time. Iwata said himself that he really regretted not showing off the console itself (it was tucked in the corner of the TV in the video, and nowhere else until the press assets showed up).

 

[Hiltz]

they would be insane not to have a real ass press conference for a new hardware reveal


so I'm thinking it'll be a digital event

I think it will be a regular press conference, but only if it is for revealing a new hardware platform. If it's just another year for Wii U and 3DS software, then Nintendo will likely just stick to digital format.

 

[Darius]

True but the fact that all those publishers see PS4(and Steam) as more natural paths is damming in the first place. Of course NX isn't formally announced yet so there could be some betrayaltons.

The decisions for already announced games have been made at least 1-2 years ago. At that time WiiUs fate was sealed, they saw PS4 taking off in the West and at the same time they couldn´t foresee that PS4 would perform as bad as WiiU until now in Japan.

 

[Oregano]

The decisions for already announced games have been made at least 1-2 years ago. At that time they saw PS4 taking off in the West and at the same time they couldn´t foresee that PS4 would perform as bad as WiiU until now in Japan.

Even a year ago it was obvious the PS4 was struggling in Japan. That hasn't really slowed anyone down. If you look at how JP Publishers talk about the system they don't really pretend it's doing amazing in Japan.

 

[Nanashrew]

They don't necessarily need a press conference at E3 if Nintendo chooses to unveil it before E3 like the others have for their systems. E3 has become irrelevant with hardware reveals and only used for discussion of features and content coming to the system.

 

[ozfunghi]

Slow Saturday. Here's my NX home bracket of speculation:

upper extremum - 85W envelope*:

8x A72 @28nm 2GHz / 4x Zen @16FF @ ~2.5GHz - 30-40W**
GCN Cape Verde @ 28nm 512ALUs @ ~0.7GHz - 30-40W***
6GB DDR4, 32MB eDRAM (or another similar pool)

lower extremum - 45W envelope:

4x A57 @28nm 2GHz - 12W
GCN Cape Verde @ 28nm 512ALUs @ ~0.5GHz - 30W
6GB DDR3

* Peripheral buses (e.g. USB) non-withstanding
** The bracket here is really pushed up by the Zen option; the A72 option might take as little as half the TDP.
*** The 16FF option apparently affects the GPU node as well, which in practice would bring down the GPU-related portion of the TDP to or below its lower margin, or throw the GPU family bracket astray altogether. Or heck, bring CoWoS into the picture.

Another poster here (a couple of pages back, when i asked you about the Zen/K12 etc) didn't think the A72 would be a possibility. And how would 8 A72 cores compare to 4 Zen cores?

 

[Darius]

Even a year ago it was obvious the PS4 was struggling in Japan. That hasn't really slowed anyone down. If you look at how JP Publishers talk about the system they don't really pretend it's doing amazing in Japan.

PS4 launched just 1,5 years ago in Japan, they surely wouldn´t cancel their ongoing projects just a few months in, consideing Western sales, and with no other options in Japan for their HD projects that use certain engines. But they´ve become more open to alternatives in the past few years, be it Steam and in SQEX case showing interest in DQ11 and FF14 for NX. The change in Sonys collaboration with Capcom from Deep Down (a game that was supposed to be Japan only) to Street Fighter (established IP with western appeal) could also be a consequence of disappointing hardware sales.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

They'll probably have a thing for the press to play the system, conduct interviews, etc. and then reveal the system digitally to consumers. Then the articles and impressions will go up immediately after the stream is over.

And of course, NWC is going to have the first NX game.

 

[thefro]

Can you elaborate on the fighting game fan base? Is it based on the success of Smash? If so, I don't think this stands, as SSB is a different style of fighting game and appeals to the Nintendo faithful in part because of the Nintendo characters. It's like saying there's a big racing game fanbase on the system because of Mario Kart, but I don't think sim racers would do very well on it.

The Smash competitive scene continues to get bigger and a lot of those people play other fighting games. Pokken's on the way. Nintendo fans like games where you can play locally against other players and there's been a history of fighting games on Nintendo platforms since the SNES days.

It just makes logical sense as an area where a 3rd party could make some money.

Well I think people have largely given up on Western stuff but people still seem overly optimistic on Japanese stuff still. I've seen people suggest FFXV, FFVII and KH3 could come to NX which is frankly ridiculous at this point.

Kingdom Hearts 3 seems like a no-brainer to me.
- Unreal 4 game which the NX can run
- Seems like a candidate for a game that could potentially run on the NX portable with some work.
- Square Enix is already bringing Dragon Quest 11 to NX, a mainline game which is not a MMO. Typically when you see that you see other Square Enix titles on a platform
- Nintendo/Disney have a good relationship
- The fanbase/demographics all match up as a strong fit

The two big FF games are probably a little more horsepower-dependent but they also make logical sense assuming the NX home console is in the same ballpark or better than the PS4/XB1 power-wise and games can be ported without a ton of effort. S-E will need to recoup the development cost of both games.

Does anyone really care what EA does on the NX? I get that it has a loyal userbase from their sports franchises but what was the last great game they have made?

Beyond Madden/FIFA, EA has the Star Wars license on consoles for the next 8 years.

Other titles like Battlefield, Mass Effect, Need for Speed, the licensed NHL/PGA/UFC games, etc would all be nice to have.

They're a must-get for Nintendo.

 

[test_account]

Even a year ago it was obvious the PS4 was struggling in Japan. That hasn't really slowed anyone down. If you look at how JP Publishers talk about the system they don't really pretend it's doing amazing in Japan.

True, there will be many PS4 games released in the years to come. I remember seeing a similar arguement for Vita (and maybe WiiU too) back in 2012/2013 (i dont remember exactly who said it), that the games being released at that time were greenlit a long time ago, thats why they were released.

PS4 launched just 1,5 years ago in Japan, they surely wouldn´t cancel their ongoing projects just a few months in, consideing Western sales, and with no other options in Japan for their HD projects that use certain engines. But they´ve become more open to alternatives in the past few years, be it Steam and in SQEX case showing interest in DQ11 and FF14 for NX. The change in Sonys collaboration with Capcom from Deep Down (a game that was supposed to be Japan only) to Street Fighter (established IP with western appeal) could also be a consequence of disappointing hardware sales.

I dont think Deep Down was ment to be for Japan only. There was a beta planned for Japan only, that is true, but they did release an english trailer for it 2 years ago or so. The latest update (that i know of) is about 7-8 months old, that they wanted to change the game a lot, so thats probably why its delayed now. The trademark was also renewed in the US not that long ago. The game can still be canceled though, but i dont think they said that it was a Japan-only game.

- Square Enix is already bringing Dragon Quest 11 to NX, a mainline game which is not a MMO. Typically when you see that you see other Square Enix titles on a platform.

Did they say which version? The 3DS or the PS4 one?


I'm also curious how games will work cross-platform (if those rumors are true). I mean, even if an engine can run on both systems, what about physics calculations and such things? Is it easy to just tone that down a lot?