• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

NX launching in March to make sure there are games to go along with it

The Japanese & indies will probably be there, not so much the western third parties (their target audience left Nintendo a long time ago). And if there's a majority of games shared between the console & handheld, droughts won't be anywhere near as bad as before.

The Japanese and the indies are on Wii U too. Time will tell, I hope I'm wrong but at the moment I'm not confident droughts with retail releases will be avoided again.
 

MK_768

Member
The Japanese and the indies are on Wii U too. Time will tell, I hope I'm wrong but at the moment I'm not confident droughts with retail releases will be avoided again.

I think Nintendo started taking indies seriously a couple years ago. I may be wrong. If I'm correct...Wii U's fate was already nailed in lol.
 

OmegaDL50

Member
I don't really buy it?

Hardware delays are usually because of hardware.

If the software isn't ready why would people want the console if there is nothing to play on it.

Hardware is only viable if the software actually exists to support it.

I don't think anyone interested in the NX wants it to release prematurely without a decent launch line up available and avoiding possible software droughts which was an issue with the Wii U.

What would be an even worse scenario, Nintendo releasing the NX alongside the PS4K and XB1 Elite, with hardly anything to play on it and people complaining about no games, Or the NX releasing after the holidays but a decent list of games is available to use right away.

I don't see the point in buying a box if I can't even use it.
 
Why is missing Holiday 2016 such a problem? Is Holiday 2017 not happening?

If they release a system at holiday with no games, it looks very bad. We've seen it generation after generation across all three companies. If they release a system later with 9 months to build up some more games for a marketing push around Holiday 2017, what's the issue?
 

Markoman

Member
I agree. I think Nintendo will fail to establish relevance in the home console market again, especially with third parties and the core gamer CoD/Madden/GTA/AssCreed crowd that dominates that arena.

They also may not care much if they truly plan to have a console, a portable and whatever else (maybe a PSNOW type streaming app option for those who have good internet and don't want to buy hardware) that share the same games. Then they just have to sell all hardware for a profit day one and focus on making great games that can sell to everyone regardless of what they're playing Nintendo games on.

More broadly, I just don't think there's room for 3 consoles in the mainstream market. Last gen was a fluke as the Wii U was so different and brought in so many casuals and non-gamers. Otherwise there's mostly been one or two successful consoles and a few also rans in past generations from the 8bit era on.

8bit: NES dominated. Master system was irrelevant.
16bit: SNES and Gensis both did well, others like T16 failed
PS1 Dominated, N64 did ok, Saturn failed abysmally
PS2 dominated, Gamecube and Xbox battled for a distant second place, Dreamcast bombed

So I think Nintendo is right to go after an NX platform that can get all their games to people a variety of ways, with a console just being one of the options.

And you know what...it is only getting worse.
Let's talk about the handheld makret. I see it everyday and there's is nothing Nintendo
can do about it: the entry age for kids getting their first smart gets lower every year it seems. So, what is mommy or daddy going to buy for Xmas: a new Nintendo handheld or a 250$ phone that also plays games?
Nintendo lacks any ability of "riding the wave" and coming up with lasting innovations nowadays it seems. I've been very vocal about this years ago...Nintendo could've been a global player if they followed the crowd which abandoned Wii and went to phones and tablets. We often praise Nintendo for being good at coming up with cool controllers and peripherals. So, why isn't there a Iphone/Android Nintendo controller - where the phone is used as a screen - yet?
This idea was obvious 7 years ago - Nintendo just failed to see that teaming up/partnering with the bigger boys can get you very far. And they still fail to see this.
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
The Japanese & indies will probably be there, not so much the western third parties (their target audience left Nintendo a long time ago). And if there's a majority of games shared between the console & handheld, droughts won't be anywhere near as bad as before.

Yep, they really need to pull all that off. Droughts weren't to bad this gen if you were into both 3DS and Wii U. If you only had one or other--which plenty do as lots in the West don't like portables and vice versa in Japan--it was rough at times.

If they can pull of the unified, shared library, keep doing well with indie support and get some exclusives from Japanese developers for stuff that appeals to the Nintendo fan base but not so much the Sony/MS base (see 3DS exclusives) droughts shouldn't be much of an issue.

It will do nothing to appeal to those who just like the types of games on PS4 and Xbox 1, but they have no chance with that crowd anyway as they have no interest or skills in making shooters, sports sims, racing sims, GTA/AssCreed type games. And the market doesn't need a third box focusing on those types of games anyway.
 

bachikarn

Member
If the games aren't ready, you really have to wonder what most of their teams have been doing since early 2014. Not showing any of them at E3 is really concerning.

I think Nintendo's 'problem' is that they want their next titles to have some big new feature. That's obviously not bad per se, but it might be the reason why development takes so long.
 

MK_768

Member
Yep, they really need to pull all that off. Droughts weren't to bad this gen if you were into both 3DS and Wii U. If you only had one or other--which plenty do as lots in the West don't like portables and vice versa in Japan--it was rough at times.

Yup. When the 3DS was going good, 2013 I think...the Wii U was dead. 2014 was a god year for Wii U I think. If I recall they had a pretty good direct with a lot of Wii U stuff.
 
I think Nintendo started taking indies seriously a couple years ago. I may be wrong. If I'm correct...Wii U's fate was already nailed in lol.

There are some nice indie titles on there too but my attitude to a console coming out so many years after the other two is, at least try to match what they offer in terms of library and in terms of hardware be better. In terms of online, the whole Mii thing I could care less for, at least try and match psn/Xbox live.

I don't want them making the same mistakes as with Wii U and with third parties. Their relationship with third parties has been questionable in the past to say the least, hopefully some positive progress has been made there with NX.
 
No that's not a good reason. Such a shit reason. Nintendo is incompetent. They should just go 3rd party.

/s



There is your keyword.

Is Nintendo doing anything usual here?
Waiting for someone to say "Nintendo fucking up is usual for them, so yeah." -_-
I mean, yes? They're seemingly launching two vastly different hardware SKUs with a common SDK. So, in so far as it's unusual, it's even more difficult than usual.

This goes for both hardware and software, but it's all tied to the hardware and SDK. So there may be a kernel of truth that it's about software, but I'd be shocked if it wasn't due to some problem arising out of the NX's unique attempt to unify consoles and handhelds. Whatever that means!

But basically, I'm thinking we're not going to get the real reason for the delay, because ... why would they provide it? Specifics would give away specifics about the system(s).
 

RE_Player

Member
They better be planning an entire year of steady game releases cause I don't care what anyone says no way in hell this has healthy third-party support. Apart from launch and first year multi-platform projects being put on everything it will be a Nintendo machine just like every other Nintendo product.
 

bachikarn

Member
As far as the OP, I don't really buy that is the reason it is launching March 2017 instead of Holiday 2016. Is 3 months really that much more time? It must have had literally zero games planned for Holiday 2016 for this to make sense to me. That also begs the question, of why does it always take them so long to make games. It seems pretty clear that most of their 2015 and 2016 projects were moved to NX. There really was nothing ready? Is the new NX gimmick really hard?

I think the issue is most likely hardware related, and there is definitely risk it will get delayed again.
 
I don't really buy it?

Hardware delays are usually because of hardware.

You don't launch hardware without proper software, otherwise why would people buy into it?

I don't think this is only games, but the system OS too.

And remember, this isn't just what will be available on day 1, they are likely delyaing it so that the wave 2 of games outside the launch window would actually be ready in time to keep momentum up.
 

Nanashrew

Banned
THIS time it'll be different

THIS time there won't be droughts

seriously guys

you gotta believe me

There will always be droughts but if the idea of shared hardware is a thing, expect them to be less prominent.

And hell, let's just ignore every bit of restructuring these past years that may make things different than any of those other times. Let's also not talk about that today Nintendo is moving away from their old and slow Japanese corporate structure to a more agile western corporate structure.
 

Linkhero1

Member
This screams either there was a stump in development of some of their first party games or that third parties received devkits too late and would not have been able to deliver launch ready titles this year. I'm thinking the latter.

They probably did it to ensure that third parties are ready for launch. I'm hoping an investor asks, but we're going to have to wait and see.
 

MK_768

Member
I mean, yes? They're seemingly launching two vastly different hardware SKUs with a common SDK. So, in so far as it's unusual, it's even more difficult than usual.

This goes for both hardware and software, but it's all tied to the system. So there may be a kernel of truth that it's about software, but I'd be shocked if it wasn't due to some problem arising out of the NX's unique attempt to unify consoles and handhelds. Whatever that means!

But basically, I'm thinking we're not going to get the real reason for the delay, because ... why would they provide it? Specifics would give away specifics about the system(s).

The point I'm trying to get at is that Nintendo is as unpredictable as ever. We are in unprecedented territory for Nintendo. We don't know why Nintendo is launching this system in March. It could be a costs thing. It could be a hardware issue too. Also, they very well may have learned from past launches with the large droughts. We don't know. I mean some people here act like they do but they are morons.
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
The Japanese and the indies are on Wii U too. Time will tell, I hope I'm wrong but at the moment I'm not confident droughts with retail releases will be avoided again.
If you combine Nintendo's 3DS & Wii U output, they actually make a shit-ton of games. The problem is that Nintendo's focus is split between two separate platforms. If they have to rescue one, it comes at the cost of the other's software (see Nintendo's 3DS rescue near the Wii U's launch).
 
If the software isn't ready why would people want the console if there is nothing to play on it.

Hardware is only viable if the software actually exists to support it.

I don't think anyone interested in the NX wants it to release prematurely without a decent launch line up available and avoiding possible software droughts which was an issue with the Wii U.

What would be an even worse scenario, Nintendo releasing the NX alongside the PS4K and XB1 Elite, with hardly anything to play on it and people complaining about no games, Or the NX releasing after the holidays but a decent list of games is available to use right away.

I don't see the point in buying a box if I can't even use it.
I agree with the gist.

But I'm saying that I don't believe that they don't have games ready (especially after delaying Zelda a year just so it could launch with the system). It doesn't come across as a credible excuse, and there's obvious motivation to deflect from hardware or SDK issues since the hardware and SDK are still under wraps.
 

Soapbox Killer

Grand Nagus
I get it. It makes since from a business point of view and also fans don't wanna buy a console for 4 games of which one is guaranteed to be Just Dance. Here's my question for those of you who follow game developers, What that hell have they been doing?

EAD 3 has been working on Zelda for what will be 4 years at launch but what about the other groups? I'm sure I'm over estimating the size of Nintendo's workforce but it seems like a lot of MIA teams or with less prolific outputs.
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
You don't launch hardware without proper software, otherwise why would people buy into it?

The PS4 did fine despite a shit launch lineup with the big exclusives (Knack and Killzone) being poorly received. I personally didn't buy until after Infamous and Bloodborne were out, but it sold plenty well before that.

But I think Nintendo would be foolish to try that with NX. Sony had a ton of goodwill after nailing the PS4 reveal and how badly MS fumbled the X1 reveal and launch. People are very skeptical of Nintendo after the Wii U bomb, so they really need to nail the PR, marketing, hardware and launch and first year software lineup.

Better to be late and do that, than rush. But it's disappointing that they are too far behind to make that happen this holiday season given how long it's been clear that the Wii U was a disaster to anyone without Nintendo blinders on.

If you combine Nintendo's 3DS & Wii U output, they actually make a shit-ton of games. The problem is that Nintendo's focus is split between two separate platforms. If they have to rescue one, it comes at the cost of the other's software (see Nintendo's 3DS rescue near the Wii U's launch).

100% this. And it's a big problem as so many in the west only want to game on their big screen, and so many in Japan only want to game on portables and mobile these days. Having development split in half left each systems library lacking for all but the super diehard Nintendo fans (and JRPG fans in the 3DS case). Put all their games on all platforms and there's a great library for everyone regardless of their preference of console, portable or both (and playing their games anywhere with cross save).
 

MK_768

Member
I get it. It makes since from a business point of view and also fans don't wanna buy a console for 4 games of which one is guaranteed to be Just Dance. Here's my question for those of you who follow game developers, What that hell have they been doing?

EAD 3 has been working on Zelda for what will be 4 years at launch but what about the other groups? I'm sure I'm over estimating the size of Nintendo's workforce but it seems like a lot of MIA teams or with less prolific outputs.

Yes, most of their teams have largely been quiet. Also, I believe Nintendo started this whole "garage" game development thing within their teams. So it's possible there are more teams than what we "know."

The 3D Mario team has been silent for a couple years now. They had a job listing late 2014(I think) for a 3D action game. Assumed to be the next Mario 3D game.

Animal Crossing has seen two spin off games. Suspect they have something working.

Mario Kart team I believe is working on their mobile stuff but I don't know if it is the whole team.

Oh and we have Pikmin 4 coming. Simply put, Nintendo has been largely quiet outside of Yoshi, Mario Maker, Splatoon and now Zelda.
 

bachikarn

Member
This screams either there was a stump in development of some of their first party games or that third parties received devkits too late and would not have been able to deliver launch ready titles this year. I'm thinking the latter.

They probably did it to ensure that third parties are ready for launch. I'm hoping an investor asks, but we're going to have to wait and see.

What third party games will be at launch though if it comes out in March 2017? 3 month old ports? How is that beneficial. That strategy failed miserably on the Wii U
 

MK_768

Member
What third party games will be at launch though if it comes out in March 2017? 3 month old ports? How is that beneficial. That strategy failed miserably on the Wii U

Wait for games to get delayed this year. Also, there is E3. We don't know everything that is coming out.

Not saying Nintendo will get 3rd party games....just saying we don't know they won't.
 

Cipherr

Member
Nintendo needs to realize that the other platform does very well by selling the "possibility"of future games, not necessarily available games.

I think Nintendo fans need to realize that Nintendo can't exactly mimic what the other platforms are doing and expect results. If they want me to spend money on Nintendo hardware they had better damn well launch it with a healthy start of titles.

Pulling another 3DS launch is going to leave them out to dry with everyone BUT the hardest of Nintendo fans. I want available titles AND 'the possibility of future games' from Nintendo, otherwise I have no reason to spend money on their stuff. PS4/One/PC is more than enough to survive as a gamer.

I think Nintendo knows this. They made the right choice. Half assing it isn't going to work for them.

What third party games will be at launch though if it comes out in March 2017? 3 month old ports? How is that beneficial. That strategy failed miserably on the Wii U

There are new games coming out every quarter. Why would you think that would stop with the end of this year? There could be titles prepping to ship in q2/q3 of next year that could now get NX ports. We may not even have announcements for some of those games yet. World keeps spinning and games keep getting released. No reason to think that's going to change.
 

ryseing

Member
Why is missing Holiday 2016 such a problem? Is Holiday 2017 not happening?

Because that means the Wii U is on shelves for another holiday, and getting all of one somewhat big name game (Paper Mario) to go along with it.

100% this. And it's a big problem as so many in the west only want to game on their big screen, and so many in Japan only want to game on portables and mobile these days. Having development split in half left each systems library lacking for all but the super diehard Nintendo fans (and JRPG fans in the 3DS case). Put all their games on all platforms and there's a great library for everyone regardless of their preference of console, portable or both (and playing their games anywhere with cross save).

3DS has a killer library. Incredibly pleased with the variety of stuff on offer. The Wii U was the one hurt by split development.
 

Linkhero1

Member
What third party games will be at launch though if it comes out in March 2017? 3 month old ports? How is that beneficial. That strategy failed miserably on the Wii U
We don't know yet. I'm thinking we'll have a much clearer picture once they reveal the hardware and it's lineup.

What strategy failed the Wii U? The Wii U had a ton of issues that caused the Wii U to fail.
 

bachikarn

Member
There are new games coming out every quarter. Why would you think that would stop with the end of this year? There could be titles prepping to ship in q2/q3 of next year that could now get NX ports. We may not even have announcements for some of those games yet. World keeps spinning and games keep getting released. No reason to think that's going to change.

The amount of games released in March is significantly less, and it would not be worth delaying the system for. Those same games could just be released a couple of months into the console's life, giving it a better flow of titles.
 

TLZ

Banned
All fine by me as long we have a great line-up from the get go.

The wait would be easier if they give us some tech info though. Just anything :/
 

CronoShot

Member
Fool me once....

At this point, Nintendo had fooled us like three times regarding software droughts. I'm not believing shit until I see these games.
 

MK_768

Member
All fine by me as long we have a great line-up from the get go.

The wait would be easier if they give us some tech info though. Just anything :/

Yeah I agree. I'm still disappointed but if they deliver a good line-up then I don't give a shit about the last 24 hours. Again...short-term this sucks ass. It is not a good look for Nintendo. However, long-term...it matters very little.

BUT.

When that NX event strolls along and Nintendo fucks that up...they are screwed. If they don't deliver the games they are in trouble.
 

bachikarn

Member
We don't know yet. I'm thinking we'll have a much clearer picture once they reveal the hardware and it's lineup.

What strategy failed the Wii U? The Wii U had a ton of issues that caused the Wii U to fail.

The Wii U launched with several third party games, but they were all old ports that no one bought.
 
Why do people think games are made overnight? Yes, they've been developing the NX for years, but how can they make games for a system that's not even complete yet?
 

Linkhero1

Member
The Wii U launched with several third party games, but they were all old ports that no one bought.

Yeah -- they can't afford to only have months old third party ports at launch. I don't expect there to be solely 3 month old ports at launch, but don't be surprised if there's some of that.

I have no faith that Nintendo will be able to provide enough software to prevent a game drought after the launch window.

This is why third party games are important. They fill in the first party gaps. Nintendo simply cannot do it alone.
 

MK_768

Member
Yeah -- they can't afford to only have months old third party ports at launch. I don't expect there to be solely 3 month old ports at launch, but don't be surprised if there's some of that.



This is why third party games are important. They fill in the first party gaps. Nintendo simply cannot do it alone.

Yup. Look at the PS4
 
Because that means the Wii U is on shelves for another holiday, and getting all of one somewhat big name game (Paper Mario) to go along with it.



3DS has a killer library. Incredibly pleased with the variety of stuff on offer. The Wii U was the one hurt by split development.
Theres literally no big games coming left to Wii U
 

Discomurf

Member
I really don't think this thing will be coming in March 2017. At this point no one should be surprised when its delayed again at their unveiling event to September 2017.

Edit: I love Nintendo just as much as the next guy/gal but this news from the last 24 hrs is a colossal f-up on how you run a tech/entertainment business. They've had years to plan better and so many chances to learn upon the past mistakes they've repeated over and over again... I hope they realize this and I really hope its not too little too late.
 

MK_768

Member
Yeah, it's odd about these statements. Sony has all these 3rd parties but still had to have ports and remasters to fill in all their gaps.

True, but these games are getting announced for the system even if they aren't fillng in gaps. PS4 was a hype machine. It sells on hype. I mean 2 of their last 3 E3s show that. With Nintendo, we just don't see 3rd party games. We don't know if they are coming.

Droughts are easier to swallow if we know the games are coming. The Wii had a drought before Metroid Prime 3 if I recall correctly. But there was hype for it and Mario Galaxy. Then Smash was next up as well.
 
Unless they get good third-party support, I bet they have maybe five good games the first year and then a two year drought. I'm interested to see where this goes because I have kids now and I would like to have a Nintendo system in the house, but I'm going to wait a few years to see how things shake out.
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
3DS has a killer library. Incredibly pleased with the variety of stuff on offer. The Wii U was the one hurt by split development.

Just a matter of tastes. I'm not into JRPGs so that ruled out a lot of the third party stuff. Not into Monster Hunter. Pokemon Y was my first Pokemon game and I wasn't impressed. Don't really like Fire Emblem etc.

So I'd been a lot happier just playing ALBW, Mario 3D Land, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart 7 etc. on Wii U than having to buy a 3DS. So I'm looking forward to the NX console at least hopefully being able to play all the portable games (even if the reverse isn't true). A lot of portable games tend to be too Japanese or too niche in general for me.

But yeah, the 3DS library is killer for people who are bigger Nintendo fans and are into JRPGs/Japanese games for sure. Not as much for someone like me that's more of a mainstream AAA gamer who really only likes Nintendo's flagpole games (Mario, Zelda, MK, Smash, Metroid, Star Fox etc.).
 

Discomurf

Member
ChEjbSGXEAAjpbO.jpg
 
Top Bottom