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[boiled goose]

"Good games don't matter to me if the hardware isn't powerful" - No offense, but I really hate this attitude with a passion. It actually disgusts me. Not calling you out specifically, just using your post as an example. It's a perfectly okay to have this opinion, btw. I just don't share it.

I dont mind playing good games on less powerful hardware or on retro systems... BUT Nintendo wants consumers to PAY for a new system and developers to develop for it.

All systems have games. With finite time and money you have to offer value and be competitive on as many features as possible.

 

[Theanine3D]

If they release a powerful console for $300-400 you'd better all buy one after they freaking listened to you.

The proverbial you.

Would anyone outside of GAF actually pay $400 for a secondary, first-party-only home console with only a sprinkle of games every year?

They'd have to do a ton of work to convince people that the NX home console isn't going to repeat all of the Wii U's mistakes. Otherwise a $300+ console from them is totally DOA.

People forget the Wii was only $250 and it was their most successful console of all time.

 

[TheSlySoul]

You think this info would be have its global premiere in a Nintendo Direct??? And one soon at that?

No, but to tease it saying "Coming 2016" and reveal everything at E3. You know, to build hype.
Like what they did with N64/GC.

 

[Hiltz]

It will likely be backward compatible with all Wii U games. It just makes sense.

Iwata's comment about NX architecture "absorbing Wii U's," but still being different gives me some hope that backward compatibility will happen. Of course, if Microsoft can get Xbox One to support BC, then certainly Nintendo can as well even if it doesn't happen at launch. I've been thinking about getting a Wii U for a long time now, but I've chosen to skip it despite wanting to really play some of its software.

 

[Neoxon]

They are just going to call it Wii Next and be done with it aren't they?

As you can see from their store brandings & recent advertisements, Nintendo's moving away from both the Wii & DS brands.

 

[Shikamaru Ninja]

It will likely be backward compatible with all Wii U games. It just makes sense.

No it doesn't make sense. You are not going to sacrifice the design of new hardware to incorporate backwards compatibility for a 9-10 million user base.

 

[Davey Cakes]

I am really curious to see what this thing ends up being.

Cautiously optimistic.

Yeah.

People tend to go to power first, but I already have a tempered expectation on that front.

I'm mostly interested in, as you said, WHAT the NX is and what Nintendo's big plans are.

As long as they have a strong philosophy and can easily get others on board, I think I'll be satisfied with what Nintendo cooks up.

 

[rokero]

So hyped for this I wanna see Nintendo come back with a vengeance

 

[Bolivar687]

Imagine the DF threads if NX ends up more powerful than PS4 and XB1.

It would be unimaginable for Nintendo to not have better specs than machines original sold at cost from 2013.

 

[Mysterious]

What do you mean join mid-gen? I thought a lot of people were saying this is a next-gen console, the first 9th gen one.

It'll be launching in the middle of the generation of the WiiU/PS4/Xbox One. Just because a new console from them comes out and WiiU goes away doesn't mean that generation suddenly stops. Consumers would have already invested in PS4/Xbox One by that point. They would need something magical to make people to jump to the next generation, when they've already bought consoles, games, accessories for the current generation and it's only 3 years in.

 

[GOOCHY]

If they release a powerful console for $300-400 you'd better all buy one after they freaking listened to you.

The proverbial you.

Bring the games and a stacked virtual console with every first party NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, Wii, Wii U title and I'll do it.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Dawn of a new hardware age @ Nintendo. Exciting!

 

[Mysterious]

It will likely be backward compatible with all Wii U games. It just makes sense.

Wii U is Power-PC.

NX will be either x86, ARM or both (x86 console, ARM handheld).

 

[Neoxon]

Iwata's comment about NX architecture "absorbing Wii U's," but still being different gives me some hope that backward compatibility will happen. Of course, if Microsoft can get Xbox One to support BC, then certainly Nintendo can as well even if it doesn't happen at launch. I've been thinking about getting a Wii U for a long time now, but I've chosen to skip it despite wanting to really play some of its software.

Hard to do backwards compatibility when PowerPC is a dying breed & isn't exactly handheld-friendly.

 

[EatChildren]

weaker than wii u

two screens

one control stick, no buttons

 

[crinale]

they really, really, really need to forget the wii u ever happened.

backward compatibility would make like 20 people happy. it's unnecessary, as we can see from the current market leader.

re-release the greatest hits from the wii u with a remastered line.

This. Backward compatible with WiiU won't help much IMHO. Well if they could completely emulate the thing then that won't hurt though.

 

[Father_Brain]

It would be unimaginable for Nintendo to not have better specs than machines original sold at cost from 2013.

Not if they're using mobile hardware.

 

[aeolist]

How can it have "industry leading chips" and still be both a console and handheld? If they mean mobile chips, then how does this catch up with competitors?

We're missing something here.

advanced process node and architecture

a chip doesn't have to be immensely powerful to be "industry leading"

 

[TheSlySoul]

Imagine the DF threads if NX ends up more powerful than PS4 and XB1.

Would not surprise me, Alienware Alpha PCs in 2014 were beating PS4 specs. 3 years is a long time in technology.

 

[Griss]

The 'more than two devices' comment makes me think of my old suggestion that they do an entry level and advanced handheld device. One for the kids, one for their fans. One at a rock-bottom mass-market price (2DS style pricing) and one as a normal piece of tech.

If the visuals of the games being made are scalable between multiple configurations of devices this shouldn't present too much of a problem. It would be like releasing an iPhone and an iPhone S at the same time, but with a larger gap between them.

I'm also expecting the handheld to be very competitive power-wise as kids have tablets in their hands all day and have certain expectations regarding visuals. The home console, on the other hand, is where they can afford to cut corners. Nintendo games already look great in 1080p and 3rd parties aren't boarding this train. Screw 'em. Go cheap. If Nintendo's history and current trends in the market are any indication, it's gonna be hard enough to get anyone to buy the home console over the handheld anyway.

 

[Neoxon]

Wii U is Power-PC.

NX will be either x86, ARM or both (x86 console, ARM handheld).

It's most likely gonna be the same architecture across the board, so definitely ARM. While someone did correct me on x86's efficiency on handhelds, Intel is a bit on the expensive side.

 

[maltrain]

Oh, man... how hard will be the fall next year for many dreamers here on GAF.

 

[NeonZ]

Well, they obviously will not, but they should. WiiU has shown that 1st party games have a very limited audience, and without a strong 3rd party lineup that console died a miserable death.
I somehow doubt that 2K, Activision, EA and others will be willingvto dillute their efforts and make a third version of heavy hitting AAA games just to sell a miniscule portion of what XOne/PS4 versions sell.

NX has disaster written all over it, Nintendo is just too stubborn and too proud to admit that they became obsolete years ago.

Unless Nintendo has created some magical scaling code that allows the same devkits and OS to be used for a portable system and their next home console with completely different hardware, the NX is pretty much a way to bow out of the console side, without actually admitting it.

They'll technically only be supporting a single platform next time, so a situation like the Wii U's should be avoided, since even without big western third party now we'll likely get most of the software that goes to the Nintendo portable also being compatible with their home console.

 

[jax]

PS4 level power Wii U, only difference is you can use more than one gamepad, and one of the gamepads you can buy is smal enough to fit in your pocket, and has a built in GPU/hard drive for playing NX games.

PLEASE NINTENDO

 

[pulsemyne]

Interesting part is that it seems like it's not a development kit but rather the software development tools ( a kit implies hardware is included but that is not mentioned). This probably means, as expected, they are making heavy use of things like unity and Unreal 4. It also likely means they are using a very standard system as opposed to something heavily custom. Basically it's something that can be easily replicated on a PC so there's no urgent need for hardware to be out there.
It really does now point to a launch at the end of 2016. A year and a bit to transfer assets and game engines etc is more than enough for such a launch period if the system is reasonably close to current ones.

 

[HUELEN10]

The 'more than two devices' comment makes me think of my old suggestion that they do an entry level and advanced handheld device. One for the kids, one for their fans. One at a rock-bottom mass-market price (2DS style pricing) and one as a normal piece of tech.

If the visuals of the games being made are scalable between multiple configurations of devices this shouldn't present too much of a problem. It would be like releasing an iPhone and an iPhone S at the same time, but with a larger gap between them.

I'm also expecting the handheld to be very competitive power-wise as kids have tablets in their hands all day and have certain expectations regarding visuals. The home console, on the other hand, is where they can afford to cut corners. Nintendo games already look great in 1080p and 3rd parties aren't boarding this train. Screw 'em. Go cheap. If Nintendo's history and current trends in the market are any indication, it's gonna be hard enough to get anyone to buy the home console over the handheld anyway.

If 3rd parties aren't board I this train, then why a new console in the first place?

 

[Starphoenix]

No it doesn't make sense. You are not going to sacrifice the design of new hardware to incorporate backwards compatibility for a 9-10 million user base.

If it's not backwards compatible I wonder if Nintendo will do what a lot of fans have been wanting and do a Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. NX edition?

 

[D.Lo]

Well, they obviously will not, but they should. WiiU has shown that 1st party games have a very limited audience, and without a strong 3rd party lineup that console died a miserable death.
I somehow doubt that 2K, Activision, EA and others will be willingvto dillute their efforts and make a third version of heavy hitting AAA games just to sell a miniscule portion of what XOne/PS4 versions sell.

NX has disaster written all over it, Nintendo is just too stubborn and too proud to admit that they became obsolete years ago.

Lol 'years ago'. Just a few 'years ago' they released a console that sold 102 million, a handheld that sold 154 million, and each sold almost one billion pieces of software.

 

[Peltz]

There's really nothing more exciting to me than new Nintendo hardware. I live for this shit.

Cheers to the future GAF!

 

[TheSlySoul]

If I remember hearing the rumor mill, Nvidia is saying their next Shield has better specs than the PS4. So perhaps NX can be powerful with tablet parts.
Would make it affordable at least.

 

[Shikamaru Ninja]

If it's not backwards compatible I wonder if Nintendo will do what a lot of fans have been wanting and do a Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. NX edition?

Smash Bros. is definitely getting ported over. MK and Splatoon it depends how soon Nintendo can have a proper sequel.

 

[jax]

If it's not backwards compatible I wonder if Nintendo will do what a lot of fans have been wanting and do a Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. NX edition?

They can go buy a Wii U?

 

[Neoxon]

If 3rd parties aren't board I this train, then why a new console in the first place?

Because both the Wii U & the 3DS are entering their twilight years. From the looks of it, Nintendo's at least giving themselves the option to sufficiently support all NX form factors on their own if it comes to that. Eliminating the separate console & handheld platforms and consolidating them into one is a big step towards this.

 

[McHuj]

advanced process node and architecture

a chip doesn't have to be immensely powerful to be "industry leading"

I think that's a good guess and very likely.

 

[KORNdoggy]

so ~midway through current gen, nintendo are looking to launch a console more powerful then the competition.

i hope they sourced their tech cheaply or are planning to sell at a big loss while being a substantial increase on what the PS4 can do, otherwise we're looking at a console release ~2 years away from PS5/Xboxtwo (assuming it releases in 2016/17), that could be double the price of the competition (PS4/Xbone) and might not even be THAT much more powerful. in which case. good luck nintendo. lol

this has bad idea written all over it imo. it sounds like the wii-u. better tech then current gen, but launched at a time where current gen is aging and becoming cheap to buy.

what i'd HOPE they did is either

A.

make the console substantially more powerful and have a TON of third party support. we're talking specs that will be similar to the PS5/Xboxtwo. not just a bit better then the PS4/Xbone

or B. don't stagger their release and launch alongside the PS5/and Xboxtwo with competitive hardware/third party support.

mid gen launch i'm not going to care unless it's an absolute beast.

that an a new image. they're not going to win anyone over with their current one.

 

[Petrae]

Would anyone outside of GAF actually pay $400 for a secondary, first-party-only home console with only a sprinkle of games every year?

They'd have to do a ton of work to convince people that the NX home console isn't going to repeat all of the Wii U's mistakes. Otherwise a $300+ console from them is totally DOA.

People forget the Wii was only $250 and it was their most successful console of all time.

Nintendo can't charge $400 for hardware and succeed. Or even $350. It's got to be in the $250-$300 range, given its likely status of being primarily a secondary console. WiiU's price point (as the most expensive piece of Nintendo hardware in its history) did the platform zero favors, and can be considered in the list of reasons as to why the WiiU failed.

And I do believe that Nintendo is going to have to do some convincing after the WiiU mess... with consumers and with third-party publishers alike.

 

[Agent Gibbs]

Industry leading? oh please Nintendo be going back to Pre-Wii hardware levels of competitive power, keep the gimicky controls if you do, i don't care

 

[Z3M0G]

Wii U should have been $199 all year with a game.

Didn't we expect the controller alone was worth $150? They'd bleeeeeed $$...

Does anyone know if WiiU's are even still being manufactured?

 

[Tobor]

advanced process node and architecture

a chip doesn't have to be immensely powerful to be "industry leading"

There are three points here:
1. Industry leading chips
2. Catches up to competitors
3. Both a console and mobile unit

I don't see how all three are possible. If it was just a console, fine. But a mobile unit as well?

If the mobile unit isn't as powerful as the console, then the unified strategy will require work from developers to run on both, which significantly impacts third party adoption.

Then there's price, which is a can of worms in and of itself.

 

[Raziel]

GBA had a 4 year cycle before being replaced by DS. The 7th Gen was odd, but we are seeing a return of the 4-5 year life cycle.

How far back was the 4 year console life cycle that we are now returning to?

 

[TheSlySoul]

If it's not backwards compatible I wonder if Nintendo will do what a lot of fans have been wanting and do a Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. NX edition?

I cam see them trying to convert Zelda Wii U to NX using a program. If they ditch compatability, then they might just convert the old games to digital and owning the game gives you the right to download it ala Xbox One.

 

[Neff]

Interesting.

No it doesn't make sense. You are not going to sacrifice the design of new hardware to incorporate backwards compatibility for a 9-10 million user base.

On the other hand, if NX is successful and backwards compatible, it has the opportunity to sell extremely well-regarded games to an audience beyond that 10m.

Whether it'd be more practical for them to integrate Wii U hardware into NX (assuming it isn't based on the same architecture), or just go for straight ports, I'm sure we'll be seeing the best of Wii U titles on NX one way or another.

 

[omgwtfbentime]

People expecting a 2016 launch are crazy. Third party devs would be furious, these dev kits are likely going to be change numerous times before launch. Anyway, here's kind of what I'm expecting.

Handheld and console are two seperate things with shared architecture and OS. This allows games to be easily ported from one to another without necessarily having to be available on both.

Cross-buy will happen, but not on the scale people are expecting. I think there will still be exclusive games on each system (even first party) but having both gives a game extra functionality. For example, imagine a Pokemon game for the handheld you could then connect to the home console and get some kind of Pokemon stadium like experience for no extra cost. Third party devs will have the option to do cross-buy, VC will be cross-buy, but I don't think Nintendo is going to ditch the opportunity to sell the same game twice. Maybe offer discounts if both versions are purchased on eshop?

Neither will be super competitive spec wise, likely both run some sort of ARM CPU. I think Nintendo really needs to target a good price again, no more than $300 at launch for a console, no more than $200 for the handheld.

Handheld will launch first, but not much ahead. I expect summer 2017 for the handheld and holiday 2017 for the console.

 

[Oersted]

Smash Bros. is definitely getting ported over. MK and Splatoon it depends how soon Nintendo can have a proper sequel.

How are you so sure?

 

[Corronchilejano]

If 3rd parties aren't board I this train, then why a new console in the first place?

Attract 3rd parties with the promise of easy ports?

 

[Neoxon]

so ~midway through current gen, nintendo are looking to launch a console more powerful then the competition.

i hope they sourced their tech cheaply or are planning to sell at a big loss while being a substantial increase on what the PS4 can do, otherwise we're looking at a console release ~2 years away from PS5/Xboxtwo (assuming it releases in 2016/17), that could be double the price of the competition (PS4/Xbone) and might not even be THAT much more powerful. in which case. good luck nintendo. lol

this has bad idea written all over it imo. it sounds like the wii-u. better tech then current gen, but launched at a time where current gen is aging and becoming cheap to buy.

what i'd HOPE they did is either

A.

make the console substantially more powerful and have a TON of third party support. we're talking specs that will be similar to the PS5/Xboxtwo. not just a bit better then the PS4/Xbone

or B. don't stagger their release and launch alongside the PS5/and Xboxtwo with competitive hardware/third party support.

mid gen launch i'm not going to care unless it's an absolute beast.

that an a new image. they're not going to win anyone over with their current one.

Since the NX Platform is getting the combined effort of their console & handheld development teams, I'd expect a ton of games to launch on it. Plus it seems like the NX Platform will be just continually upgraded over time, solving the PS5/Next Xbox problem.

 

[Starphoenix]

They can go buy a Wii U?

If Nintendo is going to be moving on from the Wii U there is a good chance the servers will go down at some point in the next couple of years.

 

[pulsemyne]

advanced process node and architecture

a chip doesn't have to be immensely powerful to be "industry leading"

Exactly. The industry for chip manufacture is now far more geared towards pushing mobile and it's power efficiency. That is where a lot of money is being spent and it is pushing the industry forward. Standard CPU development for desktops is pretty much Intel dominated (although everyone would like to see AMD make a big comeback just to get things moving again). GPU development has been stuck at 28nm for what seems like an eternity and is only now starting to get its arse into gear. Mobile is where it is at as that is where the money can really be made (selling 30+million chips for a new iphone/andriod is pretty good for your profits.)

 

[Neoxon]

If Nintendo is going to be moving on from the Wii U there is a good chance the servers will go down at some point in the next couple of years.

The only reason the Wii & DS servers went down is because the provider, GameSpy, went under.

 

[McHuj]

People expecting a 2016 launch are crazy. Third party devs would be furious, these dev kits are likely going to be change numerous times before launch. Anyway, here's kind of what I'm expecting.

What third-party devs?

Chances are dev's had/have target specs already prior to getting actual dev kits.