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What if Nintendo converged their systems next generation?

S

SlipperySlope

Banned
They clearly don't have the resources to fully support two different systems on their own. No company does, no company ever has. Sony is the only closest comparison, and even they can't do shit on the Vita.

I know others have talked about this, and I am hardly the first to this idea. But I'd like your thoughts. What if Nintendo just released a portable next-gen, and sold another device that received video output from that portable wirelessly and streamed it to the TV? That second device wouldn't need any real processing power and could easily be sold for less that $100. It's just a proxy device after all. All of the power would be in the handheld.

It would make sense with Nintendo's recent moves to consolidate their hardware groups, and even consolidated their software groups. And we'd have one fully supported system from them with a pure focus. Gaming on the go as well as at home.
 
B

Barryman

Member
I'm a big believer in this idea. All signs are pointing in this direction.

Now if they added phone functionality to this device....they would dominate.
 
O

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
On the one hand, I would totally support the idea of Nintendo ditching handhelds for good. But...that would be a tremendously stupid decision considering it's their most profitable division.
 
M

Mauricio_Magus

Banned
I doubt this will happen, there's too many obstacles for Nintendo to do this. I believe they will continue with at least another gen of console/handheld.

the Handheld would be too expensive, when it's supposed to be cheap, and what kind of graphics would you be able to achieve with said handheld on the big screen? at best Wii U graphics which everyone is hating them for now. It's not happening.

Oblivion said:
On the one hand, I would totally support the idea of Nintendo ditching handhelds for good. But...that would be a tremendously stupid decision considering it's their most profitable division.
Click to expand...

haha, if they had to ditch console or handheld, they'd ditch consoles first.
 
G

Gadirok

Member
From a consumer point of view its amazing, but they are losing two streams of revenue.

If things get really bad for them then they could easily downsize and do this though. But it doesn't seem very likely.


I would love it for my Vita if it could just connect to the TV (wirelessly) and output games on its native resolution when I'm home.
 
J

JoeM86

Member
What it seems like Nintendo are doing, based on their merging of the handheld and console developments, is having two separate devices, but they will have the same style of architecture so it's easy to port games from one to the other.

That's more likely than a hybrid
 
B

BishopLamont

Banned
Snowden's Secret said:
No one has ever explained what this means.

What is a console/handheld hybrid? What makes it different from either?
Click to expand...
Its really just a handheld thats powerful enough to plug into the TV and play console like games. Its a pretty stupid idea when Nintendo is far from any danger to justify losing a whole revenue stream in doing so.
 
M

Mauricio_Magus

Banned
famousmortimer said:
I disagree with the premise that nintendo can't support both at once. They have been for over 20 years.
Click to expand...

I agree, they can support both. The current problem they have it their transition into the HD era.

BishopLamont said:
Its really just a handheld thats powerful enough to plug into the TV and play console like games. Its a pretty stupid idea when Nintendo is far from any danger to justify losing a whole revenue stream in doing so.
Click to expand...

yeah, it's a pretty silly idea.
 
P

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
Snowden's Secret said:
No one has ever explained what this means.

What is a console/handheld hybrid? What makes it different from either?
Click to expand...

Like how you can hook a smartphone or tablet up via HDMI. Hybrid could simply be this with an additional wireless controller, or depending on miniaturisation and power drain, take the WiiU streaming tech and do it in reverse by beaming from your handheld to a small HDMI dongle on your TV.

Next handheld gen the 4DS or whatever will be maybe one step beyond Vita, and honestly can you ever see Nintendo making much use of beyond PS3-tech for their own games? No point in splitting a userbase if your company's policy is that graphical and hardware horsepower isn't a focus. Just being in HD is "good enough" apparently for most of the Nintendo fanbase.
 
B

BishopLamont

Banned
Mauricio_Magus said:
I agree, they can support both. The current problem they have it their transition into the HD era.
Click to expand...
Their biggest problem right now and for the last few generations is third party support.

Pie and Beans said:
Like how you can hook a smartphone or tablet up via HDMI. Hybrid could simply be this with an additional wireless controller, or depending on miniaturisation and power drain, take the WiiU streaming tech and do it in reverse by beaming from your handheld to a small HDMI dongle on your TV.

Next handheld gen the 4DS or whatever will be maybe one step beyond Vita, and honestly can you ever see Nintendo making much use of beyond PS3-tech for their own games? No point in splitting a userbase if your company's policy is that graphical and hardware horsepower isn't a focus. Just being in HD is "good enough" apparently for most of the Nintendo fanbase.
Click to expand...
Why release NSMB for 1 platform when you can release it for 2? Its really that simple.
 
S

SmithnCo

Member
I like this idea. The graphical power won't be up to other systems, but the advantages would make up for it. It would also be cool if you could use wii/wiiU controllers to control the device when plugged into the TV, or even when it isn't.

If they could make a 3DS player for WiiU it would pretty much be the same, except you also have the advantage of wiiU exclusive games.
 
S

Scoops

Banned
I think it would be smart if going forward they realize they simply won't get substantial 3rd party support.
 
J

jdmonmou

Member
Barryman said:
Now if they added phone functionality to this device....they would dominate.
Click to expand...

I would also support Nintendo just releasing a portable that can also be streamed to your TV. I've also believed for a long time that Nintendo needed to also make their portable a phone as well. That would be awesome. Come on Nintendo...make it happen!
 
E

Espada

Member
JoeM86 said:
What it seems like Nintendo are doing, based on their merging of the handheld and console developments, is having two separate devices, but they will have the same style of architecture so it's easy to port games from one to the other.

That's more likely than a hybrid
Click to expand...

This is what I'm expecting. Some sort of tablet as their handheld that also doubles as a second screen/second controller for the next gen console. That way their development teams are making games for two platforms at the same time. It'd just about kill their software droughts.

This kind of setup would be pretty exciting, especially in regards to Pokemon. It'd still retain the portable, interactivity that GF prefers while simultaneously being on a powerful home console.
 
IllumiNate

IllumiNate

Member
Barryman said:
I'm a big believer in this idea. All signs are pointing in this direction.

Now if they added phone functionality to this device....they would dominate.
Click to expand...

Lol no they wouldn't dominate anything by making a phone. Who would carry a portable gaming machine phone with them in there pockets everywhere? You think windows phone has poor app support? Ha! keep the original post idea and leave the phone crap out
 
S

SlipperySlope

Banned
outunderthestars said:
You wouldn't really need a device to connect to the tv. Just include hdmi out on the handheld.
Click to expand...

A) Nobody would wire an HDMI cable from their TV to their handheld. It's a tripping hazard and would look dorky. We're past the point of wiring up your controllers.
B) A proxy unit would be profitable and would basically replace their current console hardware division.
 
Z

zhorkat

Member
If you enjoy people complaining the Wii U's lack of power now, imagine how fun the conversations will be when Nintendo's next living room console is also a handheld, which has to balance system performance with the desire for a battery life that exceeds 5 minutes.
 
J

JDSN

Banned
Not this shit again.

Why would a company entertain the idea of getting one of the two main sources of profit from their market?
 
P

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
Mauricio_Magus said:
And ignore the whole market that wants consoles? That's not happening.
Click to expand...

It seems there isn't much of a market for a Nintendo home console any more. Nintendo's focus going forward will be whether they want to sell their IP's on a platform that has an 80-million base, or spend more money and more time to sell to a 15-20 million base.

JDSN said:
Not this shit again.

Why would a company entertain the idea of getting one of the two main sources of profit from their market?
Click to expand...

To double down and make sure the healthy one doesn't ever contract the same wasting disease the other has.
 
G

Gamer @ Heart

Member
What does it take to count as being able to support two systems?

A game very month? I disagree that they cant support both.

They would be losing massive revenue potential by dropping a system.

Supporting one system means they would be competing with themselves at a certain point with a flood of games no one has the money/time to support unless they downsize.
 
M

mr2t

Banned
How about making a system without gimmicks that is relatively close to the power of the others? If Kinect 2 costs about as much as the console, Nintendo could have had an Xbone equivalent for around $300.
 
R

Reversed

Member
I'd like to have a gamepad that you can use on the go (the trend of smaller portable devices be considered, and damned as well), which uses less resources when connected to a home console. Though, if we consider it another 3rd pillar, this obviously diverges the console scheme.

Can't say anything about the 3ds, though, and that's good; they're doing OK with it. I just hope they'd expand their western support in general (as it goes in Japan, however, they are doing great).
 
M

Mauricio_Magus

Banned
Vashetti said:
People don't want Nintendo home consoles anymore going by Wii U sales.
Click to expand...

There's reasons the market doesn't want the Wii U, they have been said a million times and I don't feel like mentioning them again. There's room for Nintendo in the console market but they need to change their strategy, marketing, and the damn console needs games.

The market isn't saying that they don't want a Nintendo console, they just don't want a Wii U.
 
B

BishopLamont

Banned
Pie and Beans said:
It seems there isn't much of a market for a Nintendo home console any more. Nintendo's focus going forward will be whether they want to sell their IP's on a platform that has an 80-million base, or spend more money and more time to sell to a 15-20 million base.
Click to expand...
So having less userbase means they automatically have to spend more money and more time? lol..

Compare the output from Wii > GC.

Ruud_Luiten said:
Nintendo does
Click to expand...
They want to merge their software ecosystem and design their next consoles and handhelds to have the same architecture. That does not mean they're gonna make a hybrid console/handheld.
 
K

Kimawolf

Member
I could see it, they could sell a system that comes with a docking station and two controllers, you dock the handheld and voila you can now load in blu rays etc, or undock it, and you have your handheld.

With mobile tech getting far more powerful it's definitely possible in the next 4 years and i'd welcome it, would allow them to focus on one hardware spec, allow 3rd parties to be able to not worry about a "nintendo console" not selling because pokemon/monhun will sell it.

edit: and they could possibly not even have a docking station because I forgot they have that pretty good wireless tech in the Wii U gamepad. and in 5 years time digital will be bigger, so perhaps they can be fine with bigger carts/and download games.
 
P

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
BishopLamont said:
So having less userbase means they automatically have to spend more money and more time? lol..

Compare the output from Wii > GC.
Click to expand...

You spend more time and more budget on the more powerful and more detail required home console base that is also the smallest in numbers, all while enjoying far better returns from your less intensive handheld work but with the larger audience.
 
B

BishopLamont

Banned
Pie and Beans said:
You spend more time and more budget on the more powerful and more detail required home console base that is also the smallest in numbers, all while enjoying far better returns from your less intensive handheld work but with the larger audience.
Click to expand...
So...what they have right now fits that goal?
 
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