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[Askherserenity]

I knew there would be tons of dumbass comments as soon as I read the title and boy.

Interesting news. Excited to see what it all exactly means. I think its honestly a good thing. Nintendo can build something interesting around Android.

People thinking it's just going to be using straight up Android that you see on mobile are idiots.

Bigger idiots are the ones that even mention Ouya or Shield.

 

[cajunator]

I like this a lot.

 

[pixelation]

I hope it's a load of bull... i don't like this at all, i don't think that it'd end up well for Nintendo.

 

[Squire]

Considering how powerful phones are getting and how Nintebdo hasn't aimed high with specs for two generations, sounds like they're meeting in the middle.

Not a bad idea, on paper at least.

 

[chubigans]

I hope it's a load of bull... i don't like this at all, i don't think that it'd end up well for Nintendo.

Why?

 

[Faustek]

Your example of piracy doesn't really seem like piracy. It's copyright infringement.

Is it really? I haven't infringed on any copyright I have but passed my own countries policies that makes it harder for publishers to publish their games in my country.
If anything I'm giving Geo locking a middle finger, which EU as well is trying to do, and still giving them what money they are asking for.

It's tricky since it's free. It's not like I'm using a VPN to watch movies from another place and by passing the rights holders in my territory.

 

[sgjackson]

I expect if this is true it will be a highly customized version of Android that is pretty well locked down.

pretty much, yeah. the main benefit here seems like "it would be easy to port android apps over" but i doubt it'll have major piracy issues.

 

[Alo81]

Doesn't android have inherently poor audio latency, ruling out stuff like Rhythm Heaven from running well?

also the idea of official Nintendo games being ripped and running natively on a high powered tablet seems realistic and sort of worrying for a company like Nintendo.

Won't this also mean all Nintendo games on the platform will be java based, which isn't necessarily the best game developing language due to automated garbage collection?

I'm really into android but it seems to have too many quirks to stand strong as a dedicated console platform.

 

[BlackJace]

pretty interested to see where this leads!

 

[Shadowplay1979]

Dear Nintendo...just include PC in that equation..and you will win all the moneys

 

[Bytes]

Too many people in this thread assuming that this news means that existing Android games will be immediately playable on the device and that Nintendo's games will be playable on other devices.

This is highly unlikely.

 

[Caffeine]

sounds like a positive change cant wait to hear more from nintendo in the future.

 

[Hip Hop]

LMAO wasn't there a thread or a post of someone here on GAF suggesting how it would be genius for Nintendo to use Android, and everybody ganged up on him?


lol

 

[RedSwirl]

Okay so people don't seem to understand what Android is.

Android is:
-An operating system
-An operating system you can customize how you like
-An operating system with the ability to call down to the hardware at a low level

Android is not:
-A hardware architecture
-A mandate to be a phone
-A mandate to not be a walled garden

This is what people need to understand, and I thought people understood this already. All this announcement talks about is the OS that will run all the software, nothing more.

At least theoretically, it is entirely possible to make an Android machine that mainly runs "traditional" games, with all the things console gamers expect, which I believe Nintendo will try to do. The overwhelmingly biggest reason for Nintendo to make this move would be to attract developers already working on Android. If true, it's a sign Nintendo has given up on attracting the big console gaming publishers and instead is trying to pull in mobile developers. That makes a lot of sense given where all the Japanese developers are going.

Hardware-wise, I (and a lot of other people) basically expect this to be kinda like what Amazon is doing -- making its own Android-based platform and ecosystem. You'll have multiple devices running the same software including portable machines and a console. You'll still get Mario et al, and Nintendo will use that exclusivity to attract people already into mobile games. If this pans out, Nintendo will likely try to push the handheld as some kind of "ultimate gaming tablet" or something -- the only one where you can get Pokemon. I imagine something like this specifically from Nintendo would also attract all the Japanese developers, though it's hard to say if it would get the kinds of games they're making for mobile, or more like the kinds of games they're making for 3DS. That would depend on how Nintendo controls the pricing of games, which I think is the most important part of the whole thing.

Will Nintendo create its own Android-based ecosystem but actually try to stem the flood of free and 99 cent games? We can be pretty much certain the clones and many of the other trash games won't make it through Nintendo's certification, which would result in an Android store that looks much less cluttered. Would Nintendo set standards by continuing to release first party games for $30 and $40? Do all that and provide hardware that's beefy enough with standard console controls in addition to touch screens and I think we could have something here...

 

[ant1532]

I mean, they probably weren't expecting things to get so bad with the Wii U that third parties are openly laughing about the system on Twitter and at industry events

geeez, do you have any references for these tweets your talking about?

 

[catmario]

5 hours? More like 5 minutes

I don't believe they will go with Android OS since it's so easy to hack and pirate stuff

LMAO!!!

 

[Nairume]

Too many people in this thread assuming that this news means that existing Android games will be immediately playable on the device and that Nintendo's games will be playable on other devices.

This is highly unlikely.

Does probably mean it'd be easy to port android stuff over.

Imagine that gets SquareEnix's attention again.

 

[Sadist]

Hmmm

Still don't see a tablet happening btw. But this OS will be easy to manage on smartphone, handheld or console I'd imagine.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

geeez, do you have any references for these tweets your talking about?

You dont remeber them ? there was ton lol.. what was it EA? They was clownin the Wii U lol

 

[Askherserenity]

Okay so people don't seem to understand what Android is.

Android is:
-An operating system
-An operating system you can customize how you like
-An operating system with the ability to call down to the hardware at a low level

Android is not:
-A hardware architecture
-A mandate to be a phone
-A mandate to not be a walled garden

I think this is gonna have to be put up in the op or something.

 

[Terrell]

I don't think that this is a bad idea, so long as it's heavily customized.

But, while I understand that it's just an OS, isn't it a highly-exploitable one that could devolve into piracy relatively quickly as it was with PSP? Or has that somehow become an invalid concern now?

My #1 hope with this, though, is that it will put an end to Nintendo's use of HTML in eShop and Miiverse and just generally make things work a lot more smoothly. Wii U definitely showed that they don't have the chops to write an OS themselves from scratch, nor any idea how to integrate services into it without using the slowest means possible to do so.

 

[Bytes]

Does probably mean it'd be easy to port android stuff over.

Agreed, but I doubt you will be able to just side-load whatever Android app you want like some are inferring.

 

[RedSwirl]

And we're talking about android-based. If this is all true that means it'll be Android under the hood, but Nintendo's own walled-garden on top. Nintendo being Nintendo, will try to lock that shit down.

 

[Ashodin]

Psyscrolr 2 gonna be a launch title?

llol sure!

 

[NippleViking]

Could someone who is actually informed with Android OS and what it might mean for NX, please, please, explain the merits and caveats of this decision? From reactions it sounds like a big shift in direction, but I don't understand why many believe it will be a negative one.

 

[sörine]

Android's surprising, I remember the Retroarch guys bitching about the inherent audio lag/latency with it. I'm guessing Nintendo will strip it down and optimize for their needs though. Now I wish they'd struck a deal with Valve.

And didn't one of the founding Android engineers leave Nintendo for Google originally? Or am I conflating that with something else?

 

[Toad King]

Besides the piracy issue, Android is an awful platform in some respects for games. Audio often has anywhere from 40 to 100ms of lag depending on the device and API used, the NDK is a mess to develop on (native code debugging in the IDE was only just announced at Google I/O last week), and if it's a mobile console, most mobile GPUs have shittacular drivers. Is this rumor is true then it might be an extremely customized version of Android.

 

[ant1532]

You dont remeber them ? there was ton lol.. what was it EA? They was clownin the Wii U lol

the fuck. reggie should have tweeted them back. ea is that hot trash.

 

[GiantEnemyGoomba]

There's really no way to know how good or bad this will be but of course the reactions are as sensational as ever.

 

[comedy bomb]

Guys does this mean the droid will be in SSB5?

 

[Neff]

Too many people in this thread assuming that this news means that existing Android games will be immediately playable on the device and that Nintendo's games will be playable on other devices.

This is highly unlikely.

It certainly won't be like waving a magic wand of compatibility, but I'm fairly sure these are things Nintendo ultimately wants to happen.

I expect if this is true it will be a highly customized version of Android that is pretty well locked down.

If this article contains any truth, then Nintendo will be tearing Android to pieces and putting it back together again in a way which suits them, without a doubt.

 

[vagabondarts]

I've always expected NX to be like a cloud based steam for Nintendo games that let you play on any device anywhere. Nintendo would sell controllers and a dedicated console to play it on, but you could take your controller or controller shell and use it to play your games anywhere.

I'm looking forward to seeing it one day. Definitely new ground for the company.

 

[P44]

the fuck. reggie should have tweeted them back. ea is that hot trash.

Also dominates the gaming market at the moment (in my view at least). Not good if at least one of, if not the main publisher is not so hot on your console.

 

[Terrell]

I also forgot to mention that this likely all but confirms how DeNA is involved with Nintendo's business.

Android's surprising, I remember the Retroarch guys bitching about the inherent audio lag/latency with it. I'm guessing Nintendo will strip it down and optimize for their needs though. Now I wish they'd struck a deal with Valve.

And didn't one of the founding Android engineers leave Nintendo for Google originally? Or am I conflating that with something else?

I think the audio issue is easily resolved by the games running independently from the OS instead of through it, while the OS sort of floats in the background. I imagine that any APIs that exist for use in games will not be the stock standard and sit separate from the OS. Either that or highly-customized APIs within the OS itself.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

Could someone who is actually informed with Android OS and what it might mean for NX, please, please, explain the merits and caveats of this decision? From reactions it sounds like a big shift in direction, but I don't understand why many believe it will be a negative one.

Neither do they. Most talking don't know their ads from a hole in the ground. They're saying shit for the same of saying it.

 

[Polari]

Could someone who is actually informed with Android OS and what it might mean for NX, please, please, explain the merits and caveats of this decision? From reactions it sounds like a big shift in direction, but I don't understand why many believe it will be a negative one.

Not sure if there's anything more in the article, but using Android in itself doesn't actually mean anything beyond it should be easier to port games to the NX and vice-versa.

 

[Maintenance]

Guys does this mean the droid will be in SSB5?

"Droid roots the battle!"

 

[Chindogg]

I highly doubt it's Android.

It definitely sounds like ES. Google and Nintendo have been working on it for at least a couple of years now.

 

[odhiex]

Is this good or bad???

For some (including myself) this maybe good, while maybe bad for others.

 

[Visceir]

Ouya paving the way for Nintendo~

 

[-COOLIO-]

this is HUGE and AWESOME.

nintendo is beating microsoft and sony to the one console future!

 

[Nosgoroth]

I have been thinking about this. NX sofware running directly on Android seems like a terrible idea, security-wise. However, a sandboxed Android within a custom host OS allowing the user to run Android apps seems like a great way of having lots of functionality from the start. It could even bubble notifications to the host OS, and if they want NX to be the only device the user carries around, it could even have phone radios. They might get me to leave iOS and all.

We'll see what happens.

 

[Vbrasa]

Could this be some sort of Ipad competitor? Maybe nintendo is making an Mp3 player like device like an ipod touch or ipad?

Find out on the next episode of Nikkei!

 

[Lexad]

It could very well be similar to when Barnes and Noble ran a variant of Android that was specified for Nook interfaces.

 

[colinp]

Has anyone mentioned how the Dreamcast ran a customized version of Windows CE...?

 

[Vic]

Smart choice if true to leverage a popular open-source distribution/kernel which has been quite mature for years now. They could in theory invest less resources on developing the system OS and might also facilitate the migration of content from other platforms compared to the Wii U and 3DS.

 

[Bowl0l]

NX will be abandoned by Nintendo in less than 2 years once all their NX games are available for free in the internet if it's OS is Android. Unless all NX games are FTP or requires a constant online connection...

 

[LewieP]

People need to calm down a bit. They've never said anything about stopping producing home console games with high end graphics. Why would people assume that's their plan?

I imagine they are going to be making a handheld console that is android based, and a home console that has an OS which is also capable of running these games designed for their android based handheld.

I picture it as an updated version of the Super Gameboy or the Gameboy Player, reimagined for the internet age. Your home console can now run your entire library of handheld games. Of course there will still be games targeting the console specifically (likely primarily comprised of games developed by Nintendo, the handful of externally developed games that they negotiate exclusivity on, and the admittedly meager selection of ports that are available for Wii U right now), but on top of that you'll get a huge shared library of games across both devices.

Other potential benefits that this news brings:
Maybe Nintendo will discover modern touch screens, and ditch their low resolution touch screens based on tech from the 80s (720p/ + capacitive would be what I'd hope for).
They'll probably be able to ship a "NX Handheld" and "NX Handheld XL" with something approaching pixel density parity.
As a long term strategy, they'll probably be able to push backwards compatibility even further.
They will maybe be the first console manufacturer to ship a console with a web browser that's good enough to be actually usable.
If it is possible to sideload apps (likely won't be supported out of the box, but will probably be hacked), then there are a ton of great Android emulators, which are all developing at a fast rate. PSP, Gamecube/Wii, Dreamcast, and most of the older systems too.

I think there are far more potential positives than negatives here.

 

[Doctor Rover]

Okay so people don't seem to understand what Android is.

Android is:
-An operating system
-An operating system you can customize how you like
-An operating system with the ability to call down to the hardware at a low level

Android is not:
-A hardware architecture
-A mandate to be a phone
-A mandate to not be a walled garden

Despite using an Android phone as I type this as far as word of public mouth is that Android was an iPhone clone. I can already see peps completely assuming the wrong thing. It's too late now forever doomed to be NX the Nintendo phone.

 

[Faustek]

the fuck. reggie should have tweeted them back. ea is that hot trash.

Hot trash that has the ability to push console sales.