Shame that Unseen64's info with regards to this (as more of their info proves valid) had no clarity between handheld or console for the information that they were providing.
That said, given Matt's info with regards to "not being WiiU" level, then we may be looking at something around X1 (at least) if a console variant exists but, possibly, with better allocations therein.
Truthfully, any information received regarding the compute power and graphical capabilities of NX would have to have been accompanied with information regarding form factor. So the fact that it was intentionally obfuscated is just horseshit to me.
The handheld/console ambiguity has definitely been one of the worst things about the NX speculation cycle. With all the rumors being ambiguous, lots of people disagreeing about what NX will be, and the ever-present hybrid distraction, all the NX threads on here have been pretty crazy.
The only rumours that are ambiguous about NX are power-based rumours and that's because they're being made to be ambiguous by most people for no real reason because they're intentionally declining to speak on what device they're speaking of.
Gonna be honest. I don't miss reading Iwata's ambiguous statements.
They're only ambiguous because Nintendo's next move isn't as easy to predict as Sony and Microsoft's. Really, when talking about the next PlayStation, it's pretty much set in stone what you can expect from it outside of the system software. With Nintendo, we're never going to have that luxury ever again, because they've proven themselves to be an unknown quantity with every generation since the GameCube.
I wonder if Iwata meant that the NX platform will have two different form factors. One for western gamers and one for Japanese and neighboring markets. Sort of like how, we had NES/Famicom and so forth. Both consoles and handhelds, sharing the OS. When there's a firmware update its for both form factors and released simultaneously.
So in the East you may have hardware that is technically not on the same footing as what's released in the West. The form factor and overall console design will be different.
I think the time for unique form factors by region is over. Back in the 80s, it was a different story, but in a global market, it's very difficult to do.
Like it or not, Nintendo is now in a position to where they cannot compete without their attempt ending in failure. As I've said before, a secondary console that's relatively cheap is quite possibly their only option. Maybe not $150 cheap, but $200 cheap with enough power & games to justify the price. The only way Nintendo could truly pull the rug right out from under Sony & Microsoft is if they go for 4K/60fps, but that'd be expensive as hell.
What makes you think that being the second-string option is an option that wouldn't equally end in failure, when the only time that wasn't true was the Wii, when EVERY market expectation was untrue? The only difference is that it would be a financially-modest failure, but that just means you'd need to spend even MORE money on the next go-around to try and fix the problem so you don't continue to fade into complete irrelevance. Because if Nintendo isn't going to give people what they want, it doesn't matter how cheap it is, most people aren't going to buy it. And the longer you wait to give them what they want, the more money you have to spend marketing yourself to hell and back to convince them otherwise.
I don't think they're going to go for 4K, nor do I think they have a shot at being #1 in the market for the next 10 years at the bare minimum.
But with both Sony and Microsoft wanting to stay at $399 and $349 retail for their consoles with no signs of that changing and Microsoft being in a weak position so far this generation, there is an opportunity that presents itself to come in at $300 with hardware that is likely to see better cost reductions over time and put them in a position to always be a step ahead in price that could push Xbox One further into the background.
This, of course, only works if it's more than just another Nintendo-only box, since the market has largely decided it doesn't want a Nintendo-only box anymore on more than 1 occasion (again, barring the Wii), but until we know what that situation is, it's unclear how that will pan out. Regardless, if they pursue such an option and put in the work to try and make something of it, it's an aggressive option at a time when Nintendo needs to present a little bit of aggression and the market will respond to that.
