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[BY2K]

http://gamingbolt.com/coldwood-nintendo-really-secretive-about-nx-wouldnt-mind-putting-unravel-on-it

“No, absolutely not. The more ways we have to reach the audience, the better,” he stated. When asked whether he knew anything about Nintendo’s upcoming console, he stated “I wish I did- but they’re really secretive about it! About the NX, it’s funny, really. I wish I knew more about it, but they’re really secretive about it. I actually had a really fun discussion with a person from Nintendo a while back. It was basically ‘I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours’ (laughs). So he wanted me to pitch something for the NX, and then he could tell me more about what it was. But basically, it’s kind of hard to pitch something when you don’t even know what it is! So if you manage to guess it right, we’ll tell you what it is. So, I don’t know. But I am just as curious as everybody else to see what they’ve been making.”

Asking devs to pitch them a game to THEN show them the system seems like such a dumb, backward move. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

 

[GhostTrick]

Yup, that's Nintendo. Until we discover the secret gimmick was a freeform screen no one cares about.

 

[Machina]

That spells bad juju. If they're keeping it heavily under wraps, SOMETHING gimmicky is in the oven.

 

[Nirolak]

So, given that ports aren't an instant thing, this feels unhelpful for a system coming out in 9 months.

Holding out until the reveal is a bit different when that reveal is 18 months before launch instead of 6 months.

 

[Trago]

That 'unique concept' can't be that unique. The fuck is there to hide?

 

[CrunchyFrog]

http://gamingbolt.com/coldwood-nintendo-really-secretive-about-nx-wouldnt-mind-putting-unravel-on-it



Asking devs to pitch them a game to THEN show them the system seems like such a dumb, backward move. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

It's the only way they could get them to sign an NDA to keep whatever they would then see/hear about it under wraps, some kind of formal exchange. They've clearly got some Wii-level shakeups going into this thing, so they want to keep it as close to the vest as possible. Though obviously this probably affects launch lineup density a bit (and people wonder why Nintendo keeps getting late ports of games released a year before).

 

[Bowl0l]

the gimmick is games that is playable on touch screens.

 

[DrROBschiz]

They are in this weird Limbo of

"We need to move one" but "We need to make sure we move as much old product as possible"

Just cut the cord and jump over to NX already

 

[shinobi602]

Nintendo should be groveling at every fucking developer's feet at this point.

 

[Y2Kev]

So, given that ports aren't an instant thing, this feels unhelpful for a system coming out in 9 months.

Holding out until the reveal is a bit different when that reveal is 18 months before launch instead of 6 months.

Is it 9? I thought it might be sooner! Lol.

 

[Banjotanooki]

Kinda off topic but one of my 4th grade Japanese students asked me the other day during lunch time:
"Sensei, do you like Nintendo?"
"Yes I do! I Have a Wii U!"
"Do you know about the NX?!"

I was amazed that even my students knew about it, haha.

 

[Nirolak]

Is it 9? I thought it might be sooner! Lol.

It could be. I'm just guessing the end of November at the latest.

 

[Alcoholikaust]

Nintendo already off to great start.

SMH

 

[Graphics Horse]

What is NX?

~A miserable pile of donuts!

 

[Eolz]

Asking devs to pitch them a game to THEN show them the system seems like such a dumb, backward move. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

It's good to remember that not all devs/pubs are treated the same way in this industry, often for good reasons.
I don't think any japanese dev would have said this bit of information even if it happened to them.

 

[MatrixMan.EXE]

So, given that ports aren't an instant thing, this feels unhelpful for a system coming out in 9 months.

Was going to say the same thing. If they're really aiming for a Holiday 2016 launch, why are so many developers still in the dark about the thing? Either it won't launch in 2016 (unlikely) or it does launch in 2016 along with a dearth of meaningful 3rd party support.

Ports take time.

 

[Hiltz]

Isn't it true that Nintendo generally keeps its hardware development a secret to its own software development teams ?

As for Wii U, here's a list of some of the major third party launch ports that show how long it took for Wii U versions to come out compared to the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions:


Mass Effect 3: Released 8 months later
Dark Siders 2: Released 3 months later
Assassin's Creed 3: Released a month later
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2: Released same month
Madden NFL 2013: Released around 3 months later
Tekken Tag Team Tournament 2: Released 2 months later
NBA2K13: Released a month later
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge: Released around 5 months earlier (based on NA release schedule)
Sonic Racing Transformed: Released in same month

 

[Scrawnton]

The talk between the dev and Nintendo worker seems more like a talk between friends. Like a "tell me what you're making and we will see about development"

I doubt Nintendo would go to a specific EA studio to talk NX development; they would go to EA as a whole and let them decide what games go to NX and who makes it. Maybe it just so happens Nintendo didn't want a yarn based 2d platformer on their system when they already have that base covered.

 

[WrenchNinja]

I wish I knew more about it, but they’re really secretive about it. I actually had a really fun discussion with a person from Nintendo a while back. It was basically ‘I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours’ (laughs). So he wanted me to pitch something for the NX, and then he could tell me more about what it was. But basically, it’s kind of hard to pitch something when you don’t even know what it is!

That seems pretty dumb

 

[OrbitalBeard]

I'm not expecting much, if any, western third party support for NX, particularly at launch.

Personally, I'm ok with this, if it means some amazing first party content and stuff from Japanese third parties but I obviously understand why, business-wise, this would be a very bad move.

I think people need to set their expectations accordingly.

 

[Lilalaunebaer]

So, given that ports aren't an instant thing, this feels unhelpful for a system coming out in 9 months.

The very, very latest point in time devs could find out about it would be E3. That would still leave them with 5 months to port a game, for launch day. Which in itself isn´t a must.

How long does it usually take to port a game? AAA or smaller. 3-4 months? Genuinely curious. I think that´s how long the MGR:Revengeance port to PC took.

I wouldn´t say it´s time to doom because he doesn´t know what it is. Since we actually know that devkits have been in the wild since at least last November/December.

 

[Xenoblade]

It sounds like Nintendo being Nintendo. They're clearly very confident in whatever it is that makes the NX special.

I keep asking myself what could possibly be so special about the NX? Let's assume the graphics are 2x PS4 graphics (they won't be). So what. Who cares?

OK so it's not graphics. What else could it be? A dual handheld home console hybrid device. Let's give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt and say that it also has a robust online infrastructure and all the bells and whistles that we've come to expect from PSN and XBL and maybe a few extra uniquely Nintendo features. I'm still not seeing how that can result in how confident they are about their console.

I'm thinking Nintendo are onto something big with the NX. Real big. I can't wait for the reveal

Spoiler

whoops!

 

[Nirolak]

It's good to remember that not all devs/pubs are treated the same way in this industry, often for good reasons.
I don't think any japanese dev would have said this bit of information even if it happened to them.

It's not a secret that Western developers are very talkative, but given Japanese games are largely moribund in the West (or to be more polite, very niche), you still have to deal with them if you want their support.

 

[KingBroly]

Was going to say the same thing. If they're really aiming for a Holiday 2016 launch, why are so many developers still in the dark about the thing? Either it won't launch in 2016 (unlikely) or it does launch in 2016 along with a dearth of meaningful 3rd party support.

Ports take time.

Maybe they don't want late ports and want the latest and greatest? I dunno. It seems like some big developers have it already, but I dunno how they're dealing with the smaller developers.

 

[Ambitious]

Nintendo should be groveling at every fucking developer's feet at this point.

Maybe they're still of the mindset that it should be the other way around.

 

[JetSetRadio]

They better have an incredible 1st party lineup ready for launch window.

 

[Tatsumi Oga]

I really wish it was E3 time already, getting tired of all this stuff but basically they aren't saying anything.

 

[Machina]

Maybe they're still of the mindset that it should be the other way around.

Surely not, not after the Wii U.

 

[Nightbird]

At this point I have never seem someone be so secretive about something as Nintendo is about the NX outside of politics.

 

[Milly Osworth]

Maybe they're still of the mindset that it should be the other way around.

Or they rightfully believe it's pointless to do exactly what MS and Sony do.

Nintendo should give us a date already though. Even if the big reveal is at E3, just tell the people!

 

[cw_sasuke]

So, given that ports aren't an instant thing, this feels unhelpful for a system coming out in 9 months.

Holding out until the reveal is a bit different when that reveal is 18 months before launch instead of 6 months.

I think NX will do just fine without a Unravel port at launch as long as the more important devs and publishers are onboard.

 

[GhostTrick]

That 'unique concept' can't be that unique. The fuck is there to hide?

Fuckin nothing.

 

[hoserx]

I am getting so hyped. I've tried to relax...but even things like this ignite a flame inside of me now.

 

[Übermatik]

It's not coming out this year. I doubt it anyway.

 

[MatrixMan.EXE]

Maybe they don't want late ports and want the latest and greatest? I dunno. It seems like some big developers have it already, but I dunno how how they're dealing with the smaller developers.

So stuff like the new COD, BF5 etc. might be what they're fishing for. In fact, I'm positive that's what they're looking out for. Still, I'm not sure if what they're supposedly doing is too clever given their history with 3rd parties.

I feel like they should be as open as possible and garner any and all the support they can get. Be proactive! etc.

Or they rightfully believe it's pointless to do exactly what MS and Sony do.

You mean like, actually forging good relationships with their 3rd party partners and trying to be as co-operative as possible? Yes, "Pointless" indeed.

 

[Outrun]

Nintendo should be groveling at every fucking developer's feet at this point.

This.

Further growth will only come through dev support

I am glad that EA are asking hard questions to Nintendo.

 

[BGBW]

Well if they are being secret about it then said developer would likely be told to be secret about it and thus he can't really say anything but "here's a story about why I honestly don't know anything please stop asking".

 

[Ambitious]

Surely not, not after the Wii U.

One would hope so.

 

[phanphare]

nice, this is the type of game that could do well on a Nintendo console

 

[RedSpring]

Seems reasonable enough. Big companies like EA already know everything about the NX. Indies have a higher chances of leaking information as proven by what he said and so only given information when contributing to the platform

 

[mrklaw]

Not like big publishers are going to put any effort into tweaking for whatever gimmick Nintendo wants to protect.

Just talk to them in terms of ballpark performance expectations (if it is this year they'll have some silicon somewhere) and tools/likely timescales for ports

 

[javac]

I keep asking myself what could possibly be so special about the NX? Let's assume the graphics are 2x PS4 graphics (they won't be). So what. Who cares?

Of course people would care.

 

[Guymelef]

Seems like some things never change, like the historical pathetic third party relations.

 

[FantasticMrSnake]

That spells bad juju. If they're keeping it heavily under wraps, SOMETHING gimmicky is in the oven.

or.. something so awesome that the world's body is not ready.

 

[Nirolak]

I think NX will do just fine without a Unravel port at launch as long as the more important devs and publishers are onboard.

Who would you consider to be the important developers?

 

[DownGrader]

What is NX?

~A miserable pile of GameCubes!

FTFY

 

[EhoaVash]

no on will care about this year old port, waste of resource

 

[KingBroly]

So stuff like the new COD, BF5 etc. might be what they're fishing for. In fact, I'm positive that's what they're looking out for. Still, I'm not sure if what they're supposedly doing is too clever given their history with 3rd parties.

I feel like they should be as open as possible and garner any and all the support they can get. Be proactive! etc.

I'm guessing some smaller devs know what it is, but those devs have a good history with Nintendo. I don't know if an Unravel port is a good idea, frankly. It might fit well with the Nintendo fanbase, but it'd still be a late port.

Wii U failed because it didn't have bigger developers and game on board, so they went after smaller devs after the fact. So that's "PROBABLY" why they went after them primarily with NX, because they're thinking 'hey, if we show we have all these big AAA games, no one can say we don't have them.' But that's just my guess, since I don't think something like Unravel is going to push systems.

They just need to fucking announce the thing, already.

 

[Milly Osworth]

So stuff like the new COD, BF5 etc. might be what they're fishing for. In fact, I'm positive that's what they're looking out for. Still, I'm not sure if what they're supposedly doing is too clever given their history with 3rd parties.

I feel like they should be as open as possible and garner any and all the support they can get. Be proactive! etc.



You mean like, actually forging good relationships with their 3rd party partners and trying to be as co-operative as possible? Yes, "Pointless" indeed.

Even if the Wii U had all 3rd party console developers on board it would have been a failure. It blows my mind so many people still think otherwise.

At this point Nintendo can only succeed with something like the Wii again, trying to go against MS and Sony who have the AAA consuming teenagers locked down, is completely pointless.

 

[Eolz]

It's not a secret that Western developers are very talkative, but given Japanese games are largely moribund in the West (or to be more polite, very niche), you still have to deal with them if you want their support.

I completely agree with that, my point is that some devs working for the same publisher the same visibility as well.
We don't know when it happened and the R&D division at EA maybe already had some ideas of what NX is. A manufacturer's dev might come see devs to talk with them but I doubt he came for this dev specifically.
Probably met with the higher-ups and let him try to guess what NX is after this meeting. Seen/heard stuff like this happen in the past, and not only with Nintendo or a manufacturer for that matter.

It's as much a news as that "rumour" that EA wants Nintendo wants to bundle their games really. Negociations are usually pretty opaque for most employees, devkits as well (and again, not just with nintendo, especially in terms of final specs).