NeonZ
Member
I am getting more and more confused (perhaps I should stop chasing NX related threads!)
Just a question and only with respect to the "handheld hardware", has Nintendo actually made direct reference to making a NX handheld device?
Cos I am thinking more and more that there will be a home console and then an app for mobile phones......
Don't want to add to confusion or speculation or hype, but just wanting to get back to basic facts that can be traced to statements directly from Nintendo if possible...... if anyone cares to answer that is......
There's the recent quote from Kimishima, “However, it’s not merely the successor to the handheld 3DS or stationary console Wii U". However, every single recent quote about the NX has been singular, rather than referencing a family of systems. Although, the old WSJ leak had mentioned portable and console as different "units" and a single dev kit, rather than implying separate consoles, so they could be a single system if they're technically 100% compatible with each other. Personally, I don't think the fact that the 3DS isn't completely left for dead yet means much. That usually happens with successful consoles, with the Wii being a big exception.
This is exactly what I've been thinking the whole time about the shared library talk. Which is why, in that form, it's a bad idea.
However, I still feel what they actually meant by those words was a development pipeline where scaling of assets and code was very easy (relatively speaking) between home console games and handheld software, so that teams wouldn't need to create completely new model assets and toolchains for each one separately, or doing significant grunt retooling from project to project.
In that sense, the idea holds a lot more weight and is more sensible.
The whole "development pipeline" idea would be a complete waste that wouldn't add much. You'd still need to split development resources and use different assets, if we're talking about systems with completely different specs receiving different games. Wasting those resources to make a bunch of similar, but different, games for both consoles (like NSMB 2 vs NSMB Wii U, 3d Land vs 3d World, MK7 vs MK8) would take the development teams' time and resources and lead to Nintendo's usual droughts, especially with Nintendo having to deal with a handheld that likely would have significantly improved 3d capabilities in addition to an HD console on par or near the PS4.
Of course, Nintendo suffering from the same issues once again is a pretty realistic possibility. It's a problem that has been hitting them since the GCN, but I don't see how you can look at the hole that they've created for themselves and say that, yes, that's the route they should take. I guess there's the implication that if the NX has both mobile and console units, and they're actually the same system, we won't see a PS4 level leap with the console, and Nintendo's console hardware will stay behind, even if there are boosts like resolution and texture compared to the handheld versions (like a much bigger 3ds vs New 3ds situation). However, considering their current problems, I don't think a PS4 leap, at this point, in the middle of the generation, would help them at all. The time a hardware like that could have been useful for Nintendo was during the Wii U's launch, not now. Ports of current gen games available in much more established competitor consoles won't help Nintendo. People won't buy the console for them, and they likely won't sell either.
Launching in early 2017 also means missing the entire holiday season and the games there, making current gen ports even more worthless. Their excuse regarding the delay to 2017, about having enough games ready, also suggests that the launch won't be based on a bunch of current gen console ports.