[an expensive console-handheld hybrid] will fail.
Handheld consoles won't sell for that much, really don't know why people have not realized this.
A handheld anything device used to mean a cheap toy/cell phone. Now people carry it around as something that's premium, well designed and cool.
Nintendo can't go all matte red with the design. It just looks stupid to hold compared to everything else now.
Obvious stuff like an HD screen and better technology aside, I do wonder whether Nintendo could release a game-focused handheld again. Launch it cheap, say $150, and lower software prices back to the DS/GBA era pricing plan - $29.99-$34.99 being the highest. If it is powerful enough & Nintendo allows for cross-platform play with other devices, like that Wii U chess game that can play with the phone version, then it could do well.
The price must be affordable and software pricing needs to come back into the realm of impulse buys. No reason iOS/Android games can't be released on the next Nintendo handheld at $0.99 or whatever they go for. Built-in memory of 32GB or so with SD card support again.
I agree with you guys, and anyone else who says the 3DS successor will have to be cheap. Very few mainstream consumers are willing to pay $200 or more for something that isn't a sleek, versatile status symbol device like a smartphone or tablet. Even the DS didn't really take off before a significant price drop. I think this rules out stereo 3D, and maybe even the dual-screen design.
Everyone carries a smart device around nowadays, so competing with them head-on in terms of features doesn't make a lot of sense if you're Nintendo. They'll probably put together an adequate OS/UI by 2014 standards, along with some framework for easy porting of Android/iOS apps just so it's there, but not much else. You'll never get the mainstream to replace their iStuff with a dedicated handheld that does smartphone things on the side anyway, so what you do instead is aim to be the perfect complementary device that people will want to carry with them alongside their smartphones. This also implies that clunky designs like the 3DS/XL won't fly, and that the device needs to be light, compact and have good battery life.
Nintendo rarely drops technology it has heavily invested in, so I could easily see them salvaging the Wii U by building whatever makes Off-TV play work as well as it does into the 3DS and Wii U successors so the two have synergy like the PS4 and Vita. I wouldn't be surprised if the handheld had the same resolution as the Wii U Gamepad (840 x 480) and similar processing power because of this, either. We
might get 720p, which would push a 5 to 5.5 inch display into Retina iPad territory, but I'm not holding my breath.
Finally, Nintendo will probably want the system have some kind of hook that differentiates it from the competition aside from being a dedicated handheld gaming device.
My money's on a haptic touchscreen. It's unique (provided they somehow manage to be one of the first on the market with a working implementation), easy to advertise, has plenty of gaming applications and feels like a natural evolution of the DS line's touchscreen.
If haptic technology is not ready within the next three years, I could also see them going for a sensor that can detect the position of your fingers around the device so you can interact with the game in 3D space, kinda like the Wiimote or Kinect.
The screen will be capacitive in both cases. Stylus may or may not return, based on how expensive it would be to implement.
So, let's recap:
- Profitable when sold at ~ $150.
- Sleek and light, can easily be carried around alongside your smartphone, doesn't look outdated and out of place when in use unlike the 3DS/XL.
- A single 800 x 480 screen,
maybe 720p.
- Capacitive touch.
- Hardware comparable with the Wii U's, but weaker. I'm predicting ~ 150-200 gflops.
- Off-TV technology built-in.
- D-pad, ABXY, shoulder buttons, dual analog sliders.
- Haptic touch feedback or some other hook.
For the form factor: this is a huge stretch, but I wish Nintendo could somehow get a flexible display in there that could be folded sideways, like this;
You'd have a screen bigger than the Vita's when in use, but the device would be just a bit larger than a GBA SP when folded. Realistically, I think they'll go for a slate design. Kids are already used to iDevices anyway, so there's no point in sticking with the clamshell.
