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[Toadthemushroom]

A lot more than what current gen has. Microsoft's only managing it with a solution similar to Apple's Rosetta, which strictly isn't emulation.

I know that's all in theory, but Nintendo won't want to emulate last gen, I'd imagine the sooner they ditch 10 years of legacy controllers (from the amazing Wii Remote to the GamePad) the better.

If the NX does support backwards compatibility it'll probably be via a reignited version of Virtual Console. And I hope they are working on getting good contracts for the new service if it exists -- I'd like it to launch with a decent library full of games. And contracts which aren't tied to a particular piece of hardware. Saddening to see Nintendo have to re-obtain licenses for Wii U VC releases.

 

[_13500]

A Steamroller architecture would be awesome

 

[AP90]

Wonder if and will help set the CPU bar higher.. Aka something that has a speed around 2.5-3.0ghz??? (that way next set of consoles from MS and Sony will follow suite...)

Idk if the gpu will be more powerful than ps4's but at least make the CPU something worth while in that apu.

Random question..when will we start seeing ZEN doing some work for AMD?

 

[Pokemaniac]

Interesting. I did speculate in a previous thread that Nintendo would take the chance to make a clean break from PowerPC now and - in an echo of the the GameCube years - make a large one-time investment in something fresh to serve as the basis for upcoming platforms over the next decade, much as they did with the GCN (where Gekko was repurposed for their next two home console platforms).

I'm not as confident with technical details as other posters, but is it possible they're going to AMD to produce a SoC for their NX platforms?

Yes, although I think one that uses an ARM CPU is very likely for a variety of reasons.

Like i said:


If NX is a platform, that would also mean BC from console to handheld, things like that have never happened before and don't seem plausible.


Nope, powerpc is dead, and certainly not optimised for mobile/handhelds. ARM makes the most sense.

There's no reason why the first handheld would necessarily have to run Wii U games. It would make sense for there to be some things only the console can do.

 

[mug]

that's wrong since the Wii used the same chips for Wii and GC games. it just downclocked itself and disabled some parts when in GC mode.
Wii and GC are basically the same machine in terms of power and architecture. that's why they run with the same emulator (and also why the Wii U can play GC games with homebrew)

Ah that makes more since, perhaps I was thinking of the PS3.

 

[Vanillalite]

Dat shitty ass Power PC

Been telling you all that in all of these NX threads.

 

[deleted]

Why does it have to be backward compability though? Couldn't they go the Remaster/Port route? It's not like the Wii U has a big userbase or the biggest library of titles. If you port the titles, you can charge new for them from a new userbase, considering the NX will be at least somewhat of a success.

BC doesn't make sense for a fresh start.

 

[Pokemaniac]

Why does it have to be backward compability though? Couldn't they go the Remaster/Port route? It's not like the Wii U has a big userbase or the biggest library of titles. If you port the titles, you can charge new for them from a new userbase, considering the NX will be at least somewhat of a success.

BC doesn't make sense for a fresh start.

BC would make people a lot more confident in their new account based platform, though. If there's one thing that Nintendo needs people to be more confident in (almost to an unreasonable degree) it's their account system.

 

[Neoxon]

It's really not much different than their other consoles with 5 year lifespans, the Wii for example had very little content during its last year. The Wii U still has at least 7 big releases left (6 if in Europe)

The Legend of Zelda U
Yoshi's Wooly World
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Genei Ibun Roku ♯FE
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water
Star Fox Zero
Super Mario Maker
FAST Racing NEO (eShop)

FTFY

 

[deleted]

BC would make people a lot more confident in their new account based platform, though. If there's one thing that Nintendo needs people to be more confident in (almost to an unreasonable degree) it's their account system.

Why's that though? They could use it for VC which they need to bring over either way. They will most likely use it for NXportable + NXconsole.
Why would they need to use it for old software? PS4 didn't need it, the 1 didn't either. eShop games that get ported over would be nice too.
But clinging to 10+ year old technology for another 5 years, only so you can have a little bit more goodwill from a small number of fans that bought Nintendo's last console? Not worth it.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

AMD APU and slated for a late 2016 release, right?

Hmmm, so a Zen-based APU with HBM controllers. Ninty just won the next console war before it even started.

 

[phanphare]

Why does it have to be backward compability though? Couldn't they go the Remaster/Port route? It's not like the Wii U has a big userbase or the biggest library of titles. If you port the titles, you can charge new for them from a new userbase, considering the NX will be at least somewhat of a success.

BC doesn't make sense for a fresh start.

I'll never understand why some gamers actively want companies to implement anti-consumer practices

 

[Real Hero]

Why does it have to be backward compability though? Couldn't they go the Remaster/Port route? It's not like the Wii U has a big userbase or the biggest library of titles. If you port the titles, you can charge new for them from a new userbase, considering the NX will be at least somewhat of a success.

BC doesn't make sense for a fresh start.

you'd rather have ports than just being able to pay the games you own?

 

[Neff]

Why does it have to be backward compability though? Couldn't they go the Remaster/Port route? It's not like the Wii U has a big userbase or the biggest library of titles. If you port the titles, you can charge new for them from a new userbase, considering the NX will be at least somewhat of a success.

BC doesn't make sense for a fresh start.

Nintendo will need great software for NX, and they're going to have to make it themselves. Devoting resources to ports when they can rely on a killer eShop library nobody bought out of the gate seems like an unnecessary risk to me. Wii U is already awash with a ton of great eShop titles, and streamlining accounts seems to be key to selling legacy titles to new audiences. So BC makes a lot of sense.

 

[Rodin]

Dat shitty ass Power PC

Been telling you all that in all of these NX threads.

What do you mean?

Why does it have to be backward compability though? Couldn't they go the Remaster/Port route? It's not like the Wii U has a big userbase or the biggest library of titles. If you port the titles, you can charge new for them from a new userbase, considering the NX will be at least somewhat of a success.

BC doesn't make sense for a fresh start.

Yeah, agreed. I think the author is just guessing if they can go that route with an AMD CPU, but it's unlikely that it will actually happen.

AMD APU and slated for a late 2016 release, right?

Hmmm, so a Zen-based APU with HBM controllers. Ninty just won the next console war before it even started.

I doubt that will happen though. Maybe NX gen 2.

 

[Wildean]

I think it's safe to assume that if 2016's NX is a home console it will be broadly similar to WiiU in terms of power (at least, closer to the U than PS4/XB1), to keep price down and ensure the likes of Smash and MK8 can be ported easily, and that it's USP will be some sort of control innovation.

A better processor makes sense (I bet the bad press they got about slow OS when Wii U launched must have needled them), but I see no indication from them that they want to compete on specs anymore.

 

[Mr. Pointy]

IIRC, the 352GFlop number for the Wii U's GPU comes from adding the ALUs and the TEV unit together.

Here's a thing, will the NX GPU (handheld and console) continue with having a fixed function TEV unit like the GC/Wii/Wii U? The 3DS PICA200 GPU is some weird hybrid that is semi-programmable or something.

 

[Booker.DeWitt]

is not early for a new nintendo console?

God damn it, I have not played all the first party games. Maybe if NX releases in 2016 another one will be released in 2010 along with ps5 and xbox 2

 

[wild wild rice]

Is this evidence that the NX will be similarly powered to Wii U for port purposes as people are saying? Or is that all pure speculation? I don't know shit about tech.

 

[Schnozberry]

If the deal is already inked Nintendo isn't getting 14nm, Zen, HBM, or any of that. At best, it will be within firing distance of the Xbox One. At worst, it'll be a couple of Wii U's duct taped together. If Nintendo goes AMD for their mobile chipset battery life is going to be a serious issue unless AMD has some kind of magic they haven't pushed out in any other product yet. I will be curious to see how this all shakes out.

 

[Schnozberry]

Is this evidence that the NX will be similarly powered to Wii U for port purposes as people are saying? Or is that all pure speculation? I don't know shit about tech.

It's not really saying anything that wasn't already being assumed. AMD spilled the beans at he end of 2014 that they had landed new gaming contracts in their semi custom business.

 

[GhostTrick]

IIRC, the 352GFlop number for the Wii U's GPU comes from adding the ALUs and the TEV unit together.

Here's a thing, will the NX GPU (handheld and console) continue with having a fixed function TEV unit like the GC/Wii/Wii U? The 3DS PICA200 GPU is some weird hybrid that is semi-programmable or something.

The 352gflops number came from the 320 ALU part at 550Mhz. Although, as it has been revealed it's only a 160 ALU part at 550mhz, it's 176gflops.

 

[E-phonk]

I think it's safe to assume that if 2016's NX is a home console it will be broadly similar to WiiU in terms of power (at least, closer to the U than PS4/XB1), to keep price down and ensure the likes of Smash and MK8 can be ported easily, and that it's USP will be some sort of control innovation.

It's not safe to assume, since it would go against everything nintendo said in their investor Q&A's. NX is a platform, a family of devices consisting of (for instance) a handheld and a console.

Also, the last games to port are smash and mk. Those are the "once a generation" games that they want to hype up and sell consoles for. NX will get smash NX and Mario kart 9, not some ports.
But stuff like Mario Maker for instance, are reasonably titles to port.

A better processor makes sense (I bet the bad press they got about slow OS when Wii U launched must have needled them), but I see no indication from them that they want to compete on specs anymore.

Slow OS was because of how badly it was programmed not because of the slow CPU. Afaik the OS only uses one core, and doesn't support multitasking.

Is this evidence that the NX will be similarly powered to Wii U for port purposes as people are saying? Or is that all pure speculation? I don't know shit about tech.

100% speculation. It also doesnt' make sense: porting to a higher spec machine is easier than porting to a similar spec one.

If Nintendo goes AMD for their mobile chipset battery life is going to be a serious issue unless AMD has some kind of magic they haven't pushed out in any other product yet. I will be curious to see how this all shakes out.

They have, it's called ARM instead of x86.

 

[sörine]

Nintendo will need great software for NX, and they're going to have to make it themselves. Devoting resources to ports when they can rely on a killer eShop library nobody bought out of the gate seems like an unnecessary risk to me. Wii U is already awash with a ton of great eShop titles, and streamlining accounts seems to be key to selling legacy titles to new audiences. So BC makes a lot of sense.

Things can be done for dev environment to ease porting even with different architectures. That's what Sony does for the PS ecosystem despite it featuring 3 different CPU families (PS3-PPC, PS4-X86, Vita-ARM) and indies have leapt on board supporting the whole line. There's really nothing keeping indies from quickly porting over their sizable Wii U library to NX if Nintendo makes that process appealing enough. Nintendo may even parlay that into longer Wii U digital support by making Wii U + NX crossplatform an attractive enough proposition.

 

[ultrazilla]

Is this evidence that the NX will be similarly powered to Wii U for port purposes as people are saying? Or is that all pure speculation? I don't know shit about tech.

It will be BC but most likely a significant bump in raw graphical power over WiiU. If they're serious about third party support, they need a powerful system imho.

 

[Schnozberry]

They have, it's called ARM instead of x86.

AMD's ARM on 28nm runs hot and has poor battery life compared to competing SOC's. They abandoned ARM on 20nm and have said their custom ARM Cores on 14nm won't be ready until 2017.

 

[phanphare]

It will be BC but most likely a significant bump in raw graphical power over WiiU. If they're serious about third party support, they need a powerful system imho.

I have a feeling Nintendo will be very serious about 3rd parties this coming gen


just not the 3rd parties that GAF wants

 

[Fourth Storm]

To elaborate on my further post, if Nintendo and AMD used globalfoundries as the SoC manufacturer, there is the possibility of BC w/ Wii and Wii U plus a few other benefits. I don't know how the business arrangement would work out, but gf now has access to IBM's factories and patents. If they used IBM's 22nm process, NX could:

1. Retain BC with Wii U, Wii, and even Gamecube (Espresso would be under 10mm^2 by my estimates)
2. Use IBM's state-of-the-art eDRAM as a framebuffer (much more efficient than eSRAM and cheaper than HBM)
3. Have a smaller or more powerful SoC, since the 22nm process is somewhat shrunken vs. 28nm
4. Still use ARM/x86 as the main CPU (if AMD's engineers are up to the task of porting the designs)

AMD's semi custom division havn't previously done a design this...custom, but at this point, they may be desperate to gain more clients. As a longstanding partner, they also are fully aware (understanding?) of what Nintendo require.

 

[Pokemaniac]

Why's that though? They could use it for VC which they need to bring over either way. They will most likely use it for NXportable + NXconsole.
Why would they need to use it for old software? PS4 didn't need it, the 1 didn't either. eShop games that get ported over would be nice too.
But clinging to 10+ year old technology for another 5 years, only so you can have a little bit more goodwill from a small number of fans that bought Nintendo's last console? Not worth it.

Sony had a lot more goodwill than Nintendo regarding their account system. People will give Nintendo a hard time if current purchases don't carry over.

 

[wildfire]

Still shocked that many people are dreaming about a hybrid system.

A hybrid would mean Nintendo would stop developing the same game for 2 different platforms which based on past consoles would allow them to increase total software output from 20-50%. That means there are no more droughts if they can hit close to the maximum.

 

[deleted]

I'll never understand why some gamers actively want companies to implement anti-consumer practices

you'd rather have ports than just being able to pay the games you own?

Doesn't matter what I want, Nintendo isn't doing what I would have liked on the most basic level for years now, even if our interests collide from time to time and seem a little more aligned as of late.
I'd love a BC, cost efficient, powerful, modern system, but since that isn't in the cards really, so I'll have to make trade offs. BC is pretty far down on my list, if I can have more of the rest.
And in case the NX takes off, ports are a better idea than to weaken your hardware and tie it to old ass architecture, just to keep BC in.

Sony had a lot more goodwill than Nintendo regarding their account system. People will give Nintendo a hard time if current purchases don't carry over.

People have been giving Nintendo a hard time for years now. As long as VC gets carried over to the next console, they'll be fine. I don't think anybody expects to play Super Mario 3D World on the NX just by putting a disc in or downloading it in the eShop for free. When older games (Wii/Wii U) become part of the VC, they should be expected to get carried over for free, but before that, it's not a given. Especially with how Nintendo handled these things in the past.

 

[Schnozberry]

To elaborate on my further post, if Nintendo and AMD used globalfoundries as the SoC manufacturer, there is the possibility of BC w/ Wii and Wii U plus a few other benefits. I don't know how the business arrangement would work out, but gf now has access to IBM's factories and patents. If they used IBM's 22nm process, NX could:

1. Retain BC with Wii U, Wii, and even Gamecube (Espresso would be under 10mm^2 by my estimates)
2. Use IBM's state-of-the-art eDRAM as a framebuffer (much more efficient than eSRAM and cheaper than HBM)
3. Have a smaller or more powerful SoC, since the 22nm process is somewhat shrunken vs. 28nm
4. Still use ARM/x86 as the main CPU (if AMD's engineers are up to the task of porting the designs)

AMD's semi custom division hasn't previously done a design this...custom, but at this point, they may be desperate to gain more clients. As a longstanding partner, they also are fully aware (understanding?) of what Nintendo requires.

From my understanding Fourth Storm, ARM has made it fairly straight forward to migrate from PowerPC to ARM. It's probably a lot less expensive to develop a translation solution at the OS or SDK level than it would to bring in another party and radically alter chip designs, and then do a mix of ARM/x86 cores to this end.

 

[Vanillalite]

What do you mean?


Yeah, agreed. I think the author is just guessing if they can go that route with an AMD CPU, but it's unlikely that it will actually happen.


I doubt that will happen though. Maybe NX gen 2.

Power PC arch is the #1 cock block for Nintendo right now. Go into say a best buy and the only 3 things still sold in the whole store with power PC are the 360, Wii, and Wii U. 2 of those being old as fuck.

Nobody wants to deal with that shit, and nobody's engine is fit to run on that shit. It's not about power per say. Just look at all of the Vita ports that run the game from good performance to kinda shitty. Yet the Vita has an easy to port to arch with it's arm CPU.

Nintendo basically had to beg to get a version of Unity on the Wii U and even that is a dead end version without updates cause there is zero reason to put the time into it. It's the same reason Epic had with Unreal. They couldn't use their console/PC x86 base, and they couldn't use their mobile ARM base.

Why would anyone take the time to make something that has to be so Wii U specific due to the Power PC with this install base? Install base wouldn't matter as much if it was easy to port the exist engines everyone uses.

Just look at the Tell Tale stuff. It's on every platform known to man regardless of how well it runs. Why not the Wii U as well? Cause they can't just use their existing engines with the Power PC hurdles.

Nintendo knows this. That's why they pushed so hard to get at least A version of Unity and created that web framework for Nindies. It still huge cock block though.

Even if the NX was the same power level as the Wii U but used a chipset everyone uses you'd see a lot more games being on the system that are multiplatform on everything under the sun.

 

[sörine]

I suspect if Nintendo does go for Wii/Wii U backwards compatibility in their NX console, they'll achieve it the same way they did with GBA retaining GB or Sony did early PS2/PS3 with PS1/PS2. By essentially sticking a Wii U CPU on the motherboard, with the potential for removal in later cost cutting model revisions.

DS/3DS backwards compatibility in the NX handheld is probably more important really. Bigger audience that they NEED to transition, much bigger library to take advantage of, and compatibility is really already an established standard for mobile platforms. It should also be a simpler proposition really, and I sort of wonder if they don't include it in the console too?

 

[Wildean]

It's not safe to assume, since it would go against everything nintendo said in their investor Q&A's. NX is a platform, a family of devices consisting of (for instance) a handheld and a console.

Also, the last games to port are smash and mk. Those are the "once a generation" games that they want to hype up and sell consoles for. NX will get smash NX and Mario kart 9, not some ports.

Nintendo say a lot of things, but relatively modest hardware has been a key plank of their strategy first on handhelds and then for home consoles since the mid 2000s. Why would NX herald a sea change?

As for the "once a gen" point, this is just the problem. It would take years to develop new installments in those franchises, and by the time they arrive NX may already have gone the way of WiiU. It makes sense to repurpose them for the new console's launch and hope they find an even bigger audience, while the teams who otherwise might be tied up on MK9 work on other things (just as Zelda is likely being held over).

100% speculation. It also doesnt' make sense: porting to a higher spec machine is easier than porting to a similar spec one.

It is, since nobody knows anything really. Just in terms of architecture if they stick with PowerPC it will be easier than porting to an x86 based system.

 

[E-phonk]

A hybrid would mean Nintendo would stop developing the same game for 2 different platforms which based on past consoles would allow them to increase total software output from 20-50%. That means there are no more droughts if they can hit close to the maximum.

So would a "family" of systems both based on ARM, with the mobile version running at 540p and the console version in full 1080p.

With consoles more popular in the west, handhelds in japan, it seems like the best solution without needing to compromise. And if they want they can sell you the same software twice (with maybe a reduction).

Nintendo say a lot of things, but relatively modest hardware has been a key plank of their strategy first on handhelds and then for home consoles since the mid 2000s. Why would NX herald a sea change?

Ofcourse it will be relatively modest. Agree with that.

It is, since nobody knows anything really. Just in terms of architecture if they stick with PowerPC it will be easier than porting to an x86 based system.

PowerPC doesnt' work for a handheld. PowerPC isn't owned by IBM anymore. PowerPC has no future roadmap. AMD doesn't make PowerPC based chips.
PowerPC goes against almost all the things we know and are rumoured about NX.

As for the "once a gen" point, this is just the problem. It would take years to develop new installments in those franchises, and by the time they arrive NX may already have gone the way of WiiU. It makes sense to repurpose them for the new console's launch and hope they find an even bigger audience, while the teams who otherwise might be tied up on MK9 work on other things (just as Zelda is likely being held over).

There are a lot of possible year one releases we kind of can assume already: 3D Mario (being developed at EAD Tokyo for the last 2-3 years now), Zelda port and maybe even Retro's game.
We had a topic quite recently (right before) that discussed the nintendo teams not having any known software in development, and it were quite a lot.

 

[evilromero]

Just knowing how Nintendo has handled console transitions in the past and how they're hinting at the NX being a similar upgrade as we saw from the GCN to the Wii, I fully expect this thing to be at about the same level as the Wii U. It will probably be compatible with the Wii U pad as well if backwards compatibility is a target. I think a lot of core Nintendo fans will be really disappointed at the power level aspect, but will swallow it down because it might make good on Iwata's vision of a shared development platform between handheld and console, thus increasing software output on both fronts.

 

[Neoxon]

Just knowing how Nintendo has handled console transitions in the past and how they're hinting at the NX being a similar upgrade as we saw from the GCN to the Wii, I fully expect this thing to be at about the same level as the Wii U. It will probably be compatible with the Wii U pad as well if backwards compatibility is a target. I think a lot of core Nintendo fans will be really disappointed at the power level aspect, but will swallow it down because it might make good on Iwata's vision of a shared development platform between handheld and console, thus increasing software output on both fronts.

This is what I'm expecting, though I'm 50/50 on if it'll have backwards compatibility.

 

[Fourth Storm]

From my understanding Fourth Storm, ARM has made it fairly straight forward to migrate from PowerPC to ARM. It's probably a lot less expensive to develop a translation solution at the OS or SDK level than it would to bring in another party and radically alter chip designs, and then do a mix of ARM/x86 cores to this end.

I've read some of the documentation myself, but that's really for taking an application and porting it, so to speak. For straight up BC (to Nintendo's standards), they would likely either need Espresso (and the eDRAM) on there physically or they would need to license the same tech that MS have apparently licensed to get 360 games working on the Bone.

We can argue back and forth as to whether we think having Wii and Wii U BC is worth the extra hassle (although, as I mentioned, if they went that route, there are actually advantages), but what we should really be asking is, "Do Nintendo believe BC is important for their consumers?"

I would argue that they do. Now, whether the business side works out w/ AMD, gf, IBM, etc is anyone's guess, but both IBM and AMD are in much different positions than they were even 3 years ago.

 

[Pokemaniac]

A hybrid would mean Nintendo would stop developing the same game for 2 different platforms which based on past consoles would allow them to increase total software output from 20-50%. That means there are no more droughts if they can hit close to the maximum.

But the family of systems concept that Nintendo have said they plan on doing solves this problem in a much more elegant way.

Doesn't matter what I want, Nintendo isn't doing what I would have liked on the most basic level for years now, even if our interests collide from time to time and seem a little more aligned as of late.
I'd love a BC, cost efficient, powerful, modern system, but since that isn't in the cards really, so I'll have to make trade offs. BC is pretty far down on my list, if I can have more of the rest.
And in case the NX takes off, ports are a better idea than to weaken your hardware and tie it to old ass architecture, just to keep BC in.



People have been giving Nintendo a hard time for years now. As long as VC gets carried over to the next console, they'll be fine. I don't think anybody expects to play Super Mario 3D World on the NX just by putting a disc in or downloading it in the eShop for free. When older games (Wii/Wii U) become part of the VC, they should be expected to get carried over for free, but before that, it's not a given. Especially with how Nintendo handled these things in the past.

But the majority of Nintendo's hardware has been BC with its predecessor. You seem to be assuming Nintendo will do exactly the opposite of what you want instead of actually looking at precedent.

 

[phanphare]

I don't think anybody expects to play Super Mario 3D World on the NX just by putting a disc in

well this is false. Nintendo has put that expectation into a lot of gamers' minds by having backwards compatibility on the majority of their consoles, both handheld and home. GBC played GB, GBA played both, DS played GBA, 3DS plays DS, Wii plays GC, and Wii U plays Wii. there is a reasonable expectation that I will be able to take my Wii U games and play them on the next console because Nintendo's history suggests that.

 

[Vena]

I think those % seem a bit unrealistic if MH5 came out in 2017, I expect the NX to sell worse then 3DS if its a handheld in Japan.
Nothing to lose for Capcom, Frontier cannot go on forever and we now have Stories.

Be interesting if they do use AMD

Unless Nintendo releases a flaming turd, the NX will outsell the Vita and the PS4. The N3DS, an incremental and highly optional release, has already outsold both in terms of YTD sales in Japan (I'd have to check numbers, but its surpassed the PS4's LTD as well in Japan). They have every reason to release a handheld in the same price range as the 3DS but with power to considerably outperform the Vita (by necessity of running the majority of mobile titles). (Software sales still being strong means an active audience as well. Now obviously hardware transition isn't guaranteed to carry over the userbase, but Nintendo's own software support is partly why people even buy the thing.)

Frontier is going to go on for a while longer, anyway, as Frontier 2 is coming out in the near future on the PC/PS4.

The other thing to consider is: Nintendo relations with the title, its handheld nature, the burgeoning costs of development, Capcom's financial woes, and MHs lack of western strength.

 

[Vanillalite]

PowerPC doesnt' work for a handheld. PowerPC isn't owned by IBM anymore. PowerPC has no future roadmap. AMD doesn't make PowerPC based chips.
PowerPC goes against almost all the things we know and are rumoured about NX.

It boggles my mind how many people don't know/get this.

PS: Technically it was always a joint venture.

 

[pinkurocket]

Cool.
BC would be great because it would mean there's an incentive for all those people that didn't buy a Wii U to buy an NX, it would have a great library at launch with games many people haven't played. However, I wouldn't be upset if it wasn't BC.

 

[GhostTrick]

I've read some of the documentation myself, but that's really for taking an application and porting it, so to speak. For straight up BC (to Nintendo's standards), they would likely either need Espresso (and the eDRAM) on there physically or they would need to license the same tech that MS have apparently licensed to get 360 games working on the Bone.

We can argue back and forth as to whether we think having Wii and Wii U BC is worth the extra hassle (although, as I mentioned, if they went that route, there are actually advantages), but what we should really be asking is, "Do Nintendo believe BC is important for their consumers?"

I would argue that they do. Now, whether the business side works out w/ AMD, gf, IBM, etc is anyone's guess, but both IBM and AMD are in much different positions than they were even 3 years ago.

>To be fair, the only point I see in Wii U bc is Wii and GC bc... which means... virtually the capability to run any Nintendo game since the NES. That's the point of an ecosystem IMO. That's also kind of a fanboy dream: NX being a shared library with access to every of their old titles.

 

[Teletraan1]

As a Wii U owner I hope they ditch BC and get a fresh start with a decently powerful CPU. Their systems are so underpowered that I am sure a software BC solution is possible. Wii was possible almost right from the start. WiiU is probably possible right now but there is likely no interest and a huge hurdle called the gamepad. And before people go off on how much of a CPU you need to run dolphin. Well that is a bunch of people trying to reverse engineer something that they don't have all the info about. This is the people who made the device. I am sure they can do a better/more efficient job. MS can get a 360 emu to run on the fabled "netbook" cpu of the XB1, The WiiU CPU is less powerful, I am sure they can get it running on whatever AMD is cooking up for them.

 

[Toadthemushroom]

The 352gflops number came from the 320 ALU part at 550Mhz. Although, as it has been revealed it's only a 160 ALU part at 550mhz, it's 176gflops.

Interesting. The PowerVR GPU in the iPad Air 2, which has been semi-customised by Apple, is touted at 230 GFLOPS.

I'd love to see Nintendo partner with PowerVR, like iPhone and iPad we can expect something that's still powerful on the NX handheld (like the iPhone 6's GPU), and something that goes above-and-beyond that for the NX console, which will be less thermally constrained than a thin tablet like the iPad.

 

[E-phonk]

I'd love to see Nintendo partner with PowerVR, like iPhone and iPad we can expect something that's still powerful on the NX handheld (like the iPhone 6's GPU), and something that goes above-and-beyond that for the NX console, which will be less thermally constrained than a thin tablet like the iPad.

You might like this eurogamer article in that case:

Around 18 months ago, during an informal chat with an extremely well-placed individual in the hardware manufacturing business, an interesting nugget of information dropped into the conversation - Nintendo was already accepting pitches from third parties on the hardware make-up of its successor for Wii U. Two names were mentioned: AMD and Imagination Technologies, creators of the PowerVR mobile graphics tech

More: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/d...-next-gen-hardware-and-the-strategy-behind-it

 

[phanphare]

>To be fair, the only point I see in Wii U bc is Wii and GC bc... which means... virtually the capability to run any Nintendo game since the NES. That's the point of an ecosystem IMO. That's also kind of a fanboy dream: NX being a shared library with access to every of their old titles.

yeah with this news of Nintendo intending to stick with BC I'm wondering if the NX doesn't just signify cross support between their handheld and console but cross support for all of their games. everything. that'd be a system seller right there. I mean when it's all said and done the Wii U will already be able to play every single generation of Nintendo hardware save for the 3DS. you can emulate the NES, SNES, N64, GB, GBC, GBA, and DS while also being able to play GCN and Wii games natively. would be really awesome if that's where they're headed.

 

[Neoxon]

A hybrid would mean Nintendo would stop developing the same game for 2 different platforms which based on past consoles would allow them to increase total software output from 20-50%. That means there are no more droughts if they can hit close to the maximum.

You could achieve the same result with the console & handheld sharing an architecture & an OS.