Support NeoGAF

[Datschge]

I don't know why they can't just make a good 80w - 100w box. Why do they need to aim for a low power home console?

Maybe it's the only way they see in realistically reviving the home console market in Japan. Bigger hotter boxes have a harder time getting into the house than ever there. And Wii U is still ahead by a huge amount in install base so I guess that worked? *shrugs*

 

[GhostTrick]

I don't know why they can't just make a good 80w - 100w box. Why do they need to aim for a low power home console?

I mean, I get that they are always going to try and be unique, but this just solidifies for me that they have no interest in regaining AAA 3rd party support. I just don't get that. Wouldn't they at least want to leave the door open just in case the hardware is a big success? What happens if they have a huge hit like Wii (unlikely, but hey, you never know) and they run into a situation where again, the hardware is too weak to enable easy ports from the other consoles?

Major bummer.

And if they are thinking of a microconsole, well, they also have their work cut out for them. They'll be putting themselves in a red ocean w/ Apple, Amazon, and Google. Who would they rather compete with?

The lower power, the cheaper it is. As for AAA 3rd party support... they don't care. And 3rd party AAA publishers don't care either. That bridge is forever burnt for Nintendo.
AAA 3rd parties sell in West. The western AAA audience is on PS and Xbox. they have their friends playing with them, on the same ecosystem.

Nintendo's home console are set to either be a mainstream success, catered to a different audience or a smaller 10 to 25 millions audience. That's why they want to create their ecosystem to include the handheld userbase. To make it a relevant audience.

 

[Throwaway123456789]

The energy thing is kind of infuriating. Using the Wii as an example of an energy efficient console is incredible - while yes, it was at the time very impressive that it used so little while playing, it was still using MUCH MORE power than the hugely power thirsty 360/PS3 while "off" (8-9 times more). I'm pretty sure almost noone turned off WiiConnect24, as it was on by default.

If you were using the consoles five hours per week over a year, the Wii uses 27% more power (80.66 kWh) than the original 360 (63.42 kWh) and 38% more than the original PS3 (58.49 kWh). And the other consoles got revisions that brought their numbers down significantly.

 

[Datschge]

I'm pretty sure almost noone turned off WiiConnect24, as it was on by default.

I'm pretty sure you underestimate the amount, the Wii got kind of famous for heating up in standby due to this so the knowledge how to turn that off became pretty widespread. "wii gets hot in standby" is even the first suggestion by google for me when typing in "wii". =D

 

[shouamabane]

I don't know why they can't just make a good 80w - 100w box. Why do they need to aim for a low power home console?

Hopefully they're working towards combining handheld and console.

 

[Snakeyes]

This basically. The crossplatform ease of development (handheld -> console and vice-versa) is a big point to attract Japanese devs/pubs in the future.
And yeah, as said before, power just isn't enough to attract western AAA content on Nintendo platforms, sadly.

I think it's a little premature to say this with certainty.

Why is Persona 5 a Sony home console exclusive even though the best selling game in the series was on Vita? Why is Dragon Quest seemingly returning to Sony home consoles as a multiplat, if not a downright exclusive when Nintendo has the only relevant dedicated handheld in the business? Why have the 3DS and Vita only seen token support from Square-Enix so far, even when compared to the Xbox One, a platform that is more or less irrelevant in that market? Because Japan is just not all that important anymore.

As the dedicated gaming market in Japan continues to decline, developers are turning their attention towards the West. Case in point; several Japanese third parties have mentioned how the PS4's popularity overseas encouraged them to greenlight several projects for the new consoles. At this point, having a successful platform that is conducive to the type of content Japanese third parties want to create in the West is arguably more important to gain their support than one that built with the Japanese market in mind.

Sure, easy cross platform development between handheld and console would be huge for Japanese third parties but only if both form factors become relatively successful. Otherwise, what's the point?

With home consoles becoming a niche in Japan (and are unlikely to break out of it barring a major shift in consumer behavior), it all comes back to building a console that will be embraced by the West. Which means developing first party exclusives that make a difference in the West (high-profile IPs with a more realistic presentation) and mending relationships with western third parties to bring their popular IPs (FIFA, Madden, CoD, etc...) back to the Nintendo ecosystem. Decent marketing would go a long way too.

If Nintendo aren't willing to do that, all they can reasonably expect from Japanese third parties, even if they manage to cook up an excellent cross platform solution, would be a cross between the 3DS and Vita's current libraries, if even that.

 

[Uncle Rupee]

He mentioned Nintendo Directs as an example. He doesn't need to list them all.

Nintendo gave us an in-depth inside look at their games at E3 through streaming services. They also did it at afterward before the fall season.

They are making changes.

The point is if they weren't being control freaks on YouTube, youtubers alone could market their games more effectively than their own marketing department and millions of dollars in marketing.

 

[Panajev2001a]

I don't know why they can't just make a good 80w - 100w box. Why do they need to aim for a low power home console?

I mean, I get that they are always going to try and be unique, but this just solidifies for me that they have no interest in regaining AAA 3rd party support. I just don't get that. Wouldn't they at least want to leave the door open just in case the hardware is a big success? What happens if they have a huge hit like Wii (unlikely, but hey, you never know) and they run into a situation where again, the hardware is too weak to enable easy ports from the other consoles?

Major bummer.

And if they are thinking of a microconsole, well, they also have their work cut out for them. They'll be putting themselves in a red ocean w/ Apple, Amazon, and Google. Who would they rather compete with?

It is not only third parties that get shortchanged by their low power aims. The GamePad and Miiverse were not helped by a system which was IMHO underpowered to fully make them fly... Miiverse should always be loaded and/or take less than 5 seconds to get in and out of. The GamePad puts quite a strain on the console if the developer want it to display a completely different view on the game world compared to what the main screen is showing. Sure, it would render the GamePad view at a lower resolution, but it would still have a lot of work to do nonetheless. All with HW that is expected to produce games that look much better than PS360 games, but that is not itself fully leaps and bounds over them specs wise.

 

[Panajev2001a]

The point is if they weren't being control freaks on YouTube, youtubers alone could market their games more effectively than their own marketing department and millions of dollars in marketing.

Which tells you that they do see Wii U as something they might never really turn around and thus are looking to cut costs anywhere they can... Including not having the E3 press conference and doing a special direct. Compare that with a much more bullish Sony with PS4 and their plan to have a new additional conference to host and Keynote a year and not one less (the PlayStation Experience has been confirmed to be a yearly occurrence).