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Pokémon CEO seemingly confirms NX is a console/handheld hybrid

heringer

Member
Sorry, there are plenty of NX threads and I'm not following everything, but where was this mockup discussed?

Cs0tiv2XEAAy2Eu.jpg
 
Mochizuki posted more about his interview with Ishihara. It mentions nothing about the NX, but there are some good quotes.

Mr. Ishihara said he’s particularly attached to Exeggutor, a character that looks like a coconut tree. Mr. Ishihara said that Exeggutor became his friend while he checked the programming of the game, and together they explored many places within it and captured characters. Mr. Ishihara said he wants to give Exeggutor more of the spotlight.

In the coming 3DS games, titled “Sun” and “Moon,” a new type of Exeggutor with a longer neck will be introduced.

“My dream is finally a reality,” Mr. Ishihara said. “I’m glad to see what Exeggutor has become.”

Fun fact, you can still locate his Exeggutor in Red and Green. From TCRF:
In Japanese Red and Green, an unused function exists that adds three Pokémon to the player's party:
Exeggutor (Level 90)
Ekans (Level 90)
Rhydon (Level 5)
 

trutrutru

Member
Would Vita still be handheld?

Would a hypothetical NX console less of a console if it uses cartridges?

Would a future XBOX or PS without a disc drive be less of a console?

If I buy only digital games that I can cross play between PS4 and Vita does it mean that my hypothetical PS4 is less of a console and my hypothetical Vita is less of a handheld?

A vita would still be a handheld. But only in form factor. Each of these things could still be defined as portable or not. What would be different is that there would no longer be a difference in the experience you get regarldess of whether your on a portable or home console. Which simply isnt the case today. Not in terms of feature set, or in the games available to each type of device (only a few exceptions), and definitely not the same from the perspective of a game developer. A perspective nobody seems to be considering, that is likely being considered in such a vague and open ended quote. The development of one game getting you access to both console portable consumers without porting would be big change from the perspective of developers. And could see a massive change in the 3rd party support nintendo has received previously

Also. Why does a shared library have to be the one thing that changes what it meams to be console or portable. It could be the sum of a few things. No quote has been direct enough to really tell what they are doing for sure
 

Baleoce

Member
Sorry, there are plenty of NX threads and I'm not following everything, but where was this mockup discussed?

Cs0tiv2XEAAy2Eu.jpg

So when in multiplayer detached mode, do we think they'll replace the right stick with the use of gyro, and how would that work in multiplayer? Or will they possibly add new 3DS style nubs? I'm trying to think how this could work in practice. Perhaps with the intention of both players playing on the same portable screen, the experience of games will be tailored towards that. I doubt they'd do split screen on a 6 inch device for example. So perhaps camera controls could become irrelevant to a point with local multiplayer unless it's specifically playing local MP on the TV. So many scenarios making me dizzy.
 

L Thammy

Member
Maybe I'm misreading - just glancing over some of the posts up the page - but how seriously are people taking the idea that the NX is going to be unique or unprecedented?

As far as an individual piece of hardware goes, we've got detachable controllers and TV out. Those are already distinguishing features. I find it hard to imagine that we'd get this amount of information but not the main feature. If the main selling point hasn't been revealed yet, it's probably a software feature.

I also don't think it should weigh too heavily in discussions of what the hybrid is, because it's hard to imagine an implementation that hasn't been done in some way. We've seen handhelds that plug into the TV. We've seen a console-handheld duo that plays the same games. We've seen a series of hardware that all play the same software. I have yet to hear a description of the hybrid that sounds totally unique (except maybe some joke ones).

What I'm thinking is that either the hybrid concept is unique to Nintendo, or it's unique in that Nintendo is building their strategy around it.
 

MuchoMalo

Banned
Maybe I'm misreading - just glancing over some of the posts up the page - but how seriously are people taking the idea that the NX is going to be unique or unprecedented?

As far as an individual piece of hardware goes, we've got detachable controllers and TV out. Those are already distinguishing features. I find it hard to imagine that we'd get this amount of information but not the main feature. If the main selling point hasn't been revealed yet, it's probably a software feature.

I also don't think it should weigh too heavily in discussions of what the hybrid is, because it's hard to imagine an implementation that hasn't been done in some way. We've seen handhelds that plug into the TV. We've seen a console-handheld duo that plays the same games. We've seen a series of hardware that all play the same software. I have yet to hear a description of the hybrid that sounds totally unique (except maybe some joke ones).

What I'm thinking is that either the hybrid concept is unique to Nintendo, or it's unique in that Nintendo is building their strategy around it.

There are some people taking it ridiculously seriously, to the point that they consider the hybrid rumor "debunked" from not being unique enough.
 
Call it what you want. Nintendo will launch ONE device that you can play on the go or in your TV. It will have detachable controllers that allows local multiplayer on the go.

In the future the could release the same device without a screen and call it a home console. The could release the same device in a smaller form factor.

They will use one chipset for all and one game library for all devices.

Call it whatever you want.
 

Boney

Banned
The idea of detachable controller still seems so surreal though. What's the point other than make it seem awkward and cheap?
 
Local multiplayer for everyone.

Since every console will have it, every game can have it.

I also suspect will be able to change them for better control/portability.

i.e. put controllers with circlepads on it to make it a little more portable friendly. Put a controller with larger sticks/ triggers on the back for a better home console experience.
 
I also suspect will be able to change them for better control/portability.

i.e. put controllers with circlepads on it to make it a little more portable friendly. Put a controller with larger sticks/ triggers on the back for a better home console experience.

Yeah or you could dock the nx, buy a pro controller and use it as a home console.
 

orioto

Good Art™
Local multiplayer for everyone.

Since every console will have it, every game can have it.

But even that doesn't really make sense after all...

_Devs were not doing local multi cause there wasn't a second controller in the box, really ? People who want local multi have a second controller anyway.. It never stopped devs from doing local multi before..

_It's going to be tough to play a multiplayer game on a 6,2" screen.. Try. Take a 3ds XL, put it in front of you, now be far enough so that you and a friend can waggle mini wiimotes to play just dance. Do it.

_It's not going to be full control with those detachable controllers.. So it won't work with traditional console games, or at least Monster Hunter ones, complex ones. That means it works for specific games using 1 or 2 buttons and motion control. Probably casual ones from Ubisoft for exemple.

Everything for now tends to show that this whole detachable controller thing serves a casual purpose rather than a gamer one.

I mean the argument from Nintendo cannot be : Heyyy we gave you a second controller for free! That's not an innovation lol...

Now the argument can be: "Heyyyy we have a portable Wii that you can use everywhere at your friend's place" but even that seems not a guarantied success 11 years after the Wii..
 

trutrutru

Member
Local multiplayer for everyone.

Since every console will have it, every game can have it.

Well some level of multiplayer or limited to experiences that can be played using the equivelent of a wiimote when split like the rumors suggest. Better then nothing though
 

L Thammy

Member
The local multiplayer idea does seem kind of weird. At least as something that's meant to justify a possibly costly hardware decision. The 3DS still had single cart multiplayer capability, it's just that people stopped using it for some reason. And I'm not sure why Nintendo would want to stop selling new controllers.

I think it's just a way to simply the switch from handheld to console. You don't have to set up a different controller, just pull out the NX controllers and you're good to go.

This is the best thing to happen to handhelds, quite literally.

You no longer have to worry about servicing the entire freaking thing if the controls break or deteriorate (as they always do).

I'm sure the hardware peeps are using this logic to justify the NX's even lower quality circle pads.
 
The idea of detachable controller still seems so surreal though. What's the point other than make it seem awkward and cheap?

This is the best thing to happen to handhelds, quite literally.

You no longer have to worry about servicing the entire freaking thing if the controls break or deteriorate (as they always do).
 

orioto

Good Art™
This is the best thing to happen to handhelds, quite literally.

You no longer have to worry about servicing the entire freaking thing if the controls break or deteriorate (as they always do).

I love that idea lol.

Like Nintendo will sell its console with the catch phrase "You can now replace things when they break!! wouhouuu!"

People will love that.
 
I love that idea lol.

Like Nintendo will sell its console with the catch phrase "You can now replace things when they break!! wouhouuu!"

People will love that.

This is not a selling point for the mainstream. Of course, to them it will be sold under the guise of multiplayer, playing on the TV while it's docked (or even while it's on a surface using some sort of stand/cover, like a tablet) etcetera.

But for me? For me, that's one of the main selling points. Having this option in case things went sour was great when gaming with my Xperia Z2 and the GCM-10.
 
I don't think the fact that it's a hybrid or the detachable controllers qualify as the stated "brand new concept" but that doesn't mean there won't be something more than what we've heard. People act like there is no way for the NX to be anything more than what the rumors state, but I find it hard to believe that we've heard everything.

For instance I'm almost positive there will be some image sensing or IR sensing component, just based on the fact that so many of their recent patents focus on that type of technology, which means it's featured heavily in their R&D.
 
But even that doesn't really make sense after all...

_Devs were not doing local multi cause there wasn't a second controller in the box, really ? People who want local multi have a second controller anyway.. It never stopped devs from doing local multi before..

_It's going to be tough to play a multiplayer game on a 6,2" screen.. Try. Take a 3ds XL, put it in front of you, now be far enough so that you and a friend can waggle mini wiimotes to play just dance. Do it.

_It's not going to be full control with those detachable controllers.. So it won't work with traditional console games, or at least Monster Hunter ones, complex ones. That means it works for specific games using 1 or 2 buttons and motion control. Probably casual ones from Ubisoft for exemple.

Everything for now tends to show that this whole detachable controller thing serves a casual purpose rather than a gamer one.

I mean the argument from Nintendo cannot be : Heyyy we gave you a second controller for free! That's not an innovation lol...

Now the argument can be: "Heyyyy we have a portable Wii that you can use everywhere at your friend's place" but even that seems not a guarantied success 11 years after the Wii..

Well some level of multiplayer or limited to experiences that can be played using the equivelent of a wiimote when split like the rumors suggest. Better then nothing though

I think local multiplayer will be with snes style controllers, not wii like.
 

trutrutru

Member
I think local multiplayer will be with snes style controllers, not wii like.

Well yeah. The wiimote turned to the side was basically that. But not all games can be played snes style. There wont be enough buttons to play all games. Not to mention no dual sticks in thst form
 

Hermii

Member
Maybe I'm misreading - just glancing over some of the posts up the page - but how seriously are people taking the idea that the NX is going to be unique or unprecedented?

As far as an individual piece of hardware goes, we've got detachable controllers and TV out. Those are already distinguishing features. I find it hard to imagine that we'd get this amount of information but not the main feature. If the main selling point hasn't been revealed yet, it's probably a software feature.

I also don't think it should weigh too heavily in discussions of what the hybrid is, because it's hard to imagine an implementation that hasn't been done in some way. We've seen handhelds that plug into the TV. We've seen a console-handheld duo that plays the same games. We've seen a series of hardware that all play the same software. I have yet to hear a description of the hybrid that sounds totally unique (except maybe some joke ones).

What I'm thinking is that either the hybrid concept is unique to Nintendo, or it's unique in that Nintendo is building their strategy around it.
I don't think there is going to be a single unique feature, but I thinks there will be a combined feature set implemented in a way that's never been done before. We never seen all the things in your post combined in a single device.

And you say we seen console/ handheld with the same library??

Also I still believe the NX is designed with Iwatas "family of systems" philosophy from the ground up. From this perspective it makes a lot of sense to partner with Nvidia, a company that makes everything from low powered mobile components to the highest end gpus. Nintendo next device will be a continuation of the NX line, similar to apples "I" product line and they can bring it to market whiteout starting from square 1 like a normal console cycle.
 

orioto

Good Art™
"Casual" and "gamer" are not mutually exclusive.

They are in my opinion, to a certain degree. Cause when your console becomes a casual hit, it's filled with shovelware and gamers avoid it like plague after some months.

The two market don't like each other. Gamers didn't like the name Wii (look for the thread on gaf, total meltdown) and that's why casual liked it. The wiimote wasn't the ideal shape for a controller, even a motion control one, no. It was a casual marketing idea. When you do something in a direction, it goes against the other crowd. 3DS has more buttons, more fitted to complex games >> Less appealing for casuals

Really, people don't get it. The Wii was a huge sucess cause it basically screams "we're not a gaming device, we're not geeky, don't be afraid, it's not "videogames" !" And i know Nintendo fans had a lot of good games on it, Nintendo doesn't forget its core market. BUT gamers, outside of that circle, remembers the Wii as a device to play with grandma and grandpa, opposed to something designed for them.

Most Nintendo problems in the last years comes from that simple error. Casual and gamers don't want the same thing. Worse than that, they do not like to be put together!!
 
They are in my opinion, to a certain degree. Cause when your console becomes a casual hit, it's filled with shovelware and gamers avoid it like plague after some months.

So why did all the "gamer" software on Wii sell better than it did on basically any Nintendo home console that came before? Come on, now.

Oh, wait, you're talking about "hardcore" gamers who have built up an idol about what "video games" are that was fed to them by marketing people who want to capture billions of dollars from 18-35 year old males.

I'd argue that these people and the software that's made for them are actually really really poor representations of "gamers" and "video games" on the whole.
 

Thraktor

Member
But even that doesn't really make sense after all...

_Devs were not doing local multi cause there wasn't a second controller in the box, really ? People who want local multi have a second controller anyway.. It never stopped devs from doing local multi before..

_It's going to be tough to play a multiplayer game on a 6,2" screen.. Try. Take a 3ds XL, put it in front of you, now be far enough so that you and a friend can waggle mini wiimotes to play just dance. Do it.

_It's not going to be full control with those detachable controllers.. So it won't work with traditional console games, or at least Monster Hunter ones, complex ones. That means it works for specific games using 1 or 2 buttons and motion control. Probably casual ones from Ubisoft for exemple.

Everything for now tends to show that this whole detachable controller thing serves a casual purpose rather than a gamer one.

I mean the argument from Nintendo cannot be : Heyyy we gave you a second controller for free! That's not an innovation lol...

Now the argument can be: "Heyyyy we have a portable Wii that you can use everywhere at your friend's place" but even that seems not a guarantied success 11 years after the Wii..

It would appear from everything we've heard that the primary reason for the detachable controllers is simply to allow people to play the device while it's docked. The multiplayer functionality seems to be a secondary function (like sideways Wiimotes) that just arises as a side benefit from having two detachable control units. Each controller should have a slide pad and four face buttons (and possibly a shoulder button or two) which would be plenty for the kind of same-screen multiplayer games that you'd expect Nintendo to use this for, i.e. NSMB, Mario Party, etc. You could probably even squeeze in a bit of split screen Mario Kart at a pinch (each half of a 6.2" screen would be 50% larger than the original 3DS's entire top screen).
 
Well yeah. The wiimote turned to the side was basically that. But not all games can be played snes style. There wont be enough buttons to play all games. Not to mention no dual sticks in thst form

Would you play Smash with it ?

I think this feature is aimed at casual gamers. It would be a tablet, with 2 snes controllers so you can play with friends. It can do everything a tablet does + nintendo games + 2 controllers.

The original NES had two wired controllers.

But since the machine is more powerful than a wii u , it could be a gamers console when you use a normal controller, either on the go or in your tv.
 

Kiote

Member
Maybe I'm misreading - just glancing over some of the posts up the page - but how seriously are people taking the idea that the NX is going to be unique or unprecedented?

As far as an individual piece of hardware goes, we've got detachable controllers and TV out. Those are already distinguishing features. I find it hard to imagine that we'd get this amount of information but not the main feature. If the main selling point hasn't been revealed yet, it's probably a software feature.

I also don't think it should weigh too heavily in discussions of what the hybrid is, because it's hard to imagine an implementation that hasn't been done in some way. We've seen handhelds that plug into the TV. We've seen a console-handheld duo that plays the same games. We've seen a series of hardware that all play the same software. I have yet to hear a description of the hybrid that sounds totally unique (except maybe some joke ones).

What I'm thinking is that either the hybrid concept is unique to Nintendo, or it's unique in that Nintendo is building their strategy around it.

The way I see it, there are three features the NX can implement that will define it as a hybrid console.

Most importantly, will be the ability to connect multiple wii u pro style controllers to the console.

Second would be a fully function online network of better than 3DS/Wii U quality

And Finally, some form of power boost while on dock to prevent games from having to scale down during split screen multiplayer, like Mario kart

If they can pull off those, they will have a unique hybrid.
 

orioto

Good Art™
So why did all the "gamer" software on Wii sell better than it did on basically any Nintendo home console that came before? Come on, now.

Oh, wait, you're talking about "hardcore" gamers who have built up an idol about what "video games" are that was fed to them by marketing people who want to capture billions of dollars from 18-35 year old males.

I'd argue that these people and the software that's made for them are actually really really poor representations of "gamers" and "video games" on the whole.

Of course they did the market was twice as big and people needed games to play on it after they stopped playing Wii Sport... New Mario Bros Wii was a huge casual melancholia hit you know... When you have a sudden giant crowd owning a console from Nintendo, they will go for the mario games.

I think this feature is aimed at casual gamers. It would be a tablet, with 2 snes controllers so you can play with friends. It can do everything a tablet does + nintendo games + 2 controllers.

The original NES had two wired controllers.

But since the machine is more powerful than a wii u , it could be a gamers console when you use a normal controller, either on the go or in your tv.

That's what i'm saying. Except i'm also saying it will come at a cost. That casual oriented feature is a big part of the device design to begin with.
 
Of course they did the market was twice as big and people needed games to play on it after they stopped playing Wii Sport... New Mario Bros Wii was a huge casual melancholia hit you know... When you have a sudden giant crowd owning a console from Nintendo, they will go for the mario games.

I thought you said that "casual" players didn't like software made for "gamers."

I thought you said that "gamers" didn't want Wii.

If a fucking Mario game (the game on which the game industry we have today was built) isn't a game for "gamers," then what the fuck are "gamers"?
 
That's what i'm saying. Except i'm also saying it will come at a cost. That casual oriented feature is a big part of the device design to begin with.

What would that cost be? When atached is a normal controller and you could atach a pro controller.

The only problem is that it will be a not so powerfull home console, but we would never get that form nintendo anyways.
 

orioto

Good Art™
I thought you said that "casual" players didn't like software made for "gamers."

I thought you said that "gamers" didn't want Wii.

If a fucking Mario game (the game on which the game industry we have today was built) isn't a game for "gamers," then what the fuck are "gamers"?

You don't realize New Mario Bros Wii was a fucking casual hit for people who were like "omg i didn't play it since the 80's" it seems..

I can tell you looooots of people who don't play videogames regularly bought this one. Also they found it super hard and stopped playing it.

Didn't you see the commercial for it ? basically 30-35 yo in the street being all "Mario wow i remember it from my childhood!"

What would that cost be? When atached is a normal controller and you could atach a pro controller.

The only problem is that it will be a not so powerfull home console, but we would never get that form nintendo anyways.

If the console has a casual focus and dynamic, it will put it in a bad spiral. A concrete exemple ? Zelda BotW won't be a strong marketing focus for the NX, i can see it already (that's why it was featured on WiiU at E3). It'll be like Twilight Princess on Wii. And it will be a bad sign sent to non automatic fans let's say.
 
But even that doesn't really make sense after all...

_Devs were not doing local multi cause there wasn't a second controller in the box, really ? People who want local multi have a second controller anyway.. It never stopped devs from doing local multi before..

_It's going to be tough to play a multiplayer game on a 6,2" screen.. Try. Take a 3ds XL, put it in front of you, now be far enough so that you and a friend can waggle mini wiimotes to play just dance. Do it.

_It's not going to be full control with those detachable controllers.. So it won't work with traditional console games, or at least Monster Hunter ones, complex ones. That means it works for specific games using 1 or 2 buttons and motion control. Probably casual ones from Ubisoft for exemple.

Everything for now tends to show that this whole detachable controller thing serves a casual purpose rather than a gamer one.

I mean the argument from Nintendo cannot be : Heyyy we gave you a second controller for free! That's not an innovation lol...

Now the argument can be: "Heyyyy we have a portable Wii that you can use everywhere at your friend's place" but even that seems not a guarantied success 11 years after the Wii..
Its called hooking it up to a tv via dock.
 
So when in multiplayer detached mode, do we think they'll replace the right stick with the use of gyro, and how would that work in multiplayer? Or will they possibly add new 3DS style nubs? I'm trying to think how this could work in practice. Perhaps with the intention of both players playing on the same portable screen, the experience of games will be tailored towards that. I doubt they'd do split screen on a 6 inch device for example. So perhaps camera controls could become irrelevant to a point with local multiplayer unless it's specifically playing local MP on the TV. So many scenarios making me dizzy.
Not many Nintendo games come to mind where camera control isn't automated in multiplayer. Either stuff where everyone shares one screen (NSMB, SM3DW, Smash) or something like Mario Kart where the extent is level of zoom.
The idea of detachable controller still seems so surreal though. What's the point other than make it seem awkward and cheap?
Wiimote + Nunchuk control is the best.
 

Genio88

Member
Just heard the latest Giant Bombcast, Jeff said an announcement even a few week before launch in March wouldn't be that weird, they could just do like Apple...Don't know if i agree, it'd be a risk, Nintendo needs to promote this thing well especially after the WiiU case, would they be able to do that in a few weeks? Also them being on the Apple event stage might be a hint for them to like how Apple do things
 
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