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[Nazgul_Hunter]

This little factoid got lost in the translation of this article, but I thought it deserved its own thread, since the NX = Android rumors have been going around.

Here's my translation of what the original article says.

• When Nintendo announced their mobile games, Amazon was very interested in having the games also be on the Amazon App store.
• Nintendo games will be on the Amazon store on day one, or shortly after Play Store and App Store.
• Amazon is asking Nintendo what they need to do to have Amazon App Store games play on Nintendo consoles
• Amazon got the impression that Nintendo is thinking about emulating Android games.
• Nintendo will not create an Android system, but instead will emulate Android games. It's not something that's confirmed, but just an interpretation of the conversations. (Think how Blackberry is doing it)

The GoNintendo translation has most people thinking that the rumor is Amazon will exclusively have Nintendo games on their store, and even on the FireTV; when it's actually the opposite. Amazon wants to make sure they have Nintendo games in their store in addition to the Google and Apple stores.

Source: I'm a native Spanish speaker

 

[KingSnake]

This makes a lot of sense actually, as it will ensure that mobile Nintendo games will also run on NX. Let's see if it will become true.

 

[Shaanyboi]

This makes a lot of sense actually, as it will ensure that mobile Nintendo games will also run on NX. Let's see if it will become true.

What I'm thinking as well. I have a feeling they won't leave their mobile stuff exclusively on mobile but will try and find a unified solution to making them work on console.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

Not that it matters very much for games like this, but how might this affect functionality and performance of said games?

 

[Chindogg]

If this is true, weird thought here, but what if Nintendo and Amazon partnered up?

Amazon wants to get into gaming, they bought Double Helix.

What if they're partners with Nintendo on NX?

 

[alf717]

Bigger news would be a Mario and Disney game. Wasn't expecting that from the link.

 

[True Fire]

If NX can play Android games, it opens up a world of possibilities for Nintendo.

Imagine playing Final Fantasy VII on a Nintendo handheld.

 

[backlot]

Will they trickle out Android Virtual Console games once a week?

 

[ash_ag]

Android runtime environments are appearing in quite a few platforms. BlackBerry, Sailfish OS, Windows -- most notably, Google's own Chrome. This sounds definitely feasible from a technical standpoint.

 

[Neoxon]

If NX can play Android games, it opens up a world of possibilities for Nintendo.

Imagine playing Final Fantasy VII on a Nintendo handheld.

Assuming the NX is a handheld.

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

Assuming the NX is a handheld.

I'm assuming it's both.

 

[Guevara]

I mean, that's one strategy to ensure "third-party" support.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

I'm assuming it's both.

Assuming both are both

 

[Mesoian]

I totally expect this to happen. A stand alone portable hardware option that can sideload Android games and allows them to use a standard control scheme as well as touch screens. It solves their 3rd party development issues without having to reforge connections with the big conglomerates while making their own products stand out by having more competition.

 

[Nazgul_Hunter]

Android runtime environments are appearing in quite a few platforms. BlackBerry, Sailfish OS, Windows -- most notably, Google's own Chrome. This sounds definitely feasible from a technical standpoint.

It would definitely be a smart move for Nintendo. It lets them keep Nintendo games exclusively on Nintendo consoles, while not being left behind on the mobile space. *And* they'll have a ton of "third party" support

Additionally, a handheld that plays Android games with a controller built in would be glorious. And also, the way that mobile chipsets are advancing, an NX-based home console will probably play Android games that are pretty close to WiiU level graphics in the not too distant future.

 

[Ahnez]

This got really overshadowed in the other thread, but it makes a lot of sense :

This makes a lot of sense actually, as it will ensure that mobile Nintendo games will also run on NX. Let's see if it will become true.

Exactly what I'm thinking

 

[True Fire]

Assuming the NX is a handheld.

I'm assuming that NX is a platform that spreads across different SKUs like iOS/Android. Even if it isn't, it will be nice to see most of the mainline Final Fantasy games playable on one Nintendo system.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

If NX can play Android games, it opens up a world of possibilities for Nintendo.

Imagine playing Final Fantasy VII on a Nintendo handheld.

That Miiverse will be a sight to behold lol

 

[Nori Chan]

Damn. Another console where I can't play a fallout game on it.

 

[LowSignal]

But in the era of mobile gaming will people be willing to pay $40+ for a Nintendo game when they can get a game for free? I think it's a mistake Nintendo to be associated with Android at all.

 

[smurfx]

nintendo doesn't have to pay google anything to emulate android games? or is this one of those deals where nintendo will charge people a one time fee to take care of any licensing rights?

 

[B-Dubs]

If this is true, weird thought here, but what if Nintendo and Amazon partnered up?

Amazon wants to get into gaming, they bought Double Helix.

What if they're partners with Nintendo on NX?

It might let Nintendo take a much bigger risk with specs as they could use Amazon's money press to act more like Microsoft and Sony when designing their next console.

 

[True Fire]

Damn. Another console where I can't play a fallout game on it.

Coming soon to Android!

 

[orioto]

That can be good but i'm not sure why Nintendo wants to have an ocean of bad android games available to their customers. That's just more competition to their own games, and some of those games will be way cheaper.

 

[JDSN]

Coming soon to Android!

Damn. Another console where I can't play a fallout game on it.

 

[Chindogg]

That can be good but i'm not sure why Nintendo wants to have an ocean of bad android games available to their customers. That's just more competition to their own games, and some of those games will be way cheaper.

They could just filter the shit out or have a custom store.

 

[Prototype Viktor]

sooo still Linux based like a lot of things?

 

[orioto]

They could just filter the shit out or have a custom store.

They don't really filter the shit out on the 3ds store... it seems that Iwata speech about not letting game lose their value, some year ago, has been forgotten for good now.

 

[smurfx]

That can be good but i'm not sure why Nintendo wants to have an ocean of bad android games available to their customers. That's just more competition to their own games, and some of those games will be way cheaper.

if you're buying the nx then you are buying it for nintendo games. people aren't going to spend 200 or 300 dollars on the handheld and only play free android games.

 

[B-Dubs]

They could just filter the shit out or have a custom store.

Expect this to happen. They aren't going to want 200 angry bird knock-offs polluting the store.

 

[ZhugeEX]

This makes sense.

Although I really do wonder what NX will be in its final form. At this point I'm not sure even Nintendo knows and I'm struggling to decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

 

[GDGF]

But in the era of mobile gaming will people be willing to pay $40+ for a Nintendo game when they can get a game for free? I think it's a mistake Nintendo to be associated with Android at all.

People are faced with that choice already, since everybody has a smartphone these days. At least this way Nintendo has those people in their ecosystem, where they can expose them to their premium software.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

Not that it matters very much for games like this, but how might this affect functionality and performance of said games?

What do you mean? I think the term they're looking for is that the Nintendo NX will have an Android Virtual Machine. If the NX has an ARM or x86 processor, why would they need to emulate an ARM or x86 processor to run Android?

Should run like it's a native app with a little degradation due to shared RAM/CPU/buses if theres a lot of other things going on at the time.

Also, in my mind, this makes me think the NX will be a tablet or handheld/tablet hybrid.

 

[Ushojax]

What I'm thinking as well. I have a feeling they won't leave their mobile stuff exclusively on mobile but will try and find a unified solution to making them work on console.

Absolutely. If their mobile titles are anything like their 3DS F2P experiments (Pokemon Shuffle, Steel Diver, Rusty's Real Deal) then they will want them on their game hardware too.

 

[ramparter]

Sounds like those features that people value in their purchases but don't actually use a lot. It would be a smart move.

 

[Mpl90]

Well, what Nikkei said was just that they would have based their OS on Android, which doesn't exactly mean copy and paste Android on their systems/making and Android system. Just the base. It can be customised so much that ther would be no visibile traces of its Android nature, at least by just looking at the OS itself. Actually, couldn't this give more hints about Nintendo using Android somehow, after all?

 

[Hyoukokun]

That can be good but i'm not sure why Nintendo wants to have an ocean of bad android games available to their customers. That's just more competition to their own games, and some of those games will be way cheaper.

I bet they'd do a curated marketplace, rather than just open up the floodgates. Nintendo has been really, really resistant to completely opening up their platform... but I'm sure they'd love to be able to cherrypick high-profile Android titles to make available on their platform (Monument Valley, Threes, some of the more popular F2P Puzzles and Dragons-alikes).

This does kind of assume that whatever the NX is, it has an interface that's amenable to typical Android/mobile games. How do Android boxes like the Shield generally handle touch screen interfaces? Pointer controls of some sort?

 

[orioto]

if you're buying the nx then you are buying it for nintendo games. people aren't going to spend 200 or 300 dollars on the handheld and only play free android games.

Kids could do that.
I remember once i wanted to find the Donkey Kong Wii remade on 3ds. I add to search for it, while the first thing i saw on the store was "cutey penguin 6" and "dress your poney 26" or things like that. So Nintendo is, for unknown reasons, already letting that happen without android.

 

[BlastProcessing]

Not that it matters very much for games like this, but how might this affect functionality and performance of said games?

With the way that Android apps are structured, it should be very doable. I wouldn't expect any problems with performance as long as the system is sufficiently powerful. It doesn't even need that much power but this is Nintendo we are talking about here.

It all makes a ton of sense. I can see how Nintendo working on an Android wrapper would create the "NX runs Android" rumors in the first place.

 

[KingBroly]

If this is true, weird thought here, but what if Nintendo and Amazon partnered up?

Amazon wants to get into gaming, they bought Double Helix.

What if they're partners with Nintendo on NX?

That could cause a lot of problems for Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft.

 

[GDGF]

I bet they'd do a curated marketplace, rather than just open up the floodgates. Nintendo has been really, really resistant to completely opening up their platform... but I'm sure they'd love to be able to cherrypick high-profile Android titles to make available on their platform (Monument Valley, Threes, some of the more popular F2P Puzzles and Dragons-alikes).

This does kind of assume that whatever the NX is, it has an interface that's amenable to typical Android/mobile games. How do Android boxes like the Shield generally handle touch screen interfaces? Pointer controls of some sort?

Points towards NX (home) having a screen on the controller afterall, methinks (and a capacitive one at that). If true, I'm sure they've found a way to do it cheaper this go around.

 

[bms2993]

Well I mean it COULD be worse.

Spoiler

It could run Windows CE

 

[Colonel Mustard]

Kids could do that.
I remember once i wanted to find the Donkey Kong Wii remade on 3ds. I add to search for it, while the first thing i saw on the store was "cutey penguin 6" and "dress your poney 26" or things like that. So Nintendo is, for unknown reasons, already letting that happen without android.

The hell did you search for? I just put 'Kong' in to the eShop and it was the 5th game listing behind the VC releases and Mario Vs DK.

 

[Overside]

That.... Could be very, very effective...

 

[nampad]

This would be a pretty smart move by Nintendo. They would have support of a plethora of great mobile games (e.g. Monument Valley, Device 6, etc.) , many interesting ports of old games (e.g. Kotor, Bioshock) and apps (e.g. Spotify, Netflix) additional to their own games.

I can see this working well for an handheld or even a home console if it has the same input capabilities as a smartphone.

I am not sure how they will handle the distribution of the Android software though. Ideally, they would get Google Playstore support. Sideloading seems risiky and not convenient for casual users, an own marktetplace would make it difficult to gather support and other marketplaces like the Amazon one are still lacking.

 

[Neoxon]

I'm assuming it's both.

When you say both, do you mean "two systems, one OS" both or "console/portable hybrid" both? Because the latter was debunked a number of times.

 

[ramparter]

Holy shit! Just realize NX = NeXus

 

[oti]

We have a loooooong rumour-filled route ahead if us friends, fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the ride.

 

[BlastProcessing]

This would be a pretty smart move by Nintendo. They would have support of a plethora of great mobile games (e.g. Monument Valley, Device 6, etc.) , many interesting ports of old games (e.g. Kotor, Bioshock) and apps (e.g. Spotify, Netflix) additional to their own games.

I can see this working well for an handheld or even a home console if it has the same input capabilities as a smartphone.

I am not sure how they will handle the distribution of the Android software though. Ideally, they would get Google Playstore support. Sideloading seems risiky and not convenient for casual users, an own marktetplace would make it difficult to gather support and other marketplaces like the Amazon one are still lacking.

The Amazon Store is lacking, but it's better curated which is probably a benefit here. I also think Amazon would be more willing to do the work to tailor a NX native version of the store that only surfaced suitable games than Google would.

 

[Maztorre]

That can be good but i'm not sure why Nintendo wants to have an ocean of bad android games available to their customers. That's just more competition to their own games, and some of those games will be way cheaper.

If their new OS supports multiple hardware types (handhelds and consoles) then it's very much in their interest to make supporting Android code as easy as possible. Mobile software completely dominates Japan, if Nintendo handhelds natively run mobile software they will absolutely make a killing from revenue through a Nintendo-owned storefront on their hardware. Japanese 3rd parties who are already transitioned to mobile will gladly support another revenue source that will easily run their code. Likewise, mobile devs are the only widespread source of handheld developers left in the West.