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[RUMOR] Nintendo NX will not be Android-based but it will emulate Android games.
- Thread starter Nazgul_Hunter
- Start date
POWERSPHERE
Banned
So perhaps a touch screen controller again?
Ok, what about this idea:
Nintendo releases core games on mobile for huge user-base (possibly free or close to free entry), but said games "WORK BETTER" on NX, in that they are actually ported Android versions, but have added Amiibo, controller, QoL, and TV display support through the NX gamepad/console hybrid thing.
I'm SURE Nintendo's looking very closely at the Amiibo craze, and would like leverage that as a reason for people to get the NX console instead of playing base game on mobile.
People are already shilling out crazy money for mobile game IAP's.. Perhaps Amiibo could be an easy jump for them? (form factors aside).
Just a thought...
Nintendo releases core games on mobile for huge user-base (possibly free or close to free entry), but said games "WORK BETTER" on NX, in that they are actually ported Android versions, but have added Amiibo, controller, QoL, and TV display support through the NX gamepad/console hybrid thing.
I'm SURE Nintendo's looking very closely at the Amiibo craze, and would like leverage that as a reason for people to get the NX console instead of playing base game on mobile.
People are already shilling out crazy money for mobile game IAP's.. Perhaps Amiibo could be an easy jump for them? (form factors aside).
Just a thought...
giancarlo123x
Banned
The bold will not happen.
Pancakes R Us
Member
I know that it's just a rumour, but Nintendo would be fools to have their mobile games available exclusively on the Amazon app store. Stick them on everything under the sun for maximum damage.
Nazgul_Hunter
Member
It's not a rumor at all. It's a terrible translation.
This.
I'm totally convinced this is what they are planning, hope they execute it well enough.
Also too many people think android = google app store. They will never have standard APK's running, but they could easily let every android developer make a build to support NX just by releasing the necessary dev tools and SDK's.
They would still 100% have control on the content like on the eshop, they could even have a licence fee like they have now, but most important would be they would offer easy, no effort migration for android apps and games. And instead of google, nintendo takes the 30% cut.
Mihael Mello Keehl
Banned
The NX is for videogame lovers
Nazgul_Hunter
Member
They could definitely have a section of the E-shop that just hosts Android games. If they do it right, they wouldn't even need to be ported; they would just run on the NX.
But that's not what the OP says.
Also using Amazon Store instead of Play Store on NX would mean less garbage.
TheSlySoul
Member
Um, this is odd but it makes sense. NX is going to be able to play the Nintendo mobile games as well.
It would not be porting in the traditional sense, it could literally be a an add-in in visual studio that says "compile to target NX".
Yes devs would need to recompile, but nintendo will still want them to go through the traditional eshop, including basic quality testing (not quality like in game quality, but no crashes etc).
It could give them most of the major mobile games on NX with traditional controls.
shouamabane
Member
How powerful would NX have to be to emulate Android games?
I don't see Nintendo doing this.
They have a huge library of their own games that they could make available on the eshop, instead they trickle out releases.
There is no way they'd give you access to the entire Android library on day one.
Man, next year is gonna be so interesting. I have a feeling NX is gonna be quite a shock for a lot of people and that they will try using Zelda to avoid scaring away their core audience because of how different it is from previous Nintendo platforms.
Very similar to Wii in that sense.
Very similar to Wii in that sense.
flaxknuckles
Member
Would be friggin cool since that would allow me to play the small few non-shit mobile games with a device that has good controls.
No, but they could get all the high profile ones releasing week by week.
Especially the ones by Square, EA, Disney, Supercell, Gungho, Konami, Capcom etc. Hey look, third party games.
If they use mobile they they wouldn't need to "emulate" in the classical sense, because the hardware would be the same. Phones currently have a huge overhead by the OS.
Blackberry already "emulates" android apps for example, it's perfectly possible.
tearsintherain
Member
This sounds incredibly stupid if they are emulating Android, because Google moves a helluva lot faster than Nintendo can even dream of. Sure, great, day zero maybe everything is compatible and works fine.
2 years later when Google is on Android 7.0, Nintendo will be struggling to maintain compatibility plus you know a whole bunch of stuff will just not work.
Of course maybe they are going to be running android so "compatibility" just means only running code authorized by Nintendo, which is fine, but I really hope they don't go the typical Nintendo route and come up with some extremely convoluted and complex emulation system which is short sighted and Japan-centric.
2 years later when Google is on Android 7.0, Nintendo will be struggling to maintain compatibility plus you know a whole bunch of stuff will just not work.
Of course maybe they are going to be running android so "compatibility" just means only running code authorized by Nintendo, which is fine, but I really hope they don't go the typical Nintendo route and come up with some extremely convoluted and complex emulation system which is short sighted and Japan-centric.
You guys are dreaming the same thing and drinking the same kool aid that Amazon did. They too thought that in no time they would have equal share with the Play store if all they did was made it easy to port.
But it turned out that it doesn't work that way. Not for Amazon, and certainly not for Nintendo. If this IS Nintendos plan, its going to brick outside of Japan, thats for certain.
Emulating modern android games on Nintendo hardware...wut...
How are pc android emulators? What would that do to the battery...
Doesn't seem like there's really a point for this anyway. Doesn't solve handmedowns. People play it because it's available, not because they're desperate for that android game.
How are pc android emulators? What would that do to the battery...
Doesn't seem like there's really a point for this anyway. Doesn't solve handmedowns. People play it because it's available, not because they're desperate for that android game.
Nazgul_Hunter
Member
Amazon's biggest problem is that it's really complicated to get the app store on your phone as a regular user.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
Ah, just like BlackBerry. Good sign.
BlastProcessing
Member
The way that Android apps work greatly simplifies this process. It's all very doable and isn't something that Google would (or would even want to) break in future updates.
Very good.
Even if we only look at the japanese market (where handhelds are currently dominating) I don't see much reason why japanese developers wouldn't opt-in for a 15-20 million install base. It would already be worth the effort for nintendo.
Also, the amazon platform isn't even close to the number of units a nintendo handheld does. I saw articles they only sold 35.000 amazon phones in 2014.
Not a bad idea, really. Making sure you can run your own mobiles games on your systems is smart.
Need to watch out, though. Depending on how well they are integrated, you might end up with a lack of "native" apps vs. android apps. Why build a Netflix app for NX when you can just have people install the Android one?
Of course, there was talk before about perhaps having some kind of Android runtime inside NX that can do the appy things such as Netflix, and leaving the more low-level framework for games. Nintendo can write their social services as android apps and they'll work on NX and Android devices. If it was integrated well, then you would want the Netflix android app on the device.
EDIT: Also some food for thought: Chrome (the browser) can actually run Android apps. They're not all compatible, but the technology is definitely there.
Need to watch out, though. Depending on how well they are integrated, you might end up with a lack of "native" apps vs. android apps. Why build a Netflix app for NX when you can just have people install the Android one?
Of course, there was talk before about perhaps having some kind of Android runtime inside NX that can do the appy things such as Netflix, and leaving the more low-level framework for games. Nintendo can write their social services as android apps and they'll work on NX and Android devices. If it was integrated well, then you would want the Netflix android app on the device.
EDIT: Also some food for thought: Chrome (the browser) can actually run Android apps. They're not all compatible, but the technology is definitely there.
cant most mobile games work with a controller attachment? I'm assuming those kinda games with support buttons, which is most people issue with mobile games.
Led_Zeppelin
Member
Nintendo will finally get minecraft!
Android and iOS both have gamepad APIs, yes. They're not incredibly popular, but that should be rising with the introduction of Android TV devices (such as NVidia's) and Apple TV stuff.
RawmeatCowboy
Member
Hey guys, just wanted to give you some info on the original rumor. The details were emailed to me straight from Sergio Figueroa at Revogamers. On top of that, he included English translations with the email. Didn't want you all to think I was trying to piece things together on my own, or that I was using Google translate to extract details.
Speculation says Q4 2016 or later.
I agree.
Also, if Nintendo's NX platform turns out to be digital-only and they're charging $40 -$60 per title, I'm out.
Theanine3D
Member
My guess is it will be more of a virtualization solution, not full-blown emulation. Assuming they're smart and go with ARM.
You can already run Android (x86) on any Windows, Mac, or Linux OS through Virtualbox, and run Android programs inside it in a window within those OS's. It's really nothing new.
This would allow them better speeds than actual emulation, since emulation is always much slower than running code natively. And it would still allow that extra layer of security provided by running the Android self-contained.
You can already run Android (x86) on any Windows, Mac, or Linux OS through Virtualbox, and run Android programs inside it in a window within those OS's. It's really nothing new.
This would allow them better speeds than actual emulation, since emulation is always much slower than running code natively. And it would still allow that extra layer of security provided by running the Android self-contained.
There is enough shit on the Amazon Appstore. The lack of content has nothing to do with curation, it is just a lack of dev support.
I actually use it on my Blackberry so I can kind of imagine how it would be on the NX.
Amazon often gives out great games for free which is quite nice though. I got games like 80 days and Monument Valley from them.
No rumors AFAIK, but considering the incredibly lackluster lineup for 2016, especially for the Wii U, coupled with the notorious delay and the following silence concerning Zelda, a fair guess IMO would be Q4 2016 with Zelda as a launch title.
diablos991
Can’t stump the diablos
Is the NX code for Ouya 2?
They don't even have to virtualize it. They can implement the Android runtime inside their own OS. Chrome doesn't virtualize anything and can still run Android apps. It's all about having that glue. If their OS has ART (Android RunTime) implemented and have shims for the basic android libs, they can run the apps. At that point, it's about just implementing more and more of the library to increase compatibility.
Not trying to make it sound easy. But it's doable and they won't have to emulate OR use any kind of hyper visor.
I think the plan is to have everything connected to the same underlying platform, including Wii U. It will not be phased out in the way we probably expect. Obviously, there will be games exclusive to the new home console to drive adoption but I think many of the smaller e-shop games and new VC games (+ Zelda 
) will be playable on the Wii U even if they are released after the new home console comes out. Games on the new e-shop will indicate which hardware they support.
I think it would make sense for NX-home to have BC with Wii U discs but I'm not sure that they'll do that for cost reasons. I doubt they'll want to follow their previous plan of including the older hardware and OS. For one, Wii U might be new enough for that to add significant cost. Also, the resulting user experience is kind of clunky (see Wii's GC BC, and Wii U's Wii BC). If NX-home is a big enough technological leap they could emulate or create an API translation layer if that's feasible (and the hardware is similar enough to Wii U).
It makes a lot of sense for Nintendo's mobile games to work on Nintendo hardware as well so I don't think that aspect of this rumor is outlandish. If they're making that possible then then most of the technological foundation would have been laid for other developers' mobile games to work as well. This is why, despite the cost associated with the Wii U gamepad, I feel like having a touchscreen across all their devices is fitting. Currently the Wii U has one as well as the DS line. It's also a standard feature on mobile phones. Maybe they'll be able to make something like the Wii U gamepad more cost effectively in 201x when the next console launches.
) will be playable on the Wii U even if they are released after the new home console comes out. Games on the new e-shop will indicate which hardware they support.I think it would make sense for NX-home to have BC with Wii U discs but I'm not sure that they'll do that for cost reasons. I doubt they'll want to follow their previous plan of including the older hardware and OS. For one, Wii U might be new enough for that to add significant cost. Also, the resulting user experience is kind of clunky (see Wii's GC BC, and Wii U's Wii BC). If NX-home is a big enough technological leap they could emulate or create an API translation layer if that's feasible (and the hardware is similar enough to Wii U).
It makes a lot of sense for Nintendo's mobile games to work on Nintendo hardware as well so I don't think that aspect of this rumor is outlandish. If they're making that possible then then most of the technological foundation would have been laid for other developers' mobile games to work as well. This is why, despite the cost associated with the Wii U gamepad, I feel like having a touchscreen across all their devices is fitting. Currently the Wii U has one as well as the DS line. It's also a standard feature on mobile phones. Maybe they'll be able to make something like the Wii U gamepad more cost effectively in 201x when the next console launches.
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