Support NeoGAF

[AzaK]

Never will they do that unless the laws of economics change along with some breakthrough in tech whereby they can make high end for cheap. Nintendo aim for profit at mass market price and that's at odds with top tier tech. The Wii U was a bit of an anomaly that was both lie end and expensive due to the tablet. I'm not sure Nintendo would want to take a gamble again on some 'innovation' at a high price.

Tech has leapfrogged Nintendos financial aims.

 

[Justzisguyukno]

I just don't think its feasible for Nintendo to make a high powered console now, or ever, mainly because of the cost involved.

 

[Trickster]

Kinda doubt they will even make a home console again. They pretty much got a monopoly on the portable marked. Imagine how they'd do there if all their core games like mario and zelda came out there instead of the wii/wii u.

 

[MilkBeard]

Nintendo should have gone VR this round. Perhaps next time. Oculus Rift paving the way so Nintendo can take the perfected tech and run with it.

Spoiler

Unless they are afraid of a Virtual Boy repeat

 

[Coolwhip]

Why would kids require non-high end?

And the gamecube was one of the more powerful consoles that gen. xbox was stronger, yeah, but the GCN smoked the ps2 and DC in many areas.

Price.

 

[StuBurns]

Nintendo should have gone VR this round. Perhaps next time. Oculus Rift paving the way so Nintendo can take the perfected tech and run with it.

Spoiler

Unless they are afraid of a Virtual Boy repeat

They'd need an extremely high end console to support good VR. Resolution when a screen is two inches from you face needs to be extremely high, and latency from head tracking is extremely sensitive. We'll see when the consumer Rift ships, but 1080p really doesn't seem like it's going to be adequate.

 

[Fox Mulder]

No, but MS and Sony aren't going for high end bleeding edge consoles either anymore.

Nintendo's art styles don't demand high end, we're just getting HD games from them now. There's also not really space for three identically powered and similarly focused consoles. If they can do something unique with an affordable console that's profitable, great for them.

I like the idea of Nintendo building hardware around games they want to do, rather than appeasing third parties that have shown they don't give a shit about their hardware anyways.

 

[Anth0ny]

Never will they do that unless the laws of economics change along with some breakthrough in tech whereby they can make high end for cheap. Nintendo aim for profit at mass market price and that's at odds with top tier tech. The Wii U was a bit of an anomaly that was both lie end and expensive due to the tablet. I'm not sure Nintendo would want to take a gamble again on some 'innovation' at a high price.

Tech has leapfrogged Nintendos financial aims.

They lost money at $350 with the Wii U.

Is a $399 console with a standard controller and on par with the competition really outside the realm of possibility?

 

[SolarPowered]

"Outlook not so good"

-Magic 8 ball

 

[Mr_Antimatter]

Price.

Well now, that can be a factor, but it really depends on your hardware choices. $299-350 can buy you a lot of tech if you don't spend a ton on novelties, and instead focus on what counts.

 

[Deadstar]

I think they will yes. After the failure of the Wii U Nintendo is realizing that graphics do matter and that's what gamers want. I could see the Wii U being a secondary console but it's got to be no more than $199.

 

[Trickster]

I like the idea of Nintendo building hardware around games they want to do, rather than appeasing third parties that have shown they don't give a shit about their hardware anyways.

You don't see how this is contradicts itself?

 

[Orayn]

I just don't think its feasible for Nintendo to make a high powered console now, or ever, mainly because of the cost involved.

Their war chest might be enough, but doing it would basically require them to rebuild their entire hardware division with a Cerny-like mastermind at the helm, all for the express purpose of fighting an expensive uphill battle against Sony and Microsoft in the Western market. It's not completely impossible, but a Nintendo willing to go that route wouldn't much resemble the Nintendo we know today.

 

[BumbleBee Castle]

So you want them to remake the Gamecube.

A Gamecube without the Gamecube's flaws, sure. The hardware (power in relation to competitors) was the only aspect in that generation which they got right. Unfortunately, there's a formula for success and Nintendo never bothers to address the glaringly obvious flaws in their business model. Even t'ill now, Nintendo's successive machines continue to perpetuate those flaws.

Those flaws include: a storage medium in keeping with the times; a robust online infrastructure; a higher output of AAA content by expanding their internal development studios; recruiting 3rd party developers to enhance it's viability in the market.

Nintendo is well resourced, and have the talent and funds to make all these problems disappear. But they don't even attempt it, which is why this is so aggravating to Nintendo fans.

 

[Suairyu]

These topics confuse me, as the N64 was pretty much the only console they ever made that was remotely "high-end" for its time.

From the NES, Nintendo has always had a strategy of using established and cheap hardware, and focussing on software.

 

[LCGeek]

High end as in console or high end in general. Nintendo rarely has been high end at the top no console maker has especially when arcade hardware domianted. N64 is their true high end product. GC was smart and savy same for nes and snes. Wii by is no attempt and I'm still deciding on WiiU considering there are no clear examples of what is taking advantage of it's power, not for the long term but some games look really good like zombieU.

Nintendo sadly will have to be forced down this road but no amount of good hardware will fix the fact their development strategy is not half or fraction as good as what sony and ms do for their developers. They should've learned from n64 and even wii not giving devs good tools and documentations hurts their bottom line.

 

[Branduil]

They should not make a "hybrid console" in the sense of a console played both at home and mobile. What they should do is make a unified OS that can play the same games on multiple devices. Obviously they need to make an actual account system for this to work.

So you would have the Nintendo handheld, and also a Vita TV-style device that can play the same games in HD.

 

[qazqaNii]

The Wii U will stay until the announcment/rumours starts to flow in for PS5 and xbox two, and then they will drop their nuclear, all of gaf will be down for 1 year, the new nintendo console will be so advanced that it will take pc tech 5 years to catch up to it.

 

[Carlisle]

Nintendo's is the most powerful home console currently available.

Spoiler

In all seriousness, nah. They're targeting the consumers left behind by the higher pricing of the competition. Which is what makes their Wii U strategy even more confusing. But with the only other major console players fighting it out at $400-$500, Wii U gets the lower price point people all to themselves

Spoiler

just as soon as their console price is low enough

.

 

[Imperfected]

Their war chest might be enough, but doing it would basically require them to rebuild their entire hardware division with a Cerny-like mastermind at the helm, all for the express purpose of fighting an expensive uphill battle against Sony and Microsoft in the Western market. It's not completely impossible, but a Nintendo willing to go that route wouldn't much resemble the Nintendo we know today.

I really don't think it would be worth it, anyway. To their credit, I think Nintendo realizes that. Let me reframe the question here:

If Nintendo was entering the market in November with a system of identical power to the PS4, at the same price, how successful do you actually believe it would be?

There are no conditionals on this. No, "Well, if they got this list of developers to support it..." or "Well, if their online infrastructure was anywhere near as good as Live..." or "Well, if it came with a new 3D Mario game..." Purely conditional on releasing a console with comparable power at a comparable price, how successful do you believe they would be?

Personally, I think they'd still be languishing in a distant third in sales. That's why I don't think there will ever be another "real" Nintendo console: because they're smart enough to have realized by that, aside from satisfying an ever-shrinking core of dedicated Nintendo fans, it wouldn't actually change their situation very much.

 

[TheRedSnifit]

Maybe one day when they're a conglomerate which can deal with their videogame divisions consistently seeing losses, they'll be able to make a console more powerful than MS and Sony.

 

[Victor Omega]

Nintendo is the type to take old calculator screens and make a handheld (Game & Watch)

With that in mind, high end isn't there in their minds set.
Is about SOCIAL. and Networks and the cloud
Its not about"high end" hardware actually,

 

[Coolwhip]

Well now, that can be a factor, but it really depends on your hardware choices. $299-350 can buy you a lot of tech if you don't spend a ton on novelties, and instead focus on what counts.

I agree and that was what the Gamecube was imo.

 

[flkraven]

Anyone that thinks that Nintendo will merge their handheld and home consoles is crazy. In theory it sounds like a decent enough idea, but in practice it is a terrible idea.

Firstly let's just look at the Wii U. Currently selling for around $300, people are frequently bashing its inferior graphics and talking about how next-gen is going to spank them. Maybe if you removed the gamepad it could be around $200, but how much do you think it would cost for them to put the same/similar tech in a handheld device? If the next Nintendo 'console' in 3-4 years is a handheld that you plug into your TV and is not a graphical improvement over the Wii U (or even a downgrade), that will be a massive failure. Sure it will be more flexible, but that will just be another one of the classic Nintendo 'trade-offs' that will feel more like handcuffs.

Secondly, why would any company want less diversity? Although the Wii U has done terribly, Nintendo typically has a decent portion of the home console market, and they already have a stranglehold on the handheld. If you merge those two markets into one it results in almost nothing good for them as a company. Maybe consumers win, but Nintendo gets:

a) Cannibalization of their own products. Instead of consumers purchasing both a home and handheld unit, people need to only purchase 1. Dev costs may be reduced, but so are total sales. And fewer pieces of software are moved since portable and home software are one.

b) No diversity. They now have a nerfed home console in order to give it the ability to be portable. Now imagine that the surge in cell-phone/mobile gaming continues and gains a large portion of Nintendo's handheld market share. Then you are left with a console that nobody cares about for its portability, but is criticized for being an underpowered home console. Instead of 2 lines of products (one struggling, one improving), Nintendo only has 1 line which is struggling.

I don't mind the idea of Nintendo creating a docking station of sorts for their handhelds, but I do not see that replacing their home-console division entirely. It's just not a smart move.

Additionally, those that say Nintendo will leave the hardware business entirely are crazy too. Nintendo is not Sega. They are not leveraged to their ears and on the brink of collapse. They have something like $12 billion cash on hand sitting in reserves just waiting. Even if their market share is reduced to like 30 million consoles per life cycle, they will continue making them just the same. To put things in perspective, I found each companies profit year-by-year since 1981:

Nintendo is not in trouble at all, but they definitely need to do something to change things up in the future. I completely and utterly disagree that a handheld/home console mixture is the solution. Maybe Nintendo needs better computer-engineers to help unify the digital markets of both the Wii U and 3DS (cross compatibility of VC games)? Maybe Nintendo needs to better utilized the online social environment? Maybe Nintendo needs to completely embrace the past, and include ports on their console for all of their old controllers (SNES, N64, etc)? Maybe Nintendo needs to stop reinventing the wheel and realize that they already invented it long ago and just need to refine it? Who knows what they need, but whatever it is, it will be with their handheld + home console divisions remaining seperate.

 

[JinjoUnchained]

They lost money at $350 with the Wii U.

Is a $399 console with a standard controller and on par with the competition really outside the realm of possibility?

You answered your own question in reverse . That $399 price point is much too expensive for the kind of consumers who would buy Nintendo. The Wii U proves the point as the $350 price was too expensive. Most families in the mass market do not have $300+ to blow on a dedicated gaming console.

 

[LCGeek]

Anyone that thinks that Nintendo will merge their handheld and home consoles is crazy. In theory it sounds like a decent enough idea, but in practice it is a terrible idea.

Firstly let's just look at the Wii U. Currently selling for around $300, people are frequently bashing its inferior graphics and talking about how next-gen is going to spank them. Maybe if you removed the gamepad it could be around $200, but how much do you think it would cost for them to put the same/similar tech in a handheld device? If the next Nintendo 'console' in 3-4 years is a handheld that you plug into your TV and is not a graphical improvement over the Wii U (or even a downgrade), that will be a massive failure. Sure it will be more flexible, but that will just be another one of the classic Nintendo 'trade-offs' that will feel more like handcuffs.

Secondly, why would any company want less diversity? Although the Wii U has done terribly, Nintendo typically has a decent portion of the home console market, and they already have a stranglehold on the handheld. If you merge those two markets into one it results in almost nothing good for them as a company. Maybe consumers win, but Nintendo gets:

a) Cannibalization of their own products. Instead of consumers purchasing both a home and handheld unit, people need to only purchase 1. Dev costs may be reduced, but so are total sales. And fewer pieces of software are moved since portable and home software are one.

b) No diversity. They now have a nerfed home console in order to give it the ability to be portable. Now imagine that the surge in cell-phone/mobile gaming continues and gains a large portion of Nintendo's handheld market share. Then you are left with a console that nobody cares about for its portability, but is criticized for being an underpowered home console. Instead of 2 lines of products (one struggling, one improving), Nintendo only has 1 line which is struggling.

I don't mind the idea of Nintendo creating a docking station of sorts for their handhelds, but I do not see that replacing their home-console division entirely. It's just not a smart move.

Additionally, those that say Nintendo will leave the hardware business entirely are crazy too. Nintendo is not Sega. They are not leveraged to their ears and on the brink of collapse. They have something like $12 billion cash on hand sitting in reserves just waiting. Even if their market share is reduced to like 30 million consoles per life cycle, they will continue making them just the same. To put things in perspective, I found each companies profit year-by-year since 1981:

Nintendo is not in trouble at all, but they definitely need to do something to change things up in the future. I completely and utterly disagree that a handheld/home console mixture is the solution. Maybe Nintendo needs better computer-engineers to help unify the digital markets of both the Wii U and 3DS (cross compatibility of VC games)? Maybe Nintendo needs to better utilized the online social environment? Maybe Nintendo needs to completely embrace the past, and include ports on their console for all of their old controllers (SNES, N64, etc)? Maybe Nintendo needs to stop reinventing the wheel and realize that they already invented it long ago and just need to refine it? Who knows what they need, but whatever it is, it will be with their handheld + home console divisions remaining seperate.

It's going to happen considering some in the company have been steadily leading it there. When mobile devices start delivering even performance that rivals what the current next gen console there will be little reason to have two hardware devices when you can have one. This also would allow them to massively use their R&D money even more wisely. The problem is when it happens will it be done right. Nintendo already has the right idea with WiiU, and if it was the size of piston machine and had power there would be little going back. The money nintendo earns on hardware especially console wise can easily be negated by sales of this platform. They would also earn more sales if they had a pc division, total pipe dream and actually got interested in mobiles. Software sales and services outstrip what you can do with hardware especially since balancing hardware in respect to consumers is hardware where as the other two are obvious things that very little effort in comparison.

All big 3 are missing the point with certain aspects of gaming at this stage. The companies should not be limiting opportunities when gamers can play they should be unifing and reaping the rewards of such.

Thank you for the picture it really shows whose been smart all these years despite public perception. Doesn't mean nintendo is perfect cause a lot can argue had they done things even better that gap would become comical.

 

[BumbleBee Castle]

You answered your own question in reverse . That $399 price point is much too expensive for the kind of consumers who would buy Nintendo. The Wii U proves the point as the $350 price was too expensive. Most families in the mass market do not have $300+ to blow on a dedicated gaming console.

Ugh..Nintendo isn't some bargain bin franchise. People are willing to pay top dollar for their products.

What you've presented here is a false equivalency. People don't see the value in a slightly more powerful console than what the current generation has to offer...for $350. Not "$350 for a Nintendo device, psshhh, yeah right, should be $99 amirite?"

 

[Mr_Antimatter]

I agree and that was what the Gamecube was imo.

Right! So why don't they do another gamecube? Focus on most bang for the buck, and let the games, instead of novelties, do the talking.

 

[Orayn]

I really don't think it would be worth it, anyway. To their credit, I think Nintendo realizes that. Let me reframe the question here:

If Nintendo was entering the market in November with a system of identical power to the PS4, at the same price, how successful do you actually believe it would be?

There are no conditionals on this. No, "Well, if they got this list of developers to support it..." or "Well, if their online infrastructure was anywhere near as good as Live..." or "Well, if it came with a new 3D Mario game..." Purely conditional on releasing a console with comparable power at a comparable price, how successful do you believe they would be?

Personally, I think they'd still be languishing in a distant third in sales. That's why I don't think there will ever be another "real" Nintendo console: because they're smart enough to have realized by that, aside from satisfying an ever-shrinking core of dedicated Nintendo fans, it wouldn't actually change their situation very much.

I agree that powerful hardware is not the most important prerequisite to success.

Sony unequivocally won the sixth console generation with the second least powerful system because of good timing, good strategy, and a very good relationship with third parties. Maybe there's an alternate universe where Nintendo put themselves in a dramatically different position and released a Wii successor that wound up being a hit on the same grounds as the PS2, but that's neither here nor there. For our Nintendo, simply putting out better hardware would be putting the cart before the horse. Hardware still matters of course, but there are more important things than power.

 

[Freezie KO]

Firstly let's just look at the Wii U. Currently selling for around $300, people are frequently bashing its inferior graphics and talking about how next-gen is going to spank them. Maybe if you removed the gamepad it could be around $200, but how much do you think it would cost for them to put the same/similar tech in a handheld device?

Do you know the exact answer to this regarding the cost? A hypothetical question with no answer isn't a firm argument.

If the next Nintendo 'console' in 3-4 years is a handheld that you plug into your TV and is not a graphical improvement over the Wii U (or even a downgrade), that will be a massive failure.

A massive failure in what? The larger market doesn't care about graphics. Wii beat everyone for a few years. 3DS is beating Vita. People play Angry Birds over Dead Space on their iPads. Software sells hardware. If the games are there, the hybrid will sell.

Secondly, why would any company want less diversity?

They don't really have two different lines of revenue. They have one: video games. It's not like they're getting rid of their division that runs theme parks. By consolidating all their developers into a single platform, the platform has a larger chance of success. Software sells hardware.

And as the technological similarities increase between games like NSMB, Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Donkey Kong, Mario 3D, etc., it's defeating the idea of diversity. Instead of being locked into creating one NSMB on Wii U and then another on 3DS, the team could create a single evergreen title, and then try to find the next big thing, increasing diversity in the product line that matters most, software.

Although the Wii U has done terribly, Nintendo typically has a decent portion of the home console market, and they already have a stranglehold on the handheld. If you merge those two markets into one it results in almost nothing good for them as a company. Maybe consumers win, but Nintendo gets:

a) Cannibalization of their own products. Instead of consumers purchasing both a home and handheld unit, people need to only purchase 1. Dev costs may be reduced, but so are total sales. And fewer pieces of software are moved since portable and home software are one.

Total sales are not reduced. More people will buy the hybrid because it will have more software than either the handheld or the console. Total sales of games also go up because of this larger consolidated audience. And this in turn helps all games on the platform, including third-parties. A rising tide lifts all boats.

Wii U is a disastrous money-losing enterprise. Who cares if they don't have a second hardware platform to lose money on? It's not like the developers of NSMBU or DKC:TF or SM3DW are going to do nothing. Their games are just shifted to a platform with a larger base, which in turn increases the overall appeal of that platform, which increases the amount of people that buy it, which increases...

b) No diversity. They now have a nerfed home console in order to give it the ability to be portable. Now imagine that the surge in cell-phone/mobile gaming continues and gains a large portion of Nintendo's handheld market share. Then you are left with a console that nobody cares about for its portability, but is criticized for being an underpowered home console. Instead of 2 lines of products (one struggling, one improving), Nintendo only has 1 line which is struggling.

The diversity argument doesn't work because it's really the same product. You're posing it as if they have two different products. They don't. They sell video games. And their current business strategy prevents their developers from working on one platform because they're busy making an extremely similar title on the other platform.

Nintendo has one product they make the most money off of. Software. Microsoft doesn't sell you MS Office and forced you to use Word on your laptop and Excel on your PC.

 

[oconnomiyaki]

I think we'll see one that matches the upcoming gen much like the Wii U matches this gen, but much sooner. I don't see the Wii U lasting 10 years and Nintendo will just settle for catching up.

 

[Bobs Big Boy]

It's an arms race not in their best interest to win. The expectations for high end hardware wouldn't be Nintendo games.

 

[10k]

Not as long as Iwata is calling the shots. The Wii was special, but the cheap hardware and gimmick strategy doesn't work.

 

[Skunkers]

It's just one (probable) failure from Nintendo and really their first one (every other home console has made profit for Nintendo).

Ahem. Virtual Boy.

It'll be their second.

 

[Artex]

Their next console will be a beast and completely VR focused.


Tag this post. Boom.

 

[Pie and Beans]

Anyone that thinks that Nintendo will merge their handheld and home consoles is crazy. In theory it sounds like a decent enough idea, but in practice it is a terrible idea.

Firstly let's just look at the Wii U. Currently selling for around $300, people are frequently bashing its inferior graphics and talking about how next-gen is going to spank them. Maybe if you removed the gamepad it could be around $200, but how much do you think it would cost for them to put the same/similar tech in a handheld device? If the next Nintendo 'console' in 3-4 years is a handheld that you plug into your TV and is not a graphical improvement over the Wii U (or even a downgrade), that will be a massive failure. Sure it will be more flexible, but that will just be another one of the classic Nintendo 'trade-offs' that will feel more like handcuffs.

Secondly, why would any company want less diversity? Although the Wii U has done terribly, Nintendo typically has a decent portion of the home console market, and they already have a stranglehold on the handheld. If you merge those two markets into one it results in almost nothing good for them as a company. Maybe consumers win, but Nintendo gets:

a) Cannibalization of their own products. Instead of consumers purchasing both a home and handheld unit, people need to only purchase 1. Dev costs may be reduced, but so are total sales. And fewer pieces of software are moved since portable and home software are one.

b) No diversity. They now have a nerfed home console in order to give it the ability to be portable. Now imagine that the surge in cell-phone/mobile gaming continues and gains a large portion of Nintendo's handheld market share. Then you are left with a console that nobody cares about for its portability, but is criticized for being an underpowered home console. Instead of 2 lines of products (one struggling, one improving), Nintendo only has 1 line which is struggling.

I don't mind the idea of Nintendo creating a docking station of sorts for their handhelds, but I do not see that replacing their home-console division entirely. It's just not a smart move.

Additionally, those that say Nintendo will leave the hardware business entirely are crazy too. Nintendo is not Sega. They are not leveraged to their ears and on the brink of collapse. They have something like $12 billion cash on hand sitting in reserves just waiting. Even if their market share is reduced to like 30 million consoles per life cycle, they will continue making them just the same. To put things in perspective, I found each companies profit year-by-year since 1981:

Nintendo is not in trouble at all, but they definitely need to do something to change things up in the future. I completely and utterly disagree that a handheld/home console mixture is the solution. Maybe Nintendo needs better computer-engineers to help unify the digital markets of both the Wii U and 3DS (cross compatibility of VC games)? Maybe Nintendo needs to better utilized the online social environment? Maybe Nintendo needs to completely embrace the past, and include ports on their console for all of their old controllers (SNES, N64, etc)? Maybe Nintendo needs to stop reinventing the wheel and realize that they already invented it long ago and just need to refine it? Who knows what they need, but whatever it is, it will be with their handheld + home console divisions remaining seperate.

I don't get how people don't see the concerning future for Nintendo approaching and say things like "Nintendo typically has a decent portion of the home console market". Not anymore they certainly don't. WiiU is seemingly on track to sell 12-15 million units out of a market which will go on to buy 70-80 million of a competitor console and, if a total generation repeat occurred, another 70 million of the OTHER competitor console in tandem. Thats not good at all, thats below like a 10% share and dropping.

Second to that, an even more concerning war is hitting Nintendo's advanced guard, but looks to get even worse next handheld generation:
PSP/DS gen dedicated handheld market: 226 million
Vita/3DS dedicated handheld market so far: 37-38 million

Smartphones and tablets have eaten into that space that far already, and they won't stop. Nintendo is going to have to choose between another home console distraction, or focussing solely on one hardware concept to push aggressively to keep the wolves at bay and cling onto the 80-100 million handheld base thats under target from Apple/Google et al.

If Nintendo wanted "hardware" diversity, they should have made a Nintendo Phone and Tablet and whatever in conjunction with Google to have had the right hardware for the right age. They didn't, so the play to make is to strengthen the one healthy arm they still have and make sure it sticks around for far longer than their once home console dominance that doesn't look to be coming around again.

 

[Fourth Storm]

You answered your own question in reverse . That $399 price point is much too expensive for the kind of consumers who would buy Nintendo. The Wii U proves the point as the $350 price was too expensive. Most families in the mass market do not have $300+ to blow on a dedicated gaming console.

I agree, but keep in mind that there is a precedent for completely changing a brand's image. See: Apple, Samsung, even Nintendo themselves w/ Wii and DS lite. I don't see it happening with the current admin...but it is possible.

 

[rhoq]

I think after the WiiU failure they have to make a console that has respectable power and is on par with the competition. Gimmicks will no longer suffice. Way too much of a gamble after stumbling out of the gate this gen.

I agree. Unfortunately, I don't think they will learn from their ongoing series of mistakes under the current leadership.

 

[Zoramon089]

Second to that, an even more concerning war is hitting Nintendo's advanced guard, but looks to get even worse next handheld generation:
PSP/DS gen dedicated handheld market: 226 million
Vita/3DS dedicated handheld market so far: 37-38 million

Are you serious?! You're comparing a collective 16 years of sales to barely 4 years of sales. How is that in any way fair? How am I suppose to even take this comparison seriously

 

[Dark Octave]

When did they ever make a high-end machine in the past? N64?

NES, SNES, N64 and GameCube were all current with their generations power wise.

 

[JinjoUnchained]

I agree, but keep in mind that there is a precedent for completely changing a brand's image. See: Apple, Samsung, even Nintendo themselves w/ Wii and DS lite. I don't see it happening with the current admin...but it is possible.

True, they could change their image and shift gears, they've done it before. But do you think a dedicated gaming company, even one as huge as Nintendo, could compete in today's high-end market with all of the cost barriers without any non-gaming revenue streams? Maybe if they partnered with Apple the way Pixar rolls up to Disney, something like that could work. But like you said, not with the current admin or even the current corporate structure.

 

[Dysun]

You're right, Nintendo should destroy their incredibly lucrative handheld market so that they can put all of their eggs in one basket. You've cracked the case.

A beefed up handheld in 3 years with a tv dongle is going to run them in the ground? It's obvious that software support is lacking when their focus is split. Interest in a dedicated Nintendo console has dwindled consistently since the NES without the Wiimote phenomenon.

 

[fvng]

Their next console needs to go toe to toe with ps5/xbox_two if they wanna survive in this business. Yes graphics matter.

 

[Twenty7KVN]

Their next console needs to go toe to toe with ps5/xbox_two if they wanna survive in this business. Yes graphics matter.

Money is the only thing that matters.

 

[JinjoUnchained]

Ugh..Nintendo isn't some bargain bin franchise. People are willing to pay top dollar for their products.

What you've presented here is a false equivalency. People don't see the value in a slightly more powerful console than what the current generation has to offer...for $350. Not "$350 for a Nintendo device, psshhh, yeah right, should be $99 amirite?"

That was not my argument at all. Believe me, I'm not siding with the ridiculous people who say "Wii U needs to be $99 and MAYBE I would buy one". That's preposterous. I am a proud owner of a launch Wii U, so believe me, I know there is a niche market of people willing to pay top dollar for their products. But people like me are a drop in the ocean. Maybe 2-5 million. Nintendo's business model relies on the mass market. The people who bought Wii on impulse for $250. That group contains 40-50 million homes. Those are the people that make it so we will never see a Nintendo high-end console because if they made one and priced it at $399, they wouldn't sell to those 40-50 million homes.

 

[Log4Girlz]

I don't think people understand the point of THE HYBRID and why people bring it up about Nintendo's future direction.

It isn't to convert the 80 million X360 or PS3 owners to become handheld gamers content with tick below 8-year gen graphics. Its to shore up their handheld business that is their current masses and ensure smartphone and tablet erosion of that dedicated handheld market doesn't eat into their one healthy hardware platform. Basically consolidating and focussing on one market to draw a line and say 80-100 million customers forever, no lower.

The effort wasted on an always eroding 15 million home console base is a distraction they can ill afford if theyre not planning to make Nintendo phones, Nintendo glasses and so on. The home console business ship has sailed. Wii gimmick lightning is unlikely to strike twice, and Nintendo can't afford to match Sony or MS step for step, nor do they want to.

I posted these numbers the other night but:

PSP/DS gen dedicated handheld market: 226 million
Vita/3DS dedicated handheld market so far: 37-38 million.

Good post. I agree completely.


Now as for the OP. The best bet of Nintendo releasing a "high end" console, or in my mind a console significantly more powerful than their competition, is if they kill the Wii U next year and release something in 2016. The PS4 and Xbone are going to last nearly a decade and this would give enough time for Nintendo to exceed their specs without it costing too much.

 

[DonMigs85]

In a couple years or so mobile GPUs may have similar or even higher performance than Wii U's GPU, but still limited by memory bandwidth.

 

[Pie and Beans]

Are you serious?! You're comparing a collective 16 years of sales to barely 4 years of sales. How is that in any way fair? How am I suppose to even take this comparison seriously

DS came out in 2004 dude, dunno where 16 years is coming from?

Its not a comparison back to back, hence why I say so far. 3DS will probably go on to sell 70 million lifetime, maybe equal the GBA at 80 million, I'm not sure.

What is definitive though, and I can tell you straight up, is that whereas last generation saw the sale of 227 million dedicated handhelds, this generation will not see it surpass 100 million. Thats the effect the smartphone/tablet mania has had, and thats not going to go away, and its going to continue to eat away. PSP was the vanguard of that, its entire audience (the teenager to adult) has disappeared completely to the other side, while the perhaps younger skewing Nintendo audience hasn't been as heavily hit YET.

But Nintendo doesn't have anything to solve that problem themselves, nor hardware of their own in the same space, so their only choice is to focus on their handheld business. 2DS is an example of that. Nintendo must be fucking AWARE that there could be terrible storm to weather next handheld gen, so its all about proving the worth of their handhelds now and keeping that audience satiated and on board.

The 12-15 million that might end up buying a WiiU just aren't as important audience to worry about at all when you're looking at an industry that just went and lost like 140 million unit sales after one generation. That is grave grave shit.

 

[Fourth Storm]

True, they could change their image and shift gears, they've done it before. But do you think a dedicated gaming company, even one as huge as Nintendo, could compete in today's high-end market with all of the cost barriers without any non-gaming revenue streams? Maybe if they partnered with Apple the way Pixar rolls up to Disney, something like that could work. But like you said, not with the current admin or even the current corporate structure.

That's a complex question with many variables. What tech is available? What kind of deals are they getting with the manufacturers? When are they launching? As has been noted, they somehow found a way to lose money with Wii U? What if they took a similar loss on a console with higher specs and a cheaper differentiator (as the mems sensors in the wii remotes were)? What if they then sold many more consoles and games and garnered better 3rd party support?

Not saying it would happen, but there are probably a few scenarios where they might be able to pull it off. That being said, I do think they are done with high end for now. They should dedicate themselves to better online infrastructure and a unified market/account system before they even think of new harware.

 

[Ivan el Trolazo]

i have the solution: WII Z

released 2016
ps4 power
compatible with: remote, remote plus, classic controller, pro controller, nunchuk, wii u gamepad
wii z gamepad = wii u gamepad + more battery


wii z games = 3rd party + nintendo enhanced wii u ports

(lets suppose all the R&D with the controllers at nintendo is done...what if they already reached perfection with motion plus + nunchuk + gamepad + pro controller and now its only a raw power thing to make themselves impressive)