NX - Nintendo's Next Generation Hardware Concept

[Matt Mortem]

What would be a huge system seller for me is if there was 3DS functionality. If the NX can handle 3DS cartridges, and if I can play 3DS games on my TV, I will be over the moon happy. The rumors that the NX uses cartridges makes me hopeful.

 

[Havok83]

What would be a huge system seller for me is if there was 3DS functionality. If the NX can handle 3DS cartridges, and if I can play 3DS games on my TV, I will be over the moon happy. The rumors that the NX uses cartridges makes me hopeful.

I dont see that happening for the simple fact that this more than likely wont have a dual screen.

3DS on a tv? Stretching a 240i resolution to 1080p just sounds awful. Scaling an image meant for a 4 inch screen to 40+ inches or whatever you had, wont work out too well

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Maybe to you but not to me and I'm sure others.

What makes it a great selling point though? I love the handheld market, but Nintendo is not going to make ground there, they will just continue to lose because phones are dominating.

This being a strong selling point to a few, doesn't mean it is going to make a relevant splash in the market. This feels so much like the Wii U situation it is kind of scary. Gimmicks don't sell post Wii. And this screams gimmick. A potentially overly complicated one.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/sales/hard_soft/

Nintendo has been better off in the portable device market than the stationary device market.

 

[Havok83]

What makes it a great selling point though? I love the handheld market, but Nintendo is not going to make ground there, they will just continue to lose because phones are dominating.

This being a strong selling point to a few, doesn't mean it is going to make a relevant splash in the market. This feels so much like the Wii U situation it is kind of scary. Gimmicks don't sell post Wii. And this screams gimmick. A potentially overly complicated one.

Nintendo does far better in the handheld space than they do with consoles even in the presence of the merging mobile market. The money just isnt there for them to R&D, sell and attempt to take marketshare from Sony and MS. Their bread and butter this past gen has been the 3DS.

I dont see this as a gimmick. Its far less gimmicky than the 3D screen, motion controls and tablet controller. Its a handheld that can connect to a tv. This idea isnt totally radical nor really requires a brand new way of thinking when it comes to developing games. It makes the most sense for Nintendo going forward.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Nintendo does far better in the handheld space than they do with consoles even in the presence of the merging mobile market. The money just isnt there for them to R&D, sell and attempt to take marketshare from Sony and MS. Their bread and butter this past gen has been the 3DS.

I dont see this as a gimmick. Its far less gimmicky than the 3D screen, motion controls and tablet controller. Its a handheld that can connect to a tv. This idea isnt totally radical nor really requires a brand new way of thinking when it comes to developing games. It makes the most sense for Nintendo going forward.

They do better in the handlheld market. But that is dwindling. What is more important however is why they kick butt in that market. Price point and a clear purpose. When you buy a Nintendo handheld, you know what you are getting yourself into. And this most certainly a gimmick. It calls back to other such Nintendo gimmicks. Plug your GBA into your console.

The biggest question is, what exactly qualifies to work for both. If you are going to be making handheld game that would qualify as a console game as well, it is going to cost a lot more. It also kind of feels like it makes stuff like Layton oddities.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/sales/hard_soft/

Nintendo has been better off in the portable device market than the stationary device market.

And look at the 3DS install base. How much it fell. The GBA had a rather short life span, and still sold a lot more.

 

[Havok83]

They do better in the handlheld market. But that is dwindling. What is more important however is why they kick butt in that market. Price point and a clear purpose. When you buy a Nintendo handheld, you know what you are getting yourself into. And this most certainly a gimmick. It calls back to other such Nintendo gimmicks. Plug your GBA into your console.

The biggest question is, what exactly qualifies to work for both. If you are going to be making handheld game that would qualify as a console game as well, it is going to cost a lot more. It also kind of feels like it makes stuff like Layton oddities.

the number is dwindling but 60M is nothing to sleep on. Its far more than the Wii U has done. The NX likely wont do as well but even if does like 40M over its lifetime, thats not bad. They are at a crossroads now. They can either

A. focus on handheld,
B. home console
C. both separately
D. An amalgam of them together.

I do think D is the best option of those 4. B is not practcal is the money and sales arent there. They could do C but another home console would surely cripple them. If they did A, they'd probably be fine but that doesnt offer anything different than what they currently have. Financially it makes more sense to do 4 bc they arent ready to completely abandon hardware

As for software, Id imagine almost everything would work across both except something like Ubisoft's Just Dance series. I dont see what would be odd about having Layton on this.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Wall Street Journal: "A person familiar with the matter said NX would be a handheld-console hybrid that would be compatible with its own smartphone games."

http://www.wsj.com/articles/nintendo-swings-to-loss-1469604309

Well, there it is, I guess. It's not just a hybrid of handheld and console, but also mobile apparently.

the number is dwindling but 60M is nothing to sleep on. Its far more than the Wii U has done. The NX likely wont do as well but even if does like 40M over its lifetime, thats not bad. They are at a crossroads now. They can either

A. focus on handheld,
B. home console
C. both separately
D. An amalgam of them together.

I do think D is the best option of those 4. B is not practcal is the money and sales arent there. They could do C but another home console would surely cripple them. If they did A, they'd probably be fine but that doesnt offer anything different than what they currently have. Financially it makes more sense to do 4 bc they arent ready to completely abandon hardware

As for software, Id imagine almost everything would work across both except something like Ubisoft's Just Dance series. I dont see what would be odd about having Layton on this.

Fundamental misunderstanding of how Nintendo operates. While the profit for the Wii U was low, and it lost money in its early years, it still supplied a large stream of revenue to the company. Unlike MS and Sony, whose primary revenue making comes from software and software licensing (though both have become far more conservative with their hardware in the last outing), Nintendo's is hardware based: meaning even if they were losing money (which they did, early on from the Wii U), they still were sustained in no small part by the revenue stream it created. Of course, if they were to lose money consistently, the revenue stream would not be enough to maintain their size, which is what happened to Sega.

Actually, cutting out a device (whether handheld or home console) entirely is a very, very risky move on Nintendo's part. It basically means they have to assume that the base of one will compensate for the other. Or that software sells that it generates will be massive enough to compensate. Or that it can be sold at such a profit that even selling less than the other two would still make up for the lost revenue stream. Or a combination of all of those.

It's actually worrying, in several ways, because a move like that would mean that Nintendo should probably downsize (even if not significantly) to accommodate that lost revenue stream, but Nintendo has actually expanded a good deal over the last few years, which is one of the reasons they had quarters in the red (not because of the sales of the Wii U, as many often said without really looking at their financials.

Of course, Nintendo has been branching off into other things with toys, licensing, etc. So maybe they expect that will offset some of the lost revenue. I'm not really sure what to think about it right now.

 

[Solidus]

What makes it a great selling point though? I love the handheld market, but Nintendo is not going to make ground there, they will just continue to lose because phones are dominating.

This being a strong selling point to a few, doesn't mean it is going to make a relevant splash in the market. This feels so much like the Wii U situation it is kind of scary. Gimmicks don't sell post Wii. And this screams gimmick. A potentially overly complicated one.

I never said it would be necessarily a strong selling point. But, it is their main selling point and is the risk they are betting on, but I have no idea how it will go with the people. But it will be one of their main selling points that they will market and push.

First, so many here seemed to want Nintendo to make a powerful console so it can play third party games that you can already play on the X1 and PS4. Nintendo are trying to be a differentiation type of company because they know going into that field probably would not end well for them anyways. MS is starting to flail and not do as well against Sony since they try to aim at the same thing. Adding a third person into it from Nintendo's eyes I could see them saying....why just enter the same market that one already has massive appeal to. It's a crowded market already just between those two juggernauts so I could see them looking at the typical home console that can play all those games as something that would not sell huge either if they entered it. .

Nintendo is taking a risk, but it's an interesting one. Because yes handhelds have gone down with cell phones on the rise. However I know there are others such as myself that mainly just plays hardocre games on my consoles at home. I don't play handheld much anymore. But the idea that I could continue playing my home console games, like Zelda Breath of the Wild on my big screen but also continue playing it on the road, which like myself many jobs have us on the road anymore. Now honestly cell phone games don't do it for me. I don't care for pure touch screen control for hardcore games. But I would be more attracted to actually continuing to play my game on the go that I started at home.

Again this may only be a select few, but I think Nintendo may have done some research on it. I said this was their selling point, but I don't have a crystal ball to know if it will take off. Or how it will do. Honestly no matter what they were planning to do, I don't see Nintendo ever really attempting to take control of everything like they used to.

Most gamers usually buy what their friends have because they want to play online with them. That's why the PS4 is dominating all right now because when a friend finally decides to make the jump, if 7/10 of their friends have a PS4 they are more likely to buy that console.

Nintendo jumping in on that, I think the base is too strong with the PS4 for them to really even make a console that can appease all the big third party games out there anyways. So I can see why they just see it as a futile endeavor.

Will this be successful? I have no idea.

 

[Benstamania]

MCV says it will be cheaper than we expect.

Price

Early online speculation about pricing for the NX expects it to be cheaper than current consoles, but from what we’ve heard it’s going to be cheaper than even the vast majority expect. This is a machine that is targeting the mass market, and Nintendo certainly plans for it to have a mass market price. Price is one Wii U mistake Nintendo is determined not to repeat. This could be NX's single biggest win.
Also

MCV has spoken to one person with hands-on experience with the machine. Their assessment? "It feels like a bit of a novelty."

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/nintendo-nx-the-pros-and-cons-of-a-transforming-portable/0170297

 

[terry78]

Yeah, if it becomes another Wii U.....

 

[DarthSkywalker]

the number is dwindling but 60M is nothing to sleep on. Its far more than the Wii U has done. The NX likely wont do as well but even if does like 40M over its lifetime, thats not bad. They are at a crossroads now. They can either

A. focus on handheld,
B. home console
C. both separately
D. An amalgam of them together.

I do think D is the best option of those 4. B is not practcal is the money and sales arent there. They could do C but another home console would surely cripple them. If they did A, they'd probably be fine but that doesnt offer anything different than what they currently have. Financially it makes more sense to do 4 bc they arent ready to completely abandon hardware

As for software, Id imagine almost everything would work across both except something like Ubisoft's Just Dance series. I dont see what would be odd about having Layton on this.

My point on the software is that it is going to need to be impressive as a handheld game and a console game. The Layton series is one of my favorites. But it as a console game? That doesn't work in the same way imo.

 

[Havok83]

My point on the software is that it is going to need to be impressive as a handheld game and a console game. The Layton series is one of my favorites. But it as a console game? That doesn't work in the same way imo.

then dont use it as such. Thats the great thing about a hybrid. A person will have a choice. All this would be is blowing it up to a big screen but certain games will naturally feel more at comfortable as a handheld vs a home console. I dont see it as much different than any crossbuy title between the PS3/PS4 and Vita.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I never said it would be necessarily a strong selling point. But, it is their main selling point and is the risk they are betting on, but I have no idea how it will go with the people. But it will be one of their main selling points that they will market and push.

First, so many here seemed to want Nintendo to make a powerful console so it can play third party games that you can already play on the X1 and PS4. Nintendo are trying to be a differentiation type of company because they know going into that field probably would not end well for them anyways. MS is starting to flail and not do as well against Sony since they try to aim at the same thing. Adding a third person into it from Nintendo's eyes I could see them saying....why just enter the same market that one already has massive appeal to. It's a crowded market already just between those two juggernauts so I could see them looking at the typical home console that can play all those games as something that would not sell huge either if they entered it. .

Nintendo is taking a risk, but it's an interesting one. Because yes handhelds have gone down with cell phones on the rise. However I know there are others such as myself that mainly just plays hardocre games on my consoles at home. I don't play handheld much anymore. But the idea that I could continue playing my home console games, like Zelda Breath of the Wild on my big screen but also continue playing it on the road, which like myself many jobs have us on the road anymore. Now honestly cell phone games don't do it for me. I don't care for pure touch screen control for hardcore games. But I would be more attracted to actually continuing to play my game on the go that I started at home.

Again this may only be a select few, but I think Nintendo may have done some research on it. I said this was their selling point, but I don't have a crystal ball to know if it will take off. Or how it will do. Honestly no matter what they were planning to do, I don't see Nintendo ever really attempting to take control of everything like they used to.

Most gamers usually buy what their friends have because they want to play online with them. That's why the PS4 is dominating all right now because when a friend finally decides to make the jump, if 7/10 of their friends have a PS4 they are more likely to buy that console.

Nintendo jumping in on that, I think the base is too strong with the PS4 for them to really even make a console that can appease all the big third party games out there anyways. So I can see why they just see it as a futile endeavor.

Will this be successful? I have no idea.

What I have personally wanted and I think others have to is for them to just make a console again. In the same manner that Sony went back to the basics, I wanted Nintendo to do that. No gimmick controllers, no odd online, no tiny hard drive. Just give me a good controller so I can play your games.

One of Nintendo's biggest selling points is their library, but again it is something they don't utilize and make more difficult by limiting their hardware space.

I get the idea of playing games on the go. But that is what handheld games and phones are for.

 

[jokesonm3]

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/sales/hard_soft/

Nintendo has been better off in the portable device market than the stationary device market.

God those Gamecube numbers really rustle my jimmies.

Such an amazing console with barely any good sales in it.

The 6th generation truly did belong to Sony.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

then dont use it as such. Thats the great thing about a hybrid. A person will have a choice. All this would be is blowing it up to a big screen but certain games will naturally feel more at comfortable as a handheld vs a home console. I dont see it as much different than any crossbuy title between the PS3/PS4 and Vita.

The big difference will be price point of the games (You would think an NX game will have one price) and the fact that this is the selling point. Play your not all the impressive handheld game on the console because... well why? Then take your console game on the train, where it might be harder to play? Again, why?

There is the question of fidelity. Will you really be playing the same game on your television that you will when you walk about, and if so, how big is the screen?

In all honesty, it sounds a lot like the Wii U pad.

 

[Havok83]

The big difference will be price point of the games (You would think an NX game will have one price) and the fact that this is the selling point. Play your not all the impressive handheld game on the console because... well why? Then take your console game on the train, where it might be harder to play? Again, why?

There is the question of fidelity. Will you really be playing the same game on your television that you will when you walk about, and if so, how big is the screen?

In all honesty, it sounds a lot like the Wii U pad.

The games will likely be priced just like the competition.

Why would you assume the games arent impressive? The 3DS has some amazing games. Nintendo devs have put out great stuff in the handheld space. Why play them on a console? Social aspects? Thats kind of limited if you are the only person playing on a small personal screen. There are people that never game on the go for whatever reason. Im one of those people. I dont have time during the day nor need to carry another device with me

Why take a console game on the go? Because one can. Thats a great feature

It does sound like the Wii U which is why I said above it sounds like Wii U 2.0. This has the tech to expand upon its concepts in a way that the Wii U never could

 

[DarthSkywalker]

The games will likely be priced just like the competition.

Why would you assume the games arent impressive? The 3DS has some amazing games. Nintendo devs have put out great stuff in the handheld space. Why play them on a console? Social aspects? Thats kind of limited if you are the only person playing on a small personal screen. There are people that never game on the go for whatever reason. Im one of those people. I dont have time during the day nor need to carry another device with me

Why take a console game on the go? Because one can. Thats a great feature

It does sound like the Wii U which is why I said above it sounds like Wii U 2.0. This has the tech to expand upon its concepts in a way that the Wii U never could

I love my 3DS. I have had all the Nintendo consoles and handhelds. There is a difference. What I play on my console, I wouldn't play on my handheld or vice versa. There is a quality difference. And if there isn't, that means you are hamstringing the console side.

 

[Sithborg]

Well, considering that the Wii U had a variety of price points for their games, I imagine it will be the same for the NX. Something that is more like a traditional DS game will have a different price than than something with more development.

And looking at the issue with the New 3DS, I wouldn't be surprised to see some games work better on the console than the handheld.

 

[zenith16]

I never said it would be necessarily a strong selling point. But, it is their main selling point and is the risk they are betting on, but I have no idea how it will go with the people. But it will be one of their main selling points that they will market and push.

First, so many here seemed to want Nintendo to make a powerful console so it can play third party games that you can already play on the X1 and PS4. Nintendo are trying to be a differentiation type of company because they know going into that field probably would not end well for them anyways. MS is starting to flail and not do as well against Sony since they try to aim at the same thing. Adding a third person into it from Nintendo's eyes I could see them saying....why just enter the same market that one already has massive appeal to. It's a crowded market already just between those two juggernauts so I could see them looking at the typical home console that can play all those games as something that would not sell huge either if they entered it. .

Nintendo is taking a risk, but it's an interesting one. Because yes handhelds have gone down with cell phones on the rise. However I know there are others such as myself that mainly just plays hardocre games on my consoles at home. I don't play handheld much anymore. But the idea that I could continue playing my home console games, like Zelda Breath of the Wild on my big screen but also continue playing it on the road, which like myself many jobs have us on the road anymore. Now honestly cell phone games don't do it for me. I don't care for pure touch screen control for hardcore games. But I would be more attracted to actually continuing to play my game on the go that I started at home.

Again this may only be a select few, but I think Nintendo may have done some research on it. I said this was their selling point, but I don't have a crystal ball to know if it will take off. Or how it will do. Honestly no matter what they were planning to do, I don't see Nintendo ever really attempting to take control of everything like they used to.

Most gamers usually buy what their friends have because they want to play online with them. That's why the PS4 is dominating all right now because when a friend finally decides to make the jump, if 7/10 of their friends have a PS4 they are more likely to buy that console.

Nintendo jumping in on that, I think the base is too strong with the PS4 for them to really even make a console that can appease all the big third party games out there anyways. So I can see why they just see it as a futile endeavor.

Will this be successful? I have no idea.

well while it's true Nintendo doesn't care bout vthe competition thyat's not what they said when they started to the share holder and when iwata was alive the said they making platform that play 3d's games to solve the games drout / shortage's and if they have a hard time getting third party back but they are aiming to get third party back for this system.

this was what they said




Future Nintendo Consoles And Portables Will Share Architecture And OS. January 30, 2013 . 8:15pm

Nintendo’s new R&D division is working on ways to make future Nintendo devices more integrated with one another. President, Satoru Iwata, explains how.

59 comments Read >

He elaborated: “What we are aiming at is to integrate the architecture to form a common basis for software development so that we can make software assets more transferrable, and operating systems and their build-in applications more portable, regardless of form factor or performance of each platform.”

In a nutshell, that means that the architecture, services and even operating systems will be shared between Nintendo’s future devices, regardless of whether they’re portables or home consoles. One of the positive effects this will have, Iwata says, is that it will help avoid software shortages that tend to happen after the launch of new hardware.​

Nintendo Interested In Creating Multiple Hardware Devices . February 4, 2013 . 10:00am

“If we manage to integrate our platforms successfully, we may in fact be able to make more platforms,” says Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata.

30 comments Read >

The other effect it will have, Iwata said at an earnings Q&A session, is that it will allow Nintendo to develop more platforms than they are now.

“What we are saying is that we would like to integrate software development methods, operating systems, and built-in software and software assets for each platform so that we can use them across different machines,” Iwata explained to Q&A attendees. “This means that if we manage to integrate our platforms successfully, we may in fact be able to make more platforms.”

He elaborated: “At the moment, we only have our current handheld devices and home consoles because if we tried to make more platforms, our development resources would be spread too thinly. The more we can share software across different platforms, the more development resources will be left for something else.”
​

Nintendo Receiving Many Proposals For “Joint Initiatives” From Third-Parties, Says Iwata. July 2, 2015 . 8:17am

During their 75th annual shareholder meeting, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata was questioned about how the company would secure

During their 75th annual shareholder meeting, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata was questioned about the lack of third-party support for the company’s Wii U console. Despite a weak launch, the Nintendo 3DS has thrived thanks in part to strong support from third-parties; however, the same cannot be said of the Wii U. In light of this, Iwata was asked to comment on what measures Nintendo are taking to ensure the same does not happen with the Nintendo NX, the company’s next system.

“I will not share details on NX today but with regard to the launch of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U not necessarily having progressed well and not acquiring sufficient support from software publishers, we intend to offer NX through a Nintendo-like solution,” Iwata replied. “Thank you for understanding that we are making various considerations and preparations in order to avoid what happened with the previous generations.”

He continued: “On a different note, I believe the standard for software publishers in selecting what hardware to provide their games for is the installed base after all. The larger the installed base or the more it is believed that the installed base will largely expand, there is an aspect that more software publishers are likely to join in.”

“On the other hand, Nintendo is collaborating with various software publishers. At E3, which was held in the U.S. and is the largest trade show in the video game industry, we received many proposals for joint initiatives. In addition, Japanese software publishers have close relationships with our licensing department on a regular basis. As for collaborations with software publishers or their games, please consider that there are various ongoing projects below the surface.”

Read more stories about Nintendo & Nintendo NX on Siliconera.
​

 

[terry78]

So basically we're gonna keep doing us, and the third parties can do them.

 

[Sithborg]

Pretty much, as I'm certain a lot of the bigger Western third parties aren't coming back.

 

[The Bruce]

The more I read about this "Tv handheld" the more I love it!

This is what I need in my gaming life. A real console again. I am so suck of the PC in a box thing.

 

[Matt Mortem]

I wonder how multiplayer will work with it? Will your buddy have to bring over his own NX to play with you? I can't wait for Nintendo to announce this thing so the speculation can stop.