NintenDomination - Sorry VGC, But Your Thread Is In Another Castle

[fireblazerx17]

^I think you're on to something but how I imagine it will work is that the handheld will come out first and what will be the same are not the specs but the general infrastracture and such

for example, the 3DS isn't even 16:9 last I checked, and it doesn't have the same basic development capabilities as the Wii U; the frameworks are different, the Wii U supports a lot of middleware the 3DS doesn't, I imagine the documentation between the systems are way different... by saying "okay, let's make them have the same OS and function similarly but the 3DS has lower specs and some unique hand-held apps/features", they can say make a game like Kid Icarus: Uprising for 3DS and then have an "HD version" for their main console instead. If you like portability, you've got one version, if you like HD graphics/ a separate controller, you've got another one, and the work to port from one to the other is minimal, unlike say Super Smash Bros. for 3DS vs. Wii U, which feel like almost totally separate Smash entries (I mean, ignoring the common cast and such; the graphics, feel, etc. are different) and pretty much had to be developed separately.

I don't think they're going to completely unify the systems because at that point, why even have a a console? Just have one handheld console that you can plug in to your TV like the PlayStation Vita, which gets upscaled... and if they did that, that would seriously suck and be letting down Western audiences who prefer home consoles/playing on TVs/separate controllers/etc.--I guess it's possible they did something like this, but it would be a major mistake on Nintendo's part IMO to do something on par with abandoning home consoles. Not only would we not be getting games of the same graphical/technical quality as even the Wii U but 3rd-party support would be limited to one system that isn't with the others (it'd only work for exclusives or low-spec games like you kinda said)...

bleh getting kinda ranty here, I guess I agree but I don't think it'll turn out to be one of the bad scenarios. I don't have any reason to be hopeful or not hopeful, and I can't really affect their decision making, so all I can really do is just hope they manage it and in general, DON'T FORGET THEIR WESTERN MARKET. I think if they don't just try to cater to the Japanese (e.g. ditching home consoles and focusing on handheld with make-shift TV console ala Vita, or not worrying about Western 3rd-party support/technological advancements/how society interacts etc.) and they make mimic how the PS4 and Vita work (two separate systems but developing on both is easy, just the Vita is less capable and each system has some features specific to it based on its type of console/capabilities and such), they should be fine.