I think the differences in the two camps amount almost to semantics. Soundwave has advocated the "TV dock" solution as the answer for what is to be done about those who want a Nintendo home console experience (and i think the amount is less negligible than he does, if only due to games like Mario Party/Mario Kart/Smash Bros): a handheld in 2016 could do Wii U graphics at lower resolutions (say 540p or so), and then attach to a device that upscales those games to 1080p w/AA.

Whether they do that or do a "multiple devices, same OS, mostly same games" approach boils down almost to semantics. There are a few key differences, upsides and downsides, to the two very similar approaches, but the only question is to what degree the next handheld and console will be synched, not whether or not it will occur.

Yep exactly. Nintendo has said this will be their approach going forward. I for one think it is an incredibly good idea for a company like Nintendo.

I just want 2 platforms with joined accounts and OS ....

Razor blades are sold at a profit too ... just not a big one, you know that right? The replacement cartridges are where they make the real money. 

No one is advocating selling a system at a loss, so I'm not sure why you're getting upset over nothing. 

The N64 was supposed to launch at $249.99 as well, they cut the price once before launch ($199.99) and again about seven months after the launch so that it was $149.99 very quickly. 

He kinda did. From a post in another page: "What we mean by integrating platforms is not integrating handhelds devices and home consoles to make only one machine."

This basically shows that the intent for next generation is not to eliminate one form factor but to make it work together.

I said nothing on console power. But now that you mention it, i don`t think next generation Nintendo will go MS or Sony`s way of cutting edge graphics. They did that with N64 and it didn`t work for them. GC was more powerful than the PS2 and it still sold badly. It`s always about the games - and perception!

You are right about Splatoon. The userbase of Wii U will hinder the game`s sales. Taht`s why i said it was important to make one game that works on 2 platforms: with the increase of the userbase, the more it can sell, thus reducing the risks of commercial failure.

"I think more likely we are looking more at something like the iPad-iPhone model where you can get the same games and apps for both systems and generally they're similar in performance except maybe the iPad version runs at a higher resolution or something. "

This is basically what i said. One game working on 2 platforms is the ideal solution to Nintendo`s problems.

I don't think the issue with the N64 was with how powerful it was. Like you said it's about the games and having this unified OS with the console being at a higher resolution and better graphics overall but the same games across both platforms will help with that a lot.

I would absolutely love a console handheld hybrid. It would mean a more constant flow of games, and a really cool idea.

That being said, I think that the premise has some flaws. Would you sell both of them packaged together? If so, how much will that cost? If you needed to keep costs down, does that mean we would get outrageously under powered, and cheap systems? I wouldn't be down with a Wii U power system, and a 3DS power system bundled together as a hybrid. If they are packaged together, how do you make each part of the experience a worthwhile one? Won't the handheld ultimately be ignored by the west, and the console will be ignored by japan? If they both play the same games, why do we need both?

Another approach would be to package them separately. That would eliminate a large portion of the market though. The Nintendo fan who buys both handheld and Console would really have no incentive to do so. If they both play the same games, what is the point.


I think the key to making a hybrid work, is making each system worthwhile on it's own, as well as adding functionality, and features when used in tandem. It's not going to be an easy task.

I think your discriptor there is probably going to be fairly dead on. The only thing I'd add is probably you could see more than 2 "hardware variants", from the way Iwata speaks maybe there could be 3 or 4 ... a home "dock", the standard handheld, maybe some that's a larger tablet form factor, etc. 

Same games between them all, relatively the same experience like you described. Just like iPhone, iPad, iPod touch. 

Beyond that I think in the next five years you will see Nintendo expand and become more than just a game company. They'll have their health/fitness/senior citizen line of products (Quality of Life), I think Amiibo will expand into a larger full blown toy line, and perhaps more merchandising oppurtunities and media (movies?). 

You look at a company like LEGO, that has movies and theme parks and stores on top of a toy line ... why not Nintendo? Disney basically copped Nintendo's character archetypes to make "Wreck It Ralph" (which is in effect a parody of the arcade Donkey Kong) a hit. 

I'm not sure where you're getting this "dock" thing from. Wouldn't it just be a home console?

My personal bet here is that Nintendo will use mobile chips next time out (like the iPhone/iPad/Samsung Galaxy/even the Vita) so the "console" may not be what people think in terms of a traditional console. What they'll do I suspect is just scale the chip and in terms of hardware cores for portable or a home device. 

It could be a dock, it could be the chip self contained in itself (not requiring the portable at all), but I suspect it will be very different from what people think of as a "console" (think Vita TV or Apple TV sized).