By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Nintendo Discussion - What If The NX Console Is Portable Too?

Just throwing it out there, because we know in the past Nintendo has really had dreams of a "mobile" console. The GameCube had a handle so you could move it from room to room or take it to a friend's house. The Wii U obviously goes further by being a quasi-portable with the screen controller. Iwata even mentioned in the design phase they experiemented with putting the chipset inside the Wii U tablet entirely but it wasn't possible then. 

But with advances in mobile tech ... this certainly could be doable today. So lets say there's a standard NX portable ... like the 3DS XL it fits in most pockets. That covers the "standard portable" need for Nintendo. 

But the new console could also be very small, especially if it uses the same mobile CPU/GPU/RAM as the handheld, just souped up and no disc drive. 

Lets say there's a NX Terminal/LCD screen that you can purchase seperately (this also actually seems to be described in some of Nintendo's patents as something that allows for video chat and what not). Well lets say that attachs to the NX Console, or even can be streamed wirelessly to it. Add in a battery pack ... and voila ... you have a portable console. This has actually kinda be tried in the past with PC Engine LT and PSOne, but with today's tech is would be much more streamlined and could run off battery power:

 

 

Or it could look more like the Wii U tablet (the NX terminal) and the NX console could just slide into the back (which is mostly hollow in the current design anyway) like a cartridge going into a Game Boy. 

So you could have the standard NX portable which is lower powered, cheaper, pocket friendly, but for people who want the full scale NX experience, they could have the option of making the NX portable by joining to an LCD terminal of some type for those willing to carry around a bigger device. 

This guy approves. It would at least differniate it from the PS4/XB1, while maybe not as powerful, you can't really take either one of them on the go or move them around the house easily. 



Around the Network

A Wii U GamePad with a disc-drive in it could've done the trick.



bet: lost

HylianYoshi said:
A Wii U GamePad with a disc-drive in it could've done the trick.


Disc drive needs to go, it hogs too much space and is ancient 1970s tech (basically as BR is derived from CD-ROM). Look at how small the Wii U actually is, the disc drive needlessly takes up like 50% of the internal casing:

The light gray part is the disc drive. What a waste of space. 



If the NX is a portable console too, then it will be a portable console too.



Nintendo is selling their IPs to Microsoft and this is true because:

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=221391&page=1

Aside from the disc drive that takes up like half the Wii U casing on its own, the heat sink and the fan are the other two large components of the Wii U:

But if you remove or shrink those considerably by using mobile parts (like say AMD's 14nm FinFET which just happens to be available for 2016) ... a console that runs at 12-13 watts is definitely doable. At that range it wouldn't neccessarily be workable as the "standard" Nintendo pocket portable, but it could definitely function as a portable console for those who want it. 



Around the Network

I don't think you're going to get any console of near XBO levels of power running off affordable batteries with a marketable battery life. Mobile hasn't advanced that much. Not happening.

The screen is likely just another gamepad peripheral.



spemanig said:
I don't think you're going to get any console of near XBO levels of power running off affordable batteries with a marketable battery life. Mobile hasn't advanced that much. Not happening.

The screen is likely just another gamepad peripheral.


Wouldn't have to run a huge amount of time, just 3-4 hours away from a power socket. 

If you want the "standard Nintendo handheld experience" that would be what the portable handheld NX is for. 

I dunno about XB1 level per se, maybe closer to the PowerVR GT7900 (which is about 800 GFLOPS at a rumored 10 watts or so). Close enough to get some ports. Laptops run at 10+ watts for several hours so do performance tablets like the Surface Pro 3. 

$199.99 or $229.99 for the NX mini-console (console is the size of a small paperback novel)

$99.99 for the NX Terminal (6-7 inch screen + battery pack)



I guess another way of doing it is what if Nintendo made a different console for different regional tastes?

I'm going say Nintendo chooses to be a little bold and uses AMD's 14nm FinFET process which is supposed to be firing on all cylinders by next year. So lets assume 70 GFLOPS/watt.

NX Pocket Handheld - 350 GFLOP. 960x540 4.88-inch LCD screen. $199.99. Standard Nintendo option, good for kids, people who want a DS/3DS successor. 3GB RAM. Cheap screen but does the job. 

NX Mobile Console (Japan) - 600 GFLOP (on battery); 900 GFLOP (plugged in). New Console Concept. Has a 1280x720 7-inch LCD screen. Can stream wirelessly to the TV via HDMI receiver (sold separately). Form factor may look like a Wii U controller or maybe a Surface tablet (kickstand display, play with controller). Not designed for pockets, but easy enough to take in a bag or carry from room to room. 6GB RAM. - $299.99 MSRP

NX Home Console (US/EU Markets) - 2TFLOP console (@28 watts), 1TB internal HDD, your standard Nintendo console. Games run at the full 1080P resolution for TV. 8GB RAM. About the size of the OG Wii (no disc drive). $299.99 MSRP.

All three versions could be sold in all markets of course, just the focus in the US would be the home console, in Japan the mobile console is the console made for Japanese tastes, and you have the standard Nintendo portable option for the typical kid market, budget parent, and the gamer who values portability/pocket-ability.

The only thing is I don't think the NX Pocket would be able to run all games (though at 350GFLOPS for only 540p render is pretty beastly still), but it would be able to run most third party games with scaled down effects and probably all Nintendo games at the lowered resolution, plus virtual console games and perhaps Android app ports. Ideal for getting kids with budget strict parents into the NX ecosystem and playing Splatoon 2/Mario Maker 2.0/Dragon Quest XI, then later on they can start bugging mom/dad for one of the console versions. 



It will be a hybrid console with handheld and console variabt that can connect with each other



REQUIESCAT IN PACE

I Hate REMASTERS

I Hate PLAYSTATION PLUS

Soundwave said:
HylianYoshi said:
A Wii U GamePad with a disc-drive in it could've done the trick.


Disc drive needs to go, it hogs too much space and is ancient 1970s tech (basically as BR is derived from CD-ROM). Look at how small the Wii U actually is, the disc drive needlessly takes up like 50% of the internal casing:

The light gray part is the disc drive. What a waste of space. 

I'd rather have miniDVD return, honestly.

If the next PS and XBOX flop, maybe we'd return to a time of smaller file sizes for games, especially with PC ports.



 
I WON A BET AGAINST AZUREN! WOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

:3