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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Two Possible Futures for the NX Console

Nogamez on 24 December 2015
Soundwave said:
Kennel83 said:
I have stopped expecting a console more powerful than the ps4.
We are going to get a console slightly more powerful than the xbox one and even then, we are going to love it.

From what I've seen on forums and all over the internet, most buyers (not nintendo buyers) see Nintendo as a joke, their games are for children, their hardware is not powerful enough and so on.
I think that, even if they go crazy and release something really powerful, people would still complain and say "yeah it's powerful but look, the same mario as always, bla bla bla".
Nintendo needs to go cheap, I see them releasing a 200€ console and 150€ handheld and they'll sell twice as now.

 

The problem here is most kids end up buying a Playstation or XBox instead. By the time they get to 10-11 years old you lose them because they become obsessed with games like GTA and "being cool". 

I'd say a big chunk of Nintendo's actual fanbase are adults in their late 20s-30s who grew up with the brand in the 80s/90s/early 2000s. I think Nintendo even showed this themselves with the average age range of people buying the recent Pokemon games. And this audience actually has a larger budget that most people think, this is why the 3DS XL (the most expensive model) outsells the cheaper 3DS models and why the Wii U Deluxe model outsold the cheaper Base model. 

It's adults I'd wager that are actually keeping Nintendo going, if it was just kids, they'd be pretty much dead as kids are actually a fairly unreliable market for them.

The other issue with a cheap console is it doesn't make much difference if the PS4/XB1 are already in the "cheap" price range themselves with way more games and features on day 1. It'll be the same thing as the GameCube ... which was dirt cheap for half its life cycle, but the PS2 and XBox were more expensive but close enough that they were also considered relatively "cheap", so given the choice more people saw value in the DVD playback of the PS2 and larger library of games. 

NX needs to be an all-encompassing *platform* IMO, not something tied to just one (or even two) hardware models, one that has hardware for all age ranges and budgets, which then shares all the core Nintendo games between them (portable and home). That's the only way I can see them not getting "Dreamcast-ed" next-gen. 

This is bold, but the time calls for bold thinking. Just like the Wiimote in some ways destroyed the concept of the "traditional" game pad, I think NX needs to destroy what it means to be a traditional hardware platform.

 

This. I'm one of these "adults". I have bought for me and my kids both a wii u and a 3DS xl. Also I have bought a ps4 and a xone.  

 

But yeah once a kid reaches 11-12 they want to be seen as grown up and play COD. (Even though that's the opposite of been mature) 



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POE on 24 December 2015

for real, what is the trauma with graphics that people has?



bonzobanana on 24 December 2015

I love Nintendo games but I'm sick to death of their attitude to consumers of releasing low power hardware at high prices. The wii u is a terrible console in performance which for many games can not even match ps3 or 360 due to low cpu performance and lack of hard drive.

The NX hopefully provides something competitive in performance and this will enable Nintendo and other developers to produce amazing games and not spend most of their time struggling with the hardware. If you look at Mario Kart its low resolution with horrible aliasing and the gameplay mechanics are quite basic.

Nintendo has still managed to shift 10 million of the wii u despite its dire specification.

Personally I'm so looking forward to the NX. Just imagining what Monolith could do with capable hardware when they can produce something like Xenoblade on the original wii. It may not be easy to compare ps4 with NX in performance. It could be this time around the NX has far faster memory bandwidth, higher cpu performance but a weaker gpu closer or even below xbone so you end up with a console that can run every game they run with faster frame rates etc but visually a small downgrade in some areas. The NX being the Megadrive to the Xbone/PS4 being a SNES or the NX being a gamecube to the xbone/PS4 being a PS2.



Soundwave on 24 December 2015

I think they should let you buy whatever NX model you want. NX is a platform/family of products. You make one NX account (like STEAM) and your library can be transferred to future hardware however you want. There is no successor to NX. NX is the be all, and end all, there are just a continuing line of new NX hardware as time goes on. Just like iPhone, Mac, or just about any other popular consumer product these days.

NX Portable - 14/16nm AMD chip that is about as powerful maybe even moreso than a Wii U in a portable form factor. Can also run Android apps (approved/licensed by Nintendo through the eShop). A product made for the post-smartphone world. $200-$230.

NX Mini Console - Is basically a home console with the portable chip. Decent graphics, can run all the Nintendo main IP at low/mid graphics settings. For cheap parents/people who want Nintendo as a secondary console

NX Pro Console - Has the handeld chip + also a high end AMD 14/16nm Arctic Islands style APU with HBM2 RAM. Blows the PS4 + XB1 out of the water, easy to port high end PC games/engines to. So it can run all the base handheld software (that means all the Nintendo games) at higher effects/resolution if the developer so chooses and also high end third party titles. $350.

Later on I'd add a more deluxe portable/tablet device to the family.

The reason this can work IMO is because Nintendo's designers don't really care about graphics. So their games can scale up and down very easily for the fact that most/all of them will be able to run on the lower end machine, and then you just upscale resolution and maybe some effects for the highest-end hardware.

What they lose in having to make games with a few multiple graphics settings they gain by not having to support a seperate console and handheld (two 3D Marios, two Smash Bros, multiple Zeldas, two Mario Karts, etc. etc.) ... which is I'd bet a net win for Nintendo in terms of developer usage. They'll be able to make more games and try more new ideas even in this set up.



Miyamotoo on 24 December 2015
Yerm said:

There have been a lot of rumors about the NX ranging from it being Nintendo's big break to the final nail in their coffin. We have seen dev kit reports, patent leaks, supposed tech specs, and even some thrid party developers jumping on board. The way I see it, there are 2 futures for the NX. 

The first is that the NX will be repeating the Wii U's life. Releasing well into the generation, the console will just surpass the consoles already on the market but have no gimmick or appealing design to draw in consumers. a year or so after release, Microsoft and Sony release their own Gen 9 consoles, the Xbox ??? and the PS5 leaving Nintendo in the dust yet again. Nintendo is then praised again for having some of the best first party games, but cant keep up with the competitors.

The second is that Nintendo goes the full mile and delivers a huge upgrade upon what we define as console hardware, so much so that it even surpasses the next Xbox or PS. Due to this, millions of units are sold in a few years and Nintendo is able to develop the greatest hits of all time. Due to the new hardware, third party companies are able to make NX versions of the game the definite version with the best visuals and framerates. also, Nintendo revives classic franchises like F-Zero, Metroid, console Pokemon. And due to the simpler architecture, VC games come in surplus with almost complete libraries of Wii, GC, and N64 games. 

Im hoping we get something more along the lines of the second one, although anything could happen.

Final nail in Nintendo coffin!? I'm intrigued, what exactly was previous nail in thier coffin, Wii and DS definitely were not, 3DS also isn't nail. Some people dont realise that Nintendo is making money even with Wii U, they can literally have 2-3 more fails like Wii U and survive.

Anyway, I dont think any of those two possibilities will be case with NX, it will be something between.

First, Wii U release only one year before PS4/X1, NX will release probably in worst case at least 2 years before PS5/X2. NX will probably have much stronger "gimmick" than Wii U that will make console much more attractive, that "gimmick" is very likely is unified platform. Also whole Wii U was bloody mess, Nintendo made too many mistakes with it, NX will probably not have lots of those mistakes.

Second, even XboxOne level of hardware is huge upgrade from Wii U. Number of sold hardware does not have nothing with developing the greatest hits of all time. Even if hardware is much stronger and NX sell very well, I dont think 3rd party would make definitive editions just for one platform, probably would be just PS4 ports. Metroid Prime is almost certain in any case for NX, with unified platform Pokemon is also almost certain, F-Zero is maybe. Architecture will be ARM or x86, that's definitely way more simpler architectural than Wii U had, and I think whole VC library will be bring to NX without remaking them again like they did this gen.



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Kennel83 on 24 December 2015
Soundwave said:

The problem here is most kids end up buying a Playstation or XBox instead. By the time they get to 10-11 years old you lose them because they become obsessed with games like GTA and "being cool". 

I'd say a big chunk of Nintendo's actual fanbase are adults in their late 20s-30s who grew up with the brand in the 80s/90s/early 2000s. I think Nintendo even showed this themselves with the average age range of people buying the recent Pokemon games. And this audience actually has a larger budget that most people think, this is why the 3DS XL (the most expensive model) outsells the cheaper 3DS models and why the Wii U Deluxe model outsold the cheaper Base model. 

It's adults I'd wager that are actually keeping Nintendo going, if it was just kids, they'd be pretty much dead as kids are actually a fairly unreliable market for them.

The other issue with a cheap console is it doesn't make much difference if the PS4/XB1 are already in the "cheap" price range themselves with way more games and features on day 1. It'll be the same thing as the GameCube ... which was dirt cheap for half its life cycle, but the PS2 and XBox were more expensive but close enough that they were also considered relatively "cheap", so given the choice more people saw value in the DVD playback of the PS2 and larger library of games. 

NX needs to be an all-encompassing *platform* IMO, not something tied to just one (or even two) hardware models, one that has hardware for all age ranges and budgets, which then shares all the core Nintendo games between them (portable and home). That's the only way I can see them not getting "Dreamcast-ed" next-gen. 

This is bold, but the time calls for bold thinking. Just like the Wiimote in some ways destroyed the concept of the "traditional" game pad, I think NX needs to destroy what it means to be a traditional hardware platform.

 

Well, I totally agree with you. I grew up with snes and I can't say no to Nintendo games.

When NX gets released both ps and xbox will be cheap as well, that's why I believe they will feature something new that'll blow people's mind. I don't know much about NX, obviously it's just speculation, I have read dozens of rumours on forums and I like most of them, but I think Nintendo will surprise us all this time.

The only thing I'm almost certain is that their software's release schedule will be far better than wii u's. If they don't have great games on day one, they are probably going to repeat the same issues wii u had.



Nem on 24 December 2015

No. The first choice could happen, but its only been 3 years since the Wii U came out. Second one is not even a realistic choice in terms of hardware and price, so don't even entertain it.

IF the NX is a home console supposed to be the sucessor of the Wii U, wich Nintendo said it isnt going to be, but lets feed the internet lunacy. The only chance they have is to only release it at the same time competitors do. Keep in contact with publishers and developers to be able to compare in specs and have the power and ease to port and run 3rd party games aka multi-plats. Nintendo's chance is to have all the same multi-plats plus their strong first party stuff.

What is likely to happen is, the NX is a device aimed at the casual market, probably portable. Low cost, easy to use, with casual software related to health and fitness and some Nintendo mobile games.

I don't think for a second that the NX is a new home console and i can't wait for the meltdown. I'm convinced they will stick to the Wii U for 2 more years and will aim to launch their next system in synch with the next generation. Its the smartest thing to do if they are planning to stick to it.

If the NX does end up beeingba home console, it won't be a power house. It will be another Wii. A weak console with some gimmick.



Miyamotoo on 25 December 2015
Nem said:

No. The first choice could happen, but its only been 3 years since the Wii U came out. Second one is not even a realistic choice in terms of hardware and price, so don't even entertain it.

IF the NX is a home console supposed to be the sucessor of the Wii U, wich Nintendo said it isnt going to be, but lets feed the internet lunacy. The only chance they have is to only release it at the same time competitors do. Keep in contact with publishers and developers to be able to compare in specs and have the power and ease to port and run 3rd party games aka multi-plats. Nintendo's chance is to have all the same multi-plats plus their strong first party stuff.

What is likely to happen is, the NX is a device aimed at the casual market, probably portable. Low cost, easy to use, with casual software related to health and fitness and some Nintendo mobile games.

I don't think for a second that the NX is a new home console and i can't wait for the meltdown. I'm convinced they will stick to the Wii U for 2 more years and will aim to launch their next system in synch with the next generation. Its the smartest thing to do if they are planning to stick to it.

If the NX does end up beeingba home console, it won't be a power house. It will be another Wii. A weak console with some gimmick.

Here is a problem, PS5/X2 will probably came out in 2019-2020, so if Nintendo relase NX in 2017. they cant again be synch with the next generation. 

What do you think when you said weak console, because I can't see that will be weaker than X1.



FromDK on 25 December 2015

You see it all wrong.. Its not about power.. its about what NX is..

What do Nintendo mean by "brand new concept" ?

What do they mean by NX will be "unique" ?

And why are they so afraid that sony/ms see (copy) it to soon ?

So power is not important.. Its what you can do with it

(also the "power addon" patent shows that we may not should be thinking at power in a traditional way anyhow)



Mr.Playstation on 25 December 2015

Sony is definitely not going to produce a PS5 that's weaker than the NX just saying.



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