JustBeingReal said:
You'll notice that IWata never once hinted that the number of devices that they were considering would be fewer than past generations of Nintendo hardware, why even bring up the point that numbers could increase? It hints that Nintendo were considering an approach that allows them to be flexible and that they wanted the process of making games for their chosen devices to be as simple and cost effective as possible, working in a way that allowed them to put their games on more than one device or at least allow them to port portions of games over (like Assets) easily, so that the amount of work needed would be less than it has been in past generations. Making a single device that does all things doesn't really do anything but limit you, this is a technical fact, because technology has it's limits.
Highlighting points is basically cherrypicking, we should take the whole post as fact, not tiny portions of it. The Eurogamer, WSJ and Semi-Accurate claims are just that, when put under scrutiny they don't make much sense, least of all from the standpoint that matters most (which is business), Nvidia doesn't make money here or they make very little, which would go against the whole point of getting into a market. It would actually make more sense if Nintendo had more options for different customers, because then NVidia could potentially make more money and dangling a loss leader at Nintendo's face would make sense over the long haul, because in the end they would make money, but that's not what the rumors even say is happening, not the ones relating to NVidia anyway. A business world where only Nintendo makes out in this deal makes absolutely no sense, especially where they're the ones in need, NVidia certainly aren't desparate for business, they're selling their new GPUs ridiculously fast and now they're basically becoming known as the company that put desktop level graphics chips in mobile computers. It kind of makes Nintendo a pointless prospect in the grand scheme of things. |
Nvidia offering Nintendo a cheap deal to get the contract makes a lot of sense. They've invested into Tegra quite a bit, but have been frustrated by not being able to get a vendor. If NX is successful, Nvidia can point to that to other vendors and say "see? Tegra powers a multi-million selling product". And they will have more levergage on future Nintendo hardware. Don't really see why that's terribly hard to to understand.
And Iwata does hint at a hybrid device, read the quote, by Jan 2014 he's now all of the sudden no longer sure if they need just one device or multiple, and says they don't know if they will integrate. Sounds like this stuff was being actively debated at the time, my guess is the pro-hybrid crowd at Nintendo won out.
I don't think multiple devices in theory works really as well in reality and Nintendo also realized this. We know Nintendo portables already far outsell Nintendo consoles, even the DS comfortably sold more than the Wii and the GBA and 3DS destroy the GCN and Wii U by like a 4 to 1+ ratio. If you create a situation where the portable basically has all the same games (unified platform), and the only thing the console really has going for it is better graphics ... in reality you probably have the vast majority of people choosing the portable SKU anyway.
3DS/GBA already destroy their console counterpart in sales now if you also give them all the games like Splatoon and Zelda: BoTW ... bye bye console.
That's the "gimmick" with the NX ... it's a portable and a console. By creating one device, Nintendo creates added functionality and value to the NX concept (PS4/XB1 can't be taken portably anywhere). So sure I think Nintendo tried various different SKUs, but in the end I think they fell in love with the hybrid concept.
Wouldn't surprise me. It was probably cute, and portable, and different, and Nintendo couldn't resist it. This isn't about what me or you would make as a console, it's Nintendo, and we know Nintendo's design tastes are off the wall. Also another tip off was Nintendo reps started speaking about the NX as a singular fashion rather than using a plural noun (ie: Tabata saying the next Metroid would be for the Nintendo NX console ... not consoles/machines, Reggie doing the same).
