Iwata: No More Separate Gaming Platforms From Nintendo

[JEMC]

Soundwave said:

The other thing that I think could be possible is the concept of a "stackable" chipset ... meaning the handheld and "home dock" could connect together and share hardware resources. Wired connections like Thunderbolt are incredibly fast these days.

I think something (combined HH + home dock) in the range of a

Quad-Core ARM CPU (becomes an 8-core CPU when linked)
Dual-Core SGX PowerVR Series 6 (200 GFLOP approx, 400+ GFLOP when "linked")
2GB RAM (becomes 4GB RAM when linked)

Plays games at Wii U+ fidelity on handheld at about 480-540 resolution on the go. But when you have the home dock you can play at home at full 1080p resolution.

I can see that. Handheld for $200, home dock for $120 or so.

The fitness/quality of life stuff will become Nintendo's second pillar. I'd bet this setup would make more money than the dated current Nintendo console that only Nintendo fans want + old fashioned Nintendo handheld setup which has lost them money for 3 straight years (probably going on 4). 

I think you are complicating what could be easier to do.

I agree that both devices should be designed to use compatible hardware components, but in a scalable manner. Think about it (note that I'm using hardware that we all could recognize, not what they will use).

CPU:

• Home console: 8 core AMD 64bit "A" architecture running at 2,0 GHz
• Handheld: 2 core AMD 64bit "A" architecture running at 2,0 GHz / alternatively: 4 core AMD 64bit "A" architecture running at 1,0 GHz

GPU (I'll use the HD 7xxx family as an example):

• Home console: HD 7870 variant with 1,280 shaders running at 800 MHz
• Handheld: HD 7750 variant with 640 shaders running at 500 MHz

RAM:

• Home console: 8 GB of ? memory
• Handheld: 2 GB of the same kind of memory

With those specs and a single OS, the home console can run all the handheld games with ease, while the handheld could run a small minority of the home console games (or a big part of them if they are build with both hardwares in mind so that it scales acordingly). After all, Nintendo will still want to make us buy both devices, so it's likely that not all home console games will be able to run on the handheld.

And at the same time, the handheld can be used as an extra controller for the home console.

 

Although knowing how Nintendo and how they can make the simple things a lot complicated and the complicated very simple, any guess of what they are planning is just wistful thinking.