Soundwave said:
Like after the GameCube I suspect Nintendo's future hardware direction may shock some people, particularly those looking for pure power.
I think they are finished with home CPUs/GPUs and will transition fully over to mobile (cell phone/smartphone) CPU/GPU/RAM. My guess is something akin to a Quad-Core ARM CPU + Adreno GPU, similar to the Snapdragon 805 in raw horsepower. Will be customized, but *not* built from scratch, that will save Nintendo money.
Portable Variant (spring 2016):
- Single 5.7 inch 1280x720 LCD display
- Quad-Core CPU, custom Adreno GPU
- 2.5GB RAM (1GB for OS)
- 16GB flash storage (upgradable via SD Card slot)
- Expansion slot can add a secondary analog stick if user wishes it (see Nintendo patent)
- Easy to port Android apps but custom Nintendo OS
- 300 GFLOP processing power
Micro-Console Variant (fall 2016-spring 2017):
- About the same size as an AppleTV
- 8-Core ARM CPU + Dual Adreno GPU (same as handheld otherwise, but overclocked)
- 5GB RAM (1GB for OS)
- Extremely low price (well under $200)
- Easy to port Android apps.
- 16GB Flash storage, expandable via SD Card slot.
- 700 GFLOP processing power (give or take)
Graphics can be better than the Wii U on the home variant, but not by a huuuuge leap. Home version will be able to run a game like Mario Kart 8 at full 1080P with anti-aliasing for example whereas the Wii U cannot and perhaps a few nicer graphical effects. Portable version will run the same game just at a lower resolution (960x540 to save battery).
Emphasis will shift more to the idea of being able to play your games on home/road seamlessly (if you own both), being cheap, and Nintendo will finally give way and allow this new ecosystem to have a fully featured library of their back catalog -- NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, Wii, Wii U (some ports), Game Boy, GBA, DS, and 3DS (some ports) all playable on one cheap, affordable platform.
Game support will be consistent and constant as Nintendo's dev teams won't be split between two machines anymore, thus reducing the need for 3rd parties. Will launch alongside the new EAD Tokyo Mario Galaxy 3 and followed shortly afterwards by a new Animal Crossing.
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