In Theory: Nintendo's next-gen hardware - and the strategy behind it

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zorg1000 said:

spemanig said:

Einsam_Delphin said:
Whatever they do they just can't launch hardware at anything more than $199.99, even if it means dropping backwards compatibility (outside of the VC of course) and stuff like 3D n the gamepad.

Nintendo's not going to launch a new console for that cheap and risk having an even more underpowered console, and they aren't going to release a new console with architecture meant to "absorb the wii u's architecture," but not make it backwards compatable, which means the gamepad is hear to stay as well.

How powerful do u think this their console will be, having a unified platform that emphasizes sharing a library with the handheld would kinda limit the power the device can have, wouldn't it?

I personally believe we will see the handheld fall somewhere between Vita & Wii U in terms of power, able to handle Wii U level visuals and ports at a lower resolution, similar to the way 3DS is between PSP & Wii and able to display Wii level visuals/ports.

The console version will be a slight graphical improvement over Wii U, similar to the way Wii was a slight graphical upgrade over GC. The extra  power over the handheld allows it to run the same games but at 1080p compared to 480p for the handheld.

Both these devices could feasibly sell for $199 at a profit in 2016/2017.

You could think it in terms of architecture; it's possible that the hardware would have "legacy" features or backwards compatibility would just be emulated. Considering what you're able to do with the 8-core ARM processor and how much power it consumes, I think we can see "good enough" games using them. Then, if you think it in terms of "generational" hardware; Nintendo gen 9 hardware, Wii U2 would be followed 3 years later by Nintendo Bono, that would have the same hardware in it.