Miyamoto: We're Not Interested In High End Specs (Hardware)

[Soundwave]

DevilRising said:

Wright said:

I don't get it. You can have the most powerful console coupled with the best balance of features and interface.

I don't really understand the explanation or the motive given, it feels more like an excuse of some sort. Also, don't the X1 and Ps4 produce little to zero noise and heat?

Because if they have the most powerful hardware, the system will cost $400+, which is not a "Family friendly", let alone anything outside of "hardcore gamer friendly" price point. Most gamers do not have the raw $$$$ lying around to just run out and buy a $400-600 system, and certainly families do not. Nintendo has always tried to keep their systems around or under $300 a pop at launch, later lowering the price from there (which they need to do with Wii U again very soon).

 

And beyond that, the fact is, MS and Sony both have direct access to their own hardware resources, while Nintendo does not, they have to go outside to other companies for all of their tech. In general I would imagine it costs them more to go after "high end" tech than it would their two competitors because of that. So it's not cost effective for them, or for the consumer, for them to go after a system that is going to cost too much for the average consumer to be able to afford. I can tell you right now, being a single adult with no kids, that I still, if seeing a new Nintendo console priced $400 or above, would very likely say "nope" on buying one, until years later when it drastically came down in price. Not everyone dedicates huge portions of their personal budget to gaming, and not every gamer should have to.

 

Yet I can walk into a store and buy a $200 GPU these days that blows the Wii U out of the water. The thing is the tech Nintendo is using is expensive because are adament in using highly propietary parts with an emphasis on low power consumption, small size, etc. 

I don't really see the point, it's not like a console the size of say the NES is unusable, we managed just fine back in the day, but Nintendo's insistence of being a special snowflake and having power consumption so low is puzzling to me. A game console is not like a car, where fuel mileage matters to many people.