| Soundwave said: That's a long reply, but I'll just say this ... I really don't think there is much an apetite within Nintendo to compete directly against Sony/MS. I just don't think they give a fuck to be blunt about it. I think they have internally accepted that Sony and Microsoft are what they are (which is basically the standard console providers) and their role in the industry of today is to be the one that's different. I know there is a porition of the Nintendo fanbase that wants to see Nintendo wage all out war head to head with Sony and MS, going tit for tat for third party exclusives, marketing campaigns, first party Hollywood style exclusives, etc. etc. etc. But I don't think Nintendo themselves is nearly as enthusiastic about that concept as some of their fans are. And maybe they are right, yes from a Nintendo POV it does suck that Sony/MS have basically claimed the core gamer market, but I think a head to head war at this point, where both Sony/MS are so entrenched now, would simply be foolish. No one is going to give a crap about a Nintendo console that's only slightly better than the PS4 three years late. They would need a system at bare minimum 3 TFLOPS in horsepower to even really be noticably better on screen, more realistically probably 4 TFLOPS with 16-24GB of RAM. The hardware cost for such a system, nevermind the development cost of software simply is well beyond Nintendo's comfort range. I just don't see a path to victory in either of those scenarios. Nintendo will go the low-cost/unified library + gimmick route again. They're basically said so by their own comments. |
I think there absolutely is an apitite to compete. The way the Wii U was marketed at launch is proof of that. The disappointment that the Wii U turned out to be a, self admited, second console is proof of that. The types of games the Wii U is still getting is proof of that. Nintendo's market just naturally crosses paths with the market of the PS4 and XBO. It's obviously not about "winning" for them, but to say that Nintendo isn't interested in gaining that demographic is absurd.
Again, Nintendo are clearly interested in gaining that hardcore demographic, they've just done a terrible job of doing it. And of course people will care about a PS4-level Nintendo console if it launched next year. Why couldn't they? Because the dawn of the 9th generation is looming above us? Because that next massive leap in hardware is just over the horizon? The next generation of hardware will be like 6 years off by that point. No one's going to look at the NX as an underpowered system when there won't be consoles to severely outspec it for at least half a decade. The NX will be late to the party, but definitely not too late.
They've never said anything to lead me to believe the NX will be a low-cost machine with another new controller gimmick. That would be foolish.
