NX power

[zorg1000]

potato_hamster said:

If it is so simple, then the vast majority of games available for the apple tv would be available for the iPod touch and vice versa. But their marketplaces are dramatically different, and there's a varitey of legitimate reasons why. For one, the controls for each are dramatically different - ipod touch with its touchscreen, apple tv with a remote. Secondly one is a handheld device vs something designed to be viewed on a television 6-8 feet away, which means you have to redo a huge chunk of the UI, and I haven't even gotten into accomodating the differences in the hardware - an extra GB of RAM when it comes to consoles can make a dramatic difference.

Regarding controls, there's been talk about ditching the double screen of the DS, and going to a touch screen, which means accomodating that, but you're right - they could be very similar, and it could be a minimal issue. But if there is any variance you're obviously adding additional development cost.

It's all fine and dandy that you really don't see the difference between a PC game engine and a console game engine. A PC game engine communicates with the system's OS, which controls/APIs which control the CPU, RAM, GPU etc. The PC game engine never sends instructions to hardware itself. It communicates through the OS which handles communicating with the processor, and whatnot. Because of this, you can get endless compatibility, because the hardware manufacturers just need to develop drivers/apis that tell the OS how to communicate with the hardware. Consoles on the otherhand don't really communicate with the hardware in the same way, yes, there's an OS that handles things like menu systems, online networking, cameras, controllers etc, and there are sections of the hardware such as the CPU, GPU and RAM that are dedicated to OS use, and are off-limits to the game engine. Aside from that, the Game engine communicates directly with the processor, gpu, etc, and of course use the API for higher level commands. As a result, you can get more out of the hardware, because you can optimize for that specific processor, and that specific hardware configuration. If there's a bottle neck in that specific hardware specification, you can accomodate that.  For the most part, you have a level of control with the hardware that is a tier greater than you have with a PC. As a result you can get significantly better performance out of a console than you could with a PC with identical specs.

As I said, Nintendo could go in this direction, make more or less the Nintendo version of Android, give developers PC-style access to the hardware, and keep those costs down, but in doing so they would be putting heavy constraints on what can be done on the hardware. Games would perform worst than people expect in nearly every way you can think of. Third parties or anyone developing an engine would have less control, and as a result, would have to work closer with Nintendo to work through issues related to the Operating System, API, etc in a similar way to how nVidia or ATi works with Microsoft to develop their drivers and APIs. I really doubt that kind of change would be welcomed by traditional game developers, but it may attact the iOS/Android development crowd, as that is the type of relationship they are used to having with hardware manufacturers.

If that is the case, then you need to ask yourself if you think the world would embrace Nintendo's more powerful version of the Ipod touch and apple tv.

Well to be fair, the peticular iPod model I'm talking about just came out 2 months ago and the Apple TV model I'm talking about releases next month with previous Apple TV models not even having access to games unless streamed through a separate iOS device so there is really no way to compare the amount of cross-device support or marketplaces.

I'm not simply asking about the difference between PC and consoles, I'm asking how is it possible that developers are able to make a single game that runs on a dozen or so separate pieces of hardware? Let's take Skylanders Superchargers for example, it's on PS3/PS4/360/XB1/Wii U/iPod/iPhone/iPad/Apple TV, that's 9 platforms, more if u include the various different iPhone/iPad models that it's compatible with. So why can a developer make a single game run on a dozen plus separate devices that have a huge range in power, different operating systems and different architectures without any problems but somehow it's way too costly/time constraining for a developer to make a single game available on 2 Nintendo platforms that share a common architecture/operating system and have similar specs?

As for ur last paragraph, that's exactly what I think Nintendo should release. A handheld and a console with similar specs that share the same architecture/operating system/online infrastructure/account system with most games being available on both devices and allows for cross-buy/play/save. There is also the new membership/rewards program that will make software more affordable. Then there is the mobile games/apps, theme park attractions, IP licensing that they are set to roll out in the near future.

Significantly reduced cost of entry into the Nintendo ecosystem+significantly increased software output+significantly increased brand awareness combined has the potential attract more people than 3DS/Wii U were able to.