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noname2200 on 28 January 2016
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RolStoppable said:
noname2200 said:

Perhaps this is true: I moderated my earlier statements because I had the Ocarina port in particular in mind, for example. That said, I still have to question whether that's enough to carry a console, as opposed to simply moving software units when that's a side dish instead of the main course. The Home Console Lite games remain a distinct minority on Nintendo handhelds, and while things may have changed over time, and correlation is not causation, I still can't help but recall that Nintendo has historically crafted its handheld titles and its home console titles somewhat differently, its competitors haven't, and Nintendo has succeeded where others have failed.

Regarding the excluded portions on your post, my concern isn't actually for the graphics output per se, it's for the feasibility of attracting games. I'm not as blase yet about cutting out the entirety of the Western developers, especially because there appear to be fewer and fewer Japanese developers actually releasing games in a timely manner, and many of those that remain appear more dependent on first-party assistance than their Western counterparts. If Nintendo adopts this approach, I don't think it's hard to envision a scenario where they must effectively fund or subsidize a large chunk of the content for their system(s). I concede that approach isn't inevitable, but it's not far-fetched either. And if that happens, then from a business perspective what was the point?

You said Japanese developers came around on the 3DS in Japan, but leaving aside how that system has performed indifferently outside of Japan have developers really come around? Atlus has shown up to play for certain, but Capcom allegedly needed a lot of incentive to bring and keep Monster Hunter around, and after launch their offerings have dried up. Ace Attorney got made, but Resident Evil went AWOL to the point where Revelations 2 is skipping the system entirely, and other than some Lost Planet spinoff I can't think of anything else Capcom has made for the system. Konami never really appeared, every Tecmo game apparently needed Nintendo assistance, Square Enix has reduced its production since last generation, Namco made almost nothing but low budget and licensed games until Smash Bros, and non-Atlus Sega has been tepid at best. Before Yokai Watch even Level 5 announced that some its flagship titles would be skipping the 3DS for mobile.

I mean, it's not bad support by any stretch, but the system seems to be Nintendo doing most of the heavy lifting, with some of the other heavy hitters needing incentive to get on board. In light of what happened with the Wii last generation, I'm not so sure that waiting for third parties to eventually come around will be as fruitful as it theoretically should be.

Think about what has worked on handhelds already: Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., Super Mario Bros., Pokémon, Animal Crossing. I didn't include 3D Mario because that can be bigger in scale than Super Mario 3D Land. But that's still at least five big IPs that work very well on a handheld without being significantly different to a home console release.

As for third parties, regardless of what Nintendo does, it will be very difficult to get a significant amount of support. I think we can agree on that. But that's where the whole shared library thing comes in. If first party software arrives in more regular intervalls (up till now it has been see-sawing for home console and handheld as Nintendo had to focus on one over the other every time), then third party support or the lack thereof doesn't have that much of an impact on hardware momentum anymore.

Between all the possible options for Nintendo, a more unified approach to software is the best thing they can do. It gives increased weight to the factors that are under Nintendo's direct control. And yes, you are right about the Wii, but consider how it would have played out if Nintendo hadn't had to supply their handhelds with completely different software. Certainly better, because the Wii would have gotten more quality games on a more regular basis.

I'd point out that Animal Crossing and Pokemon shine much more brightly on handhelds than consoles. AC in particular has question marks regarding whether a mainline entry would return to home consoles again. Smash and Kart are good counterpoints, though.

Regarding the second point, I agree that a more even release schedule would have to be the purpose if the handheld and home console are largely identical, and the benefit from that may outweigh the advantages. My fear is that, by having to make games that satisfy both audiences, they'll be making compromises that don't let them take full advantage of either system. Again, perhaps the two audiences are no longer separate and distinct, in which case this fear is groundless. I'm just not sure there's enough data to support that assertion yet.

You may ultimately be right that this is the best course of action: heavens knows they'll effectively have to go it alone on the home console front barring some miraculous turnabout. I just read the tea leaves a bit differently, in that I believe the two systems will largely share many of the same aspects and tools, thus allowing teams to seamlessly pivot from title to title without having to relearn tricks. Basically, a code monkey making a portable title can get moved to a home console title without making any real changes. But I fully concede I could be mistaken: I haven't really sunk my teeth into NX stuff yet, so who knows.