Barkley said:
It's sure aiming at handheld and home console, but it doesn't sound appealing to either, let's look at the three seperate markets the device could appeal to. Handheld Market - The rumoured 6.2 inch is far too large to appeal to a large chunk of this audience, and the removable controls if anything hinder this even further making the device seem clumsy and unrefined. Tablet Market - Nintendo putting out the hardware that matters to the tablet crowd is HIGHLY unlikely. 720p is unacceptable in this market, Camera is important and will no doubt be horrendous on the NX. Access to Google Play or IOS Store is also a very big deal, the NX will have terrible app support in comparison to Android/IOS. Battery Life will most likely be much worse than any decent tablet as well. Home Console Market - As a Home Console it is not only underpowered but also apparently 3 seperate entities, The NX, The Docking Station and a Compute Unit, again the device being seperate entities makes the whole thing feel clumsy and unrefined and not a desirable product for the living room.
Market NX Will Attract - Nintendo Die Hard fans, and the Niche market looking for a dedicated gaming tablet.
The rumoured NX tries to be both a device for portable gaming and home gaming. Due to this it is a mediocre handheld console, awful tablet and a fairly mediore home console. The rumoured NX is not appealing to the smartphone/tablet market in the slightest, other then a very very niche subsection. |
You make the fundemental mistake of treating these 3 audiences as if their interests are mutually exclusive. You're treating the worth of the NX as something determined by how well it performs one singular function, versus the fact it can do all 3. Maybe you don't want to spend $250 on a Nintendo home console which will just be used to play mario kart, Smash Bros, Zelda & Splatoon (many people don't, especially when 80m will already have an X1/PS4 by the time NX arrives), maybe you don't want to spend that money on a dedicated handheld (fewer & fewer people are willing to do so), Maybe you like the casual distaction of a tablet but have never cared to put down the money to get a one (many people haven't). Although indvidually you're not drawn to a purchase, perhaps you're comfortable spending that $250 (instead of $750) on one device that does all 3 of these things to a decent degree. It doesn't mean you wont have another console in the house or have another tablet. By their nature, the appeal of multi purpose devices is convience and cost efficency, not excellence in any one particualar field (although Nintendo can offer that where fun is concerned- a factor we can't discount).
You might casually like the idea of having a tablet, enjoy handheld gaming and love playing Mario Kart with your family. Or you causaually like handheld gaming -mainly just for pokemon & a few other titles, don't really care for tablets but love gaming at home on your TV.
Regarding your actual points I feel there is a lot of stuff worth questioning.
1.Handheld Market
The 6" Clamshell body of 3DS XL is by far the most popular varient of the the 3DS, so actual evidence suggest bigger is better. Its a given Nintendo will make many games that will be playable with just the touch screen but lets say the attachable controllers make the system 8.5", how do we know thats too big? I personally can count on 1 hand the amount of times this year I've seen somone on the train/bus whip out a 3DS. Everyday however I see people with 8-10" tablets. Secondly I find it curious that a "large" chunk of dedicated gaming crowd who care enough to be irked by detachable controllers are going to turn their back on dedicated handheld gaming entirely (there is no alternative to Nintendo atm) because a system is an inch too big for their trouser pocket. Does a 3DS XL even fit into a childs pocket?
2. Tablets.
Every Kid I know loves tablets (certainly more then a dedicated gaming device), none of them will care whether the the screen is 720p or 4k as long as it looks pretty (720p looks great on an 8" screen). Very few have their own and I don't know any tablets which are marketed as kid friendly, Nintendo could really score gold here- Imagine the next Pokemon game having an isometric camera mode (essentially classic pokemon) where you can play with touch alone, I think that'd be very appealing for them. Beyond that I think you grossly overstate the function of a tabet for many people. They're trivial, convient devices which are multifunctional. An additional one to the household is always a plus. They don't necessarily act as people primary camera's, communication devices, streaming devices etc
3. Home Console
From Japanese support alone the NX will likely have more games in its first 2 years then the Wii U had in its lifetime. From what we've heard It'll have, bigger, better games in its first year then the 3DS had by a a large margin. Most importantly NIntendo has much higher potential to make software revenue from all of their software being developed for one device instead of 2 devices with seperate audiences.
I wouldn't pretend to know the NX's fate because I haven't seen it yet, but I think many people are under selling the potential of a hybrid. Of course execution is everything, so its best we just wait to see what they actually have on the table.
