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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Iwata: Nintendo Wants To "Suprise Gamers" With NX

Soundwave on 24 March 2015

I don't think Nintendo would do this but I kinda wonder about the concept of a "stackable"/linkable console. With mobile components it would be doable.

Lets say the base NX processor (system on chip, CPU + GPU) is roughly 350-400 GFLOPS performance at 4-5 watts (suitable for a handheld or tablet form factor in other words). 3GB LPDDR4 RAM + lets 32MB stacked high speed RAM (this will be Nintendo's big hardware innovation with AMD the stacked RAM thing to save die space).

Lets say the home console NX is made up of the same processors, it just has three of them. So now you're up to 1+ TFLOP. Lets bump the RAM to 6GB LPDDR4 RAM + 96MB stacked RAM (due to having 3x SoCs). This is still only at about 15 watts.

Now here's where it could get interesting ... what if, Nintendo allowed daisy chaining of NX consoles? I'd have to imagine they'd be quite compact, probably far smaller than a Wii U (esp. with no disc drive). Linking two gives you 2+ TFLOP performance with 12GB RAM + 192MB stacked RAM ... that's above a PS4.

Linking three ... you're at the 3.5 TFLOP range now with 18GB main RAM ... at still a reasonable 45 watts power consumption.

Maybe it wouldn't be that straight forward, but just throwing the basic idea out there. That would solve the conundrum of horsepower anyway ... as the mobile chips scale down in cost (and they probably would quickly because Nintendo would be using the same processors/RAM/etc. in both the handheld and console versions) buying multiple "NX" to theoretically double or triple the systems power, might not be a bad way to go honestly.



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Miyamotoo on 24 March 2015

I think this NX is next handheld with some strange form/shape.



oniyide on 24 March 2015
Soundwave said:
Materia-Blade said:

Final Fantasy, street fighter, gta...


Final Fantasy was not a multi-plat. The main FF series was under a exclusive deal with Sony and Squaresoft. Even GTA was not really a multi-plat, MS had to wait and pay to get an old port of it, it was under contract by Sony. 

not to mention there wasnt even an original street fighter released for that gen so i dont know where he got that from



oniyide on 24 March 2015

ninty can be different all that want but if they dont comply with industry standards or put out something so funky it would grab people then they will get killed everytime. Personally its easier to do the former.

And i say this is that fusion thing.



Jumpin on 24 March 2015

I think people over-estimate the draw of third party software when it is outside of the flagship version of an AAA game.



I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.

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HollyGamer on 24 March 2015

lol look at Iwata laptop he is using Mac-book, sure Nintendo love Apple product, recent Nintendo handled and console design also has a fair of the look , i think the NX will resembles another apple product.



the_dengle on 24 March 2015

It is pretty apparent from this thread that what would surprise gamers most is the console they want.



gabzjmm23 on 24 March 2015
the_dengle said:
It is pretty apparent from this thread that what would surprise gamers most is the console they want.


Gamers want a Nintendo console that has similar controller with PS and XB. Same online features as well so that 3rd party IPs + Nintendo IPs are way better than the other console.  If it is still the gimmick thing it would surely be like Wii or the Wii U if NX is for home console.



DélioPT on 24 March 2015
Soundwave said:
DélioPT said:

 

In that sense, NX cannot be just an experiment. Assuming it's a home console, of course.

Even if Mobile is a success, if the next home console solution is as faulty as Wii U, what will likely happen is that it will give shareholders more reason to call for the end of the traditional home console and focus more on mobile or the handheld.
The next home console still has to be a succes for shareholders to not feel that mobile is the way to go in Nintendo's future.

My personal suspicion is NX is basically this:

1.) A fusion platform built off MOBILE parts (see also: they were looking for a lead graphic engineer/designer with emphasis on experience in low power/mobile chipsets ... hint hint, clue clue). I see a NX system on chip that can run Wii U graphics, maybe slightly better at 540p or 720p resolution. This same chip will also be the heart of the NX console, only because mobile chips are so small and consume so little electricity, Nintendo will be able to use 2-3 of the same chip in the console variant -- hence something 2x-3x more powerful than a Wii U. Decent upgrade, but not mind blowing. 

This is also pretty much the same formula as the original Wii which just re-used the GameCube chip ... re-using the mobile chip for both platforms will save Nintendo a ton of money and lessen's the risk considerable if the platform fails. 

2.) Miyamoto and company have a couple of ideas for gimmick controllers like this 3D glasses patent Nintendo made last year:

http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/07/04/nintendo-patents-device-to-enable-3d-viewing-on-2d-displays

Throw in a new type of break apart controller (break apart pad?) and maybe that is basically their NX concept. This is kind of a cheap way of doing a low rent VR experience without the anti-social (putting a mask over your head) way of doing it too. 

3.) Don't expect great third party support. I'd say something on par with the 3DS, which I think Nintendo is fine with. Since in a fusion setting all the "flagship" Nintendo IP like Mario Kart, 3D Mario, Zelda, Pokemon RPG, Animal Crossing, etc. will now be able to be scaled up and down they won't need a lot of third party games to fill in their release list. 

4.) While it will be similar to the Wii in some respects, it won't really be aimed at casuals. Nintendo basically conceeded they can't compete with $1/F2P casual games by surrending to smartphone development, NX will be aimed more towards kids and the family crowd. Nintendo will go down with the Titanic before they let go of those two audiences. It will be more about quirky/fun new ways to play with a shared Nintendo library. It will also be Miyamoto's swan song, the last console he is primarily involved in before he retires. 


I have no doubt that Nintendo will keep going after the kids-family segment. But it's also a fleeing market - more the kids one than the family one.
As you, i too think it will be a Fusion like ecosystem i just don't think Nintendo can have a non-powerful console for the core market. Not that is has to be all that powerful, just something obviously made for the future. Could that happen with those mobile chips you mention?

To satisfy my curiosity, if they go with mobile chips, could they still have a machine that could act as a Steam console?
If 3rd parties fail at bringing their games to NX, at least a Steam account integration could help fix that problem.

A break apart gamepad? Hmmm... wouldn't that interefere with the handheld market? Unless it only works in close range, like Wii U's gamepad.

I think  the VR glasses could happen down the line if it's cheap enough for Nintendo.
In a sense, NEW 3DS kinds does that doesn't it? The difference is that it's integrated in the machine. With the home console it would transfer the 3D image onto the glasses instead of the screen of a handhed. Am i right?



Materia-Blade on 24 March 2015
Mummelmann said:
sc94597 said:
spemanig said:


360 discs weren't nearly as problematic.

Yeah they were much more problematic. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_console_games_spanning_multiple_discs

48 multi-disc 360 games vs. 22 multi-disc GC games, and no GC game had more than 2 discs, many 360 games had 3 or 4 discs. 

I think this is less about number of discs and more about choosing a proprietary format that doesn't correspond with industry standards. It stored only 1.5 GB of data versus 4.7 GB on normal DVD's, which gets even worse when dual-layer DVD's are considered, which offer over 8.5 GB storage per disc, there was also a marked difference in speed, DVD's enable a 10.5Mbit read speed while the GC's format was limited so somewhere around the 3.1Mbit region. It also rendered the console unable to play DVD's and something as mundane as an audio CD, causing the format alone to render the whole console useless for media functionality.

Also; the 360 was a HD capable console, games took up way more space due to textures, uncompressed sound and other additions, the GC was released in the SD era, the average game size would be only 1/5 the size back then, if that. Of course there were more multi-disc games on the 360.

The GC's format was by far one of the silliest design choices on the console and a repeat of the whole N64 cartridge debaccle; if you choose to not adapt to industry standards, it makes the process of tailoring software to your consoles more intricate and this is certainly not a good choice for a company struggling to gain/regain support from 3rd parties.

You are ignoring that gamecube didn't need more than 2 discs to fit the data of any 4.5 gb game, probably due to better compression on GC. playing dvd movies or music cds aren't relevant for gaming machines.

" the 360 was a HD capable console, games took up way more space due to textures, uncompressed sound and other additions, the GC was released in the SD era, the average game size would be only 1/5 the size back then, if that. Of course there were more multi-disc games on the 360."

you just made the point against you. third parties were bothering with multidisc games on x360 way more than on GC, where it was easier to do so.

"The GC's format was by far one of the silliest design choices on the console and a repeat of the whole N64 cartridge debaccle; if you choose to not adapt to industry standards, it makes the process of tailoring software to your consoles more intricate and this is certainly not a good choice for a company struggling to gain/regain support from 3rd parties."

Was it, though? sega was kicked out of the console market due to piracy of dreamcast games. ps2 suffered a lot of piracy too. gamecube's mini dvd certainly helped it a lot in that regard.