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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Nintendo Files Patent For Cloud Based Game Platforms (NX?)

Soundwave on 03 December 2015
mizzou_guy said:
Soundwave said:
mizzou_guy said:

The difference in your examples is that each of the examples you laid out offers more sales opportunities for the developers in return for the extra work they put in.  In this example, the extra work doesn't offer any more opportunities for new sales since it can already be played on the system whether they up the graphics or not.


Sure there's incentive to take some advantage of higher end specs (or vice versa). 

The person who owns the Super Duper NX likely isn't going to want to spend their money on some low rent mobile game that runs at 540p (if they do, great, games should ultimately be about the end user enjoyment). 

Putting in just a little more effort and making that game run at 1080P w/AA could net you a bunch of extra sales though. 

As a developer this is better than the current setup Nintendo runs anyway ... if you make a 3DS game, you can't just put it on the Wii U easily, you basically have to remake the entire game. This way at least you could take your core "low end" NX engine and more easily upscale it if you want to appeal to the console crowd. 

Yes, you're right, that does work for them.  The systems are likely to be easy to port between.  All I'm suggesting is that given the work to do so, I don't see developers making the higher-end versions of their games that outstanding graphics wise when compared to the lower end.  Sure, they'll up the resolutions easily with the porting process, but I don't think we'll see any texture mapping or lighting rendering that's going to really blow us away compared to games that are developed primarily for a system that only focuses on high-end graphics (like a PS4 of XB1).

That's fine too. Assuming the portable NX is still relatively powerful (like a Wii U in 540p) ... "enhanced" versions of those engines could look quite nice at 1080P + AA or even 2K/4K resolution (maybe). 

I could see many Japanese developers being very happy with this setup, they can make a portable version that looks pretty decent, and then quickly beef it up a bit and voila they have the bonus of a PS4/NX/XB1/PC game from one development cycle essentially. 



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sabvre42 on 03 December 2015

I personally see this as Nintendo's answer to "outdated hardware."

Nintendo is the want to be apple of gaming (over price your hardware to get higher profits).  They will have have an external GPU, and will launch an upgraded version every 12-18 months so they can get that apple money from annual upgrader sheep.



Soundwave on 03 December 2015
sabvre42 said:

I personally see this as Nintendo's answer to "outdated hardware."

Nintendo is the want to be apple of gaming (over price your hardware to get higher profits).  They will have have an external GPU, and will launch an upgraded version every 12-18 months so they can get that apple money from annual upgrader sheep.


I agree. 

The fact is Nintendo can't continue on the way they are, the old model does not work for them in the modern context. 

You CAN'T make a system that's cheap/affordable (for kids/cheapo parents/not-so-serious gamers) which simulatenously fulfils the role of attracting enthusiast gamers and devs (high end graphics) using the old rules. It's impossible. 

Nintendo must forge a new business model that throws some of these rules out the window. What worked in 1985 does not work for them anymore because Sony and Microsoft have effectively forced Nintendo into a niche position in the mainstream game market. They need to shake up the rules. 

I don't think they'd need to release a new version every 12-18 months though. Even maybe launch with one in 2016, then around 2019 release an even better one ... that would be OK. The people who care about graphics are usually hardcore enthusiast gamers who will be smart enough to know the differences and what not. "Clueless soccer mom" and "8-year-old little Timmy" can continue on with their standard NX and be none the wiser. 



bunchanumbers on 03 December 2015
mizzou_guy said:
Soundwave said:
Random_Matt said:
$429.98, no thanks. Quite sure nobody wants a cheap variant.


That's kind of the point though, even people with the "cheap" variant can enjoy the higher end graphics via the Cloud. 

The "cheap" variant could still be quite close to the XB1 for example in power too, who knows. 1 TFLOP is something Nintendo could get for dirt cheap these days. 

The "supplemental" device could then take the system up in power far beyond the XB1 and even PS4 ... which would explain the report of the dev kits being extremely powerful. 

A lot of things kinda start to make sense. 

I just don't see that working out well for the developer.  They'd essentially have to create their games to run two different ways - one with simple graphics and another with enhanced graphics.  I think it would be pretty rare for a third party developer to put much effort into the extra graphics version of their game since it's not guaranteed that many people will be able to play that version.


It makes sense if they plan a low end version for the handhelds and the high end version for everything else. That and since this could be the first time that handhelds could get the same games as consoles, it would be even bigger enticement for 3rd party developers.



Ljink96 on 03 December 2015

I was thinking a while ago that the NX might be easily upgradable in some form or another but I thought everyone would laugh at me :`( Still, we don't know how NX might use it or if NX will use this at all. Still some interesting info though.



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Pavolink on 03 December 2015

Can you explain to me in a more easy way? I understand few tidbits but have not get the full picture



Proud to be the first cool Nintendo fan ever

Number ONE Zelda fan in the Universe

DKCTF didn't move consoles

Prediction: No Zelda HD for Wii U, quietly moved to the succesor

Predictions for Nintendo NX and Mobile


bunchanumbers on 03 December 2015

An external box to increase game potential over the years would be awesome. This could be an excellent long term solution without the need of constant hardware upgrades.



FromDK on 03 December 2015

This is it.. This is Nintendos "brand new concept" And This is the dead of "generations" as we know..

And all having any money.. buy Nintendo shares.. they will skyrock..



rolltide101x on 03 December 2015

If Nintendo goes through with this it will more than likely be their last console. But there is no way Nintendo is going to do this so I am not to worried about it. If you thought the idea of a Wii U confused people just wait until this thing released lol



Random_Matt on 03 December 2015

Well, MSI do it in a way with their laptops, as do alienware. What about the CPU? That can't be easily be upgraded.