Pachter thread ???

It is competing with Sony/MS whether they want to admit it or not.

What I think Nintendo needs to do away with is the whole "this our one static console for the next 5 years that's supposed to make everyone from kids to hardcore gamers happy".

That doesn't work. You can't make one single piece of hardware simultaneously cheap (for kids/families) and powerful (for hardcore gamers/third parties). NX should be a platform ... ala Steam, with many different hardware variations.

In effect I feel like it almost should be like Nintendo going third party ... to themselves (NX is a new brand). It should also IMO be a scalable platform that can compete with the PS5 (yes FIVE) and XB2 if need be over time. I like the idea of a modular platform where you can upgrade the base over time for example and shared hardware power via the Cloud is also a good idea. 

There is no "other" audience for Nintendo to tap into ... casuals are not going to buy another console again IMO, not when they have thousands of free casual games available to them on their friendly, mobile iPhones/iPads. So chasing the Wii would be a mistake with NX. 

Nintendo will always be unique by the way simply becuase of their 1st/2nd party software being so much different from everyone else. Did you confuse the Super NES with the Sega Genesis? Probably not. They don't need to "try" to be unique, they are unique no matter what. 

It's mostly true. There are opportunities available for Nintendo if they chose not to compete directly with Microsoft and Sony. Of course, there will be a lot of overlap but it doesn't need to be complete overlap, as with XO vs. PS4.

It's a choice they're going to have to make relative to the direction of their next console. Spend money on securing relative multi-plat parity and trying to take consumers away from the others? Or focus on a cheaper console that checks the family category, the Nintendo faithful category, and the complementary second console category?

Following either path requires commitment, however. Half-steps that excel at nothing will get them pounded again.

Change the rules then. 

Why do you have to follow one path or the other? 

That's what NX needs to do. Change the rules. Because right now the game is rigged so that Nintendo can't win. 

You cannot make a console that's simulatenously cheap for kids and powerful enough for older gamers and third parties. That is inherinetly a compromise that will always cripple Nintendo's chances. 

NX needs to destroy the traditional definition of what "hardware" is entirely IMO. It's not 1983 anymore, you can change the concept nowadays, in fact it's probably long overdue. Most of the "rules" that we as gamers think are neccessary are just things that are done today because well that's how it was done in the 1980s.

NX should be a *platform* (like Steam is) rather than a specific piece of hardware, and I think Nintendo is going that route.  

I almost think it may not be a bad idea if "NX" feels more like a non-Nintendo hardware line ... which just then happens to have all Nintendo games as exclusive on top of all other types of content. 

That's what I just said.

You can't be unique just to be unique, you have to target specific consumer groups.  Know your audience.

As far as changing the rules, I've said in other threads that I think the NX is going to focus very heavily on bringing mobile and browser games across different platforms.  The 3DS is scoring big with those in Japan right now.  My guess is that they're going to try to blur the line between game types, which is largely artificial to begin with.  Their game plan, I think, will be about unification with the lower segment of gaming rather than the higher segment.

To be honest I don't see that approach working on its own either. Why should I buy a Nintendo handheld to play mobile games I can get for free on my iPhone or iPad or my 8-year-olds $90 Samsung tablet? 

The last Mario x Puzzles Vs. Dragons underperformed big time too. I think Android app compatibility would be fine, but it can't be the chief selling feature for a Nintendo device, it has to be like a bonus. And also there are serious pricing issues here ... you can't charge $30 or even $20 for Android games. Probably not even $10. 

My personal feeling is that NX is no single device. I think there should be a cheap base console but a high end console too. There should be a cheaper portable model, but a higher end one too. And yes I think they can go even further by incporating things like easy hardware upgrades (so for example if you buy the cheap console, you can easily upgrade to the higher spec one 2-3 years later if you feel like you've outgrown it rather than buying a PS5). And Cloud hardware sharing is good too ... allowing people with even the lower spec machines to enjoy maybe higher end games. 

To me, that would be a nice game changer. Instead of picking one audience, they should embrace plurality. It's the trend in electronics anyway ... Apple accepted the fact that some people simply like a bigger screen phone instead of forcing them to buy a one screen size. The result? Their marketshare, which was starting to decline to Samsung is now gaining again and Samsung has been really hurt. 

People want choice. It's 2015 not 1988. Stop making hardware like it's 1988. 

That article was typical shoddy gamer journalsm-  they did not give any of the guys credentials, certifications etc-  there was no link to the company he suppoosesdly works  (EEDR or something like that) for- nothing to substantiate what kind of analyst the guy is etc  my guess is he is some sefl proclaimed "analyst" 

Also I think one misnomer that some Nintendo fans have latched onto is that somehow the audience that Sony and MS target is not "mainstream".

Here's a fact the PS3 and XBox 360 had a larger audience than the Wii collectively and even individually almost matched the Wii for userbase.

You can't just ignore this audience that IS the mainstream gaming audience. To ignore it is basically to admit you are aiming for a niche audience or attempting to compete head on with Apple/Google for $1 casual consumers (you'd be better off competing against Sony/MS in that case).

The idea that making a cheap-kids console is some safe haven for Nintendo is equally misguided ... there is tons of competetion in that space, in fact there are more casual/cheap-o games being made today than any other genre period and they're free or dirt cheap. 

I think Wii proved that but I would like 3rd party games on a Nintendo console so I don't feel compelled to buy a 2nd console. That is just me being selfish however and I don't want that idea to change how Nintendo designs its consoles/games.

Worked for Wii U.