I do not know about you guys, but I have been pretty excited to see what the NX is, especially with the air mystique that Nintendo has been building around the system. Nintendo keeps saying that it is not a successor to the Wii U or 3DS but rather an entirely new concept. This has got me thinking about a hypothetical third category of gaming consoles.

To come up with this third category I started thinking about the purpose of various classes of game consoles. Portable consoles have, as the name suggests, aimed to allow for gaming experiences on the go. Home consoles on the other hand try to deliever personal cinematic experiences (hence a heavy emphasis on graphics), local multiplayer experiences, and non-gaming entertainment experiences (Netflix, Youtube, blu-ray, music, etc).

What I have realized is that many home console games are moving away from the local multiplayer aspect of gaming and are instead opting to go with online play. On the other hand, there is still a market for a simple and inexpensive family oriented device that bring the family together in the living and also do non-gaming related functions. Thus, I believe there needs to be a schism in the home console market that creates a less expensive and smaller device focusing on local multiplayer and non-gaming fuctions (perhaps it plays games from portable consoles at higher resolutions and adds a local multiplayer option for certain games) and a more expensive device focusing on the cinematic experience.

This new more expensive system should be focused on delivering the most personal and immersive cinematic gaming and media experience. As such I believe that primary output of such a device should not be the TV (which is useless for such a device because the fcous is no longer local-play but rather immersion) but rather a VR headset.

So Here is my view of the future with three categories of devices:

1. Portable Systems

-Have phsyical controls

-More capable operating systems

-Inexpensive ($150-$200 non-cellular SKU; $200-$250 cellular SKU)

-At least two SKUs: one with mobile capability (data, making calls, etc) and one without mobile.

-Form factor example:

2. Home Consoles

-Support portable console software

-Big feature should be local multiplayer and non-gaming media features

-Small, power effecient, and quiet

-Relatively inexpensive ($100-$250)

-Form factor example:

3. Personal Virtual Reality Console

-Designed to provide immersive and deep gaming experiences

-Focus is more on online play and immersive single player experiences

-More expensive ($450+)

-Bigger system with more horse power

-Can be used for immersive non-gaming media as well

-Form factor example:

What do you guys think?

"Nintendo keeps saying that it is not a successor to the Wii U or 3DS but rather an entirely new concept."

And the internet-wide misinterpretation of this line is where the whole thread fell apart.

Would you care to explain?

Nintendo said that the DS was not going to be a successor for either the GC or the GBA line, but in the end, it replaced the GBA (and the GameBoy brand altogether). If it is a fusion system, it will replace BOTH the 3DS and the WiiU, and possibly put an end to the DS and the Wii brands.

Ninty can't go this route because they don't have the resources to support all three. I think honestly your first two ideas are right on the money. I think a portable and a micro console that share 99% of their library is what's best for them. It leaves them cheap enough to include "new blue ocean strategies"

They said it won't be a SIMPLE successor to Wii U or 3DS.

That one word being left out completely changes the meaning.

What Iwata actually said was this:

"Though I cannot confirm when it will be launched or any other details of the system, since I have confirmed that it will be 'a dedicated video game platform with a brand new concept,' it should mean that we do not intend it to become a simple 'replacement' for Nintendo 3DS or Wii U."

And that's it. The key word is simple. As in merely. It's not merely a replacement. It's not simply a replacement. It's more than that. What he did not say was that it is not, at all, a replacement, because it is. It's just not as simple as that. It's not PS3 to PS4. It's not just a rudementary upgrade of one platform. It's a new concept.

And that new concept is, obviously, the unification of both platforms. It's not simply a replacement for one or the other, it's a unified replacement of both at the same time. What it is not, and what it has absolutely never even remotely been purported to be, is some illusory third pillar.

I think what he means is that Nintendo meant that the NX is to be a new brand that's not Wii or DS, not exactly a super revolutionary new idea.

If I didn't know you weren't an alt account of me, I'd think you were an alt account of me.

I should mention that the comments made by Nintendo about the NX made me think more about the industry in general and not specifically the NX itself (since we have very little information about what the NX actually is). Thus, the three category approach I proposed in this thread should be viewed as more of a potential future blueprint for the industry as a whole as opposed to specifically pertaining to Nintendo (hence why I started this thread in Gaming Discussions instead of Nintendo Discussions).