potato_hamster said:

 It appear extremely logical business decision, but really the only people it truly benefits is Nintendo's hardcore fans. For Nintendo, it means while they may be doubling down on their most hardcore fanbase, they're also limiting the money they can extract from them since these fans will no longer be buying two consoles and two copies of some of their multi-platform games.

Hardcore Ninty fans is all Nintendo cares for to begin with lol. If Nintendo wanted consumers like you, then NX as a platform would be unecessary. 3rd parties can support a platform so Ninty wouldnt need to increase their own support of their home consoles, 3rd parties would already have that covered. How many gens does Ninty need to ignore 3rd parties for you to get the hint they dont care for them? Its all just pr talk like always and then people are stuck looking stupid when things dont go the way they dreamed. Ninty wants to expand outside of core gamers. Blue ocean and Ninty fans is all Ninty cares for, plain and simple. Wii & DS is what Ninty wants to repeat not PS4. Ninty sold 250 million units in a single gen? Why would you then aim for 120 million at best(PS4). You are also assuming Ninty fans wouldnt continue to buy both with a unified plat? I'm sure millions would consider buying both since now their entire library works on the go as well and visa versa. Millions will ofcourse opt for just one of them, just like all of there past gens. Millions opt for just WiiU and millions opt for just 3ds. Millions opt for both as well and would continue to do so for NX as well.

They're also limiting their appeal to a wider audience because the handheld will undoubtedly be more expensive if it has to have a minimum power baseline to make console games also run well on the handheld, or conversely they'll have to severely underpower their home console to make games compatible with the handheld, making the home console's appeal even smaller than the Wii U's (hello Playstation TV). So really they have to choose between an expensive handheld and a unappealing home console in order to even make it feasible.

Weaker home console is the obvious route since Ninty has already gotten away with a weaker plat beating stronger plats, Wii stomping PS3 ring a bell? Now imagine Wii with the DS software backing it also and you have an utter beat down without 3rd parties and being much weaker lol. So im calling bullshit on your less appealing than WiiU line. The problem with most people such as yourself is you are still viewing this thing as home console or handheld? This is no longer a traditional home console or handheld, every game will be playable on both... so why would Ninty seperate their sales? They contribute to a single ecosystem, so singling them out makes no since what so ever. If the portable version sells 60 million and the stationary version sells 40 million, you have a userbase of 100 million rather you agree or not. There is something else you are also ignoring, the gimmicks each individual device will still receive. Thats the most important element about NX, Ninty is still aiming blue ocean. WiiU and 3DS failed because their respective gimmicks never took off, so you were left with a handheld with pretty much 75% of Nintys support and a home console with 25% up against plats with their supporters full support(xb1/ps4). NX on the other hand continues the Wii&DS route but instead safely because if the gimmicks fail again then atleast they still have their entire unsplit fanbase to treat. 

It's also not appealing to third party developers, because even if its just a matter of recompiling the code to work on one platform or another, it's still literally double the testing and there will still be system-specific issues that arise, making the NX more expensive to develop for than the PS4 or X1. They would have to support and test each hardware specification. So it's going to be hard to justify to them to make games on a platform that's more expensive and traditionally doesn't support third parties very well.

Ninty stopped kissing 3rd parties asses years ago, its nothing but fanboy dreams that still believe Ninty cares.

And sure, the potential market might be there between the 3DS and Wii U, but considering that the handheld market could very well be drying up considering the downward trend of all decidcated handheld video game sales, and pretty much no one buying a Wii U besides those that buy any hardware made by Nintendo, it seems like a rather poor choice to put your eggs in that basket.

My favorite part is how people truly believe Ninty would accept such a fate for dedicated handheld devices. Why would Ninty atleast not try to turn it around? This has always been the achilles hill in all NX home console favoritism. NX being a ps4 level home console with all of the handhelds support does not compute at all, what does the handheld gain in this? Why would Nintendo put all of their eggs in a basket(home consoles) that has never been very good to them and has tons of competition? I have a question for you. If Nintys handheld base ever died, how much would a competitive home console from Ninty sale? How would Ninty do if all of their eggs were instead in the basket of a home console? Would Sony not all of a sudden become even more dangerous to Ninty considering now the highest selling games in Japan are even up for grabs, Nintys remaining stronghold? Monster Hunter now has no reason to be exclusive and neither does all the other exclusive 3rds Ninty recieves in Japan.

But hey, let's say it succeed. Let's say the NX goes and sells 150 million consoles world wide. Nintendo is making hundreds of millions a year, everyone is happy. Now let's say the NX successor.... is now two seperate consoles again, because money. Imagine how well that will go over. Nintendo will be forced into hybrid consoles for that point onwards lest they feel their fans wrath.

Wow this makes no sense at all either, why would they re seperate them lol. This is the definition of a reach.

No. Nintendo is not going to have one game for two consoles. It will more than likely be easier than ever to port games from one system to the other, but when you go into gamestop, there will be two different sections of games, side by side. They're going to have two consoles with similar hardware and two games that run seperately on those two consoles, and you'll probably buy one copy of each and think it'll be genius of Nintendo if they gave you a reason to only buy one, and wonder why they don't.

No just no, people wouldnt buy the same game twice? This scenario is practically what they have already been doing accept the games are the same instead of different. How in the world is this encouraging people to buy both? If you buy the home console, you have to buy the handheld and your library again? Thats not encouraging at all.

I bet dollars to donuts that almost every smash bro fan that has a Wii U and a 3DS has a copy on both platforms. I also bet almost every Mario Kart fan that has a Wii U and a 3DS has a copy on both. I'd also bet that the majority of WIi U owners also own a 3DS. Stopped taking you serious right here. That's millions and millions in sales they'd be pissing away, and that's just when it's really difficult to port from the WIi U to the 3DS. If Nintendo manages to make it much, much easier to port games to both seperate devices you'll see more games appearing on platforms -  you could practically double your sales of every major First party Nintendo title by making it available on both the home and portable consoles with little effort, because you and I both know those hardcore Nintendo fans, ( you know, the ones that are willing to spend $200 on a fucking amiibo they never got a chance to buy),  will buy two copies, and a third if a special edition is released a few months later, and a 4 more copies if they each come with different Amiibos. The Nintendo fanbase is absolutely rabid in supporting Nintendo. What you just described is no different from what Ninty has been doing for decades? Use the same franchises for both plats(not the same game, but the same franchises) hoping the base would buy both plats for the same franschises. What exactly are you trying to describe? Both WiiU and 3DS share the same franchises, and many of them have been ported to the other. I guess what you are trying to describe is now the games being released on both plats will be the SAME? For example, are you saying that MK8 on WiiU and 3DS would have been better than MK7 on 3DS and MK8 on WiiU? No I agree with Ninty on this one, making them different games gives people more incentive to buy both plats than your scenario since you are still charging them for both. Ninty even tried to make Smash Bros. different despite them being the same games. Ninty is clearly exploring the possibilities of having all of their franchises on the handheld. This gen alone the handheld side gained or got a taste of tons of franchises that never saw a release or a release in that form. Handheld side got Smash, 3D Zelda ports(could be wrong here), Xenoblade port, Luigis Mansion, Kid Icarus, and even Hyrule Warriors port. What did the home console side gain? Splatoon is pretty much it. Which you and me both know could easily work on 3DS. Handhelds is where WiiU got its dual screen setup lol. Merging the two platforms would dramatically decrease the spending of this fanbase on Nintendo products. They'll buy less consoles, and less games for those consoles because they simply will not need to. Nintendo knows this. I know this. You should know it too. On top of that, those hardcore fans? They get smaller and smaller with every console Nintendo puts out (with the exception of the Wii U and DS, but I'll argue most of the people who bought those consoles were not Nintendo fans). Want to know where the fanbase is increasing? Home consoles. Now i know for sure you cant be taken serious. I cant think of a single gen where handhelds sold more than home consoles, thats obviously thanks to Ninty and Japanese studios supporting handhelds except Sony pretty much. Why are you comparing PS4 & Co to 3DS and Vita then? This reeks of desperation, I guess because Wii & Co would shit on your comparison lol. Hell Ds & PSP would shit on your comparison lol. Home consoles havent shown any growth outside of Wii since PS2 and Xbox lol. Hell didnt PS2 and Xbox sell more than PS3 and 360 even with 360s kinect boost? PS4 and Xb1 are looking to sell no more than any of those gens so keep dreaming. I would argue, thats precisely why Ninty is so obsessed with chasing casuals. One Gen alone Ninty sold more than Sony and Micro combined despite Sony selling the most hardware in a single gen they ever had sold (Ps3 and PSP sold more than Ps2 and Ps4 and Vita have no shot in hell at that) and micro had a boost from Kinect they stole from copying Ninty.  Handhelds as a whole don't have much of a chance since besides Ninty, dedicated handheld support is pretty dead. Handhelds are only dying because their support is dying, if their support wasnt dying then they wouldnt die. Japan is all the proof I need. No excuse for 3DS shitting on PS4 there. I always find it funny seeing PS4 get so many excuses for its lackluster performance in Japan but 3DS not receive the same excuses for its performance in the west. Handhelds are dying come from desperate Ninty haters that need an excuse to count handhelds out so Ninty can be compared to others the way they want. Thats why they try to separate handhelds and home consoles due to "demographics" yet Wiiu and 3Ds surely have more similiar demographics then WiiU to PS4, thats why they single out the wiiU in every discussion about Ninty like Ninty doesnt make more than Wiiu. Its nothing but desperate shit found on the internet. I would even go as far as saying Sonys home consoles should wipe the floor with Ninty handhelds due to support alone but yet GB and GBC gave PS1 plenty of comp and GBA was giving Ps2 a run for its money until DS came and shitted on PS3. The point is Home consoles are no longer growing despite the markets full support, we should have seen some type of growth from gen 6 to gen 8 and honestly things aren't looking likely at all. PS4 has fallen about 10 million units behind Wii despite starting with pretty big lead, no way in hell it all of a sudden pulls a 40 millin unit turnaround to reach 130 million. Thats what it needs to pull any kind of significant growth because xb1 aint getting much further than 60 millin if it gets there at all. Handhelds on the other hand need Ninty more now than ever to keep them from dying and lets be honest, Ninty cares more about handhelds than home consoles. Do I really need to back that up? Looks like the PS4/X1/Wii U combined sales will be in excess of 200 million consoles.  That appears to be far far bigger than the 70 millionish users that bought a 3DS and a Vita. huh... It's as if Nintendo actually took their home console seriously and made the NX home appealing to would-be buyers of PS4s and X1s, they might actually achieve Wii levels of sales. Imagine that. So Ninty should instead rely on stealing consumers from Sony and Micro instead of pleasing the 70 million they already have? Wow lol, what a brilliant business plan. You think that would lead to another Wii? Might I also add, Ninty wants another Wii and Ds. Poor support for the handheld will surely happen if Ninty started to put all of their eggs in the basket of home consoles.

Nintendo can *try* to turn the handheld around. I mean they won't but they can certainly try.  They won't, because at the end of the day  $200 NX portable and $30-$40 games that never seem to go down in price if they have in Nintendo's logo on them is *far* more expensive than a $100 tablet, and thousands and thousands of free games, and thousands more at less than $5. That's what Nintendo is competiting with, with tablets even cheaper than $100 coming. That is a battle they cannot win. The fact of the matter is that you can get a very similar experience to the 3DS on a smart phone, and for the vast majorty of potential market, that's "good enough". Maybe that's why the average 3DS owner owns less than 4 games  - they just don't think spending $40 on a 3DS game is worth it when they can get 15 games for the same price on their phone. You probably said the same from GC to Wii lol. What makes the 3DS anymore similiar to a tablet then WiiU by the way? They play the same franchises, which is why you argue they have the same consumers. Maybe the 3DS doesnt have the hook NIntys previous handhelds had. Thats the point of NX, now creating hit software becomes a lot easier due to Ninty not having to repeat software due to a home console version. It works the other way around as well, home console gains everything the handheld side got exclusively and the handheld side gains everything the home console side got exclusively. Ninty has already proven nearly all of their franchises and be successful no matter the plat. 3D Zelda and Smash were the remaining pillars and 3DS gained both this gen(3DS is ofcourse too weak to pull off one of the newer Zeldas and ofcourse the WiiU needed 3D zelda ports as well). Time to help you figure something out, Iwata was talking about how only Ninty has proven consistently they can pull off new single hit franchise that can carry a plat. Mario, Pokemon, Brain Age, Nintendogs, Wiisports, Wiifit, and even to minor degree Splatoon is what he was referring too. Thats all each plat needs individually and is why Ninty is doing this to begin with. It all lines up quite well dont you think? Hasn't the handheld side gained alot for a platform thats about to get abandoned for home consoles? Doesn't that strike you as odd? Is Ninty really dumb enough to enter a gen at its midpoint and expect success? Would Ninty really just let handhelds die considering they probably dont agree with handhelds dying at all considering how much Ninty loves Japan and things don't look dire for handhelds in Japan at all, thats obviously the other way around as a matter of fact.

But keep thinking that Nintendo can repeat the Wii and DS. Nintendo has demonstrated with the Wii U and 3DS that even they don't know why those consoles were popular, much less know how to repeat that success. The Wii was an anomoly - a cheap console bought by Aunts and Grandparents so they could play Wii Sports, or Wii Fit, that was used for a few months and collected dust until the kids came over for a visit. The only reason that the attach rate didn't look so bad is that they kept bundling controllers, and peripherals with games when the bundles often cost $5-$10 more than the controller or perhiperal itself. Pretty easy choice. Think they can do it again? Well, I don't. That ship has sailed. Grandma learned her lesson from the Wii. Also, it seems to me like you're pretty confident that the NX home is going to be pretty similar to the WIi U, the worst selling Nintendo console of all time. I'm not sure how that's going to be appealing to the average person that bought the Wii, but I'm all ears to hear your ideas. Cool story! One gen proves Ninty cant repeat that kind of success is hilarious by the way. Im not sure at all how you figure my description of NX home is anything like WiiU? I guess you just see what you want to see. NX home gets everything the handheld gets and a cheaper price tag(due to hardware being not that much stronger than Nx portable) and the hope of a successful "gimmic". That sounds much better then poor support and failed gimmick(WiiU).

Also, Wii "stomped" the PS3 did it? Maybe you should look at their lifetime sales. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and as of right now the Wii has got a 15% lead and dropping. I'm sure when it's all said and done the Wii will still be outselling the PS3, but 15% sales  over #2 and 37% market share in a 3-way race is not a "stomping". On the otherhand, if you want to see an actual stomping, see the PS4's fall sales in the last year being higher than what the Wii U has done in three. Ouch. I said with the DS support which certainly shitted on PS3 but ofcourse you ignored that because lets be honest, youre probably still salty about Wii lol. PS4s wild success doesnt look very impressive at all on the financial reports lol, meanwhile Ninty was rolling in dough during Wii and Ds. So yeah I would shoot for the moon instead and come up with a back up plan if necessary. See 3DS vs. Vita if you want to see a beatdown, which is the part of the market Ninty actually cares for. So digs at WiiU mean nothing to me lol.

Ha no worries, I would stop debating with Potato if I were you though, he is dead set on Nintendo becoming irrelevant.