Topic: NX aparantly not as powerful as PS4 rumour. Discussion on good/bad things this could mean.

@iKhan: Indeed. A more recent example would be the Kid Icarus series, which apparently had a couple of different games being "worked on" before Uprising came along. My source for that would be an upcoming Unseen64 video.

What gives this rumor a little more credibility is the fact that what it describes - one platform that has a handheld SKU and a console SKU that share an OS and a lot of its games, essentially an ecosystem, is exactly what Iwata himself said Nintendo should be looking to a year or two ago.

Ok, there's one thing that makes me question this entirely.

"Capcom, Square Enix, Ubisoft, and Electronic Arts already have devkits. Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Sonic, F-Zero, and Metroid are in development..."

Sonic? The rumor didn't say anything about Sega having a devkit. This means that either a) Sega does have a devkit and just wasn't listed, b) Sega doesn't have a devkit and I just found the contradiction that proves this false, or c) Nintendo is developing a Sonic game. God I hope it's c.

that sounds really damn plausible

Yeah, there's several missing pieces of information here. Like I pointed out earlier, they say the console doesn't have an optical drive without elaborating on what that means. Is it digital only or does it use cartridges? It could mean that they simply couldn't get that information but I have a feeling it's fake and they just didn't account for those things.

@parallaxscroll: Wow! That was interesting... If that was all fabricated, it was very well done!

I just hope that if the NX(console version?) is not as powerful as the PS4, it's at least VERY close. Nintendo really needs a console that's on par with the PS4 and Xbone specs wise. I'm not a graphics elitist at all, but I'm really tired of the "Nintendo's consoles are underpowered junk!" cries you hear in the gaming community.

Everything said pretty much lines up with what I've been thinking. Even some of the less popular ideas I've had about it. Like the talk about optical drives and such actually lines up precisely with what was said in the patent. That there'd maybe be SKUs with or without it and that it may just be optional. It all adds up pretty well IMO.... well, except for these two:

NX is a platform, not tied with a single device

This one, mostly because I was under the impression from what Iwata said that the NX was a dedicated piece of gaming hardware. Not an ecosystem. That said the idea of how it all ties in? The thought that the portable will launch first followed by a home console soon after? That's what I've been thinking they'll do for a long while. Again because of what Iwata was saying about how their future platforms would work. And maybe I'm being pedantic here, but when I thought that the portable was always "the NX" and the home console was some other codename....

NNID is tied to the single device, but it will allow to share details between platforms, like friend list, contents, local coop games, etc. Thanks to the new membership program (the successor of Club Nintendo), we'll benefit from the new Nintendo policies in terms of rewards

This one makes me really sceptical. Again, maybe something is lost in translation. Maybe what they mean to say is that your NNID can only be tied to one product in the same tier. Not unlike how you can't have your NNID across two Wii Us ATM. But tied to a single device? The NNID is supposed to be a universal account system. Its not even tied to just a single device now!

@Bolt_Strike: Well, I imagine if they did go for an ecosystem that shared most games, they'd have to give up the optical drive unless they force you to get the NX handheld version digitally. Both the console and the handheld would use some sort of high capacity cartridge most likely. The optional external optical drive is interesting though. Would that be for BC with physical copies of Wii U games?

One big missing piece of information though is the NX console's main controller. That's never mentioned at all. They mentioned the ability to sync with the NX handheld, as well as BC with the GamePad and possibly the Wiimote.

Something about this seems very believable; it reminds me of the kind of posts people make when they end up being right. I'm excited to hear that Zelda U is staying on Wii U, though I'm a bit nervous about those "complete overhaul of online infrastructures." They could decide to make it a new service, which can mean two things. 1) They started charging by the month (which I don't plan on paying for), and 2) They will end the Nintendo Network service a few years after the new service kicks in, like they did with Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, and games like Splatoon will become useless.

Wii U successor will not have an optical drive, which will be optional. It will sync with the portable (not obligatory)...
As for support, since the new home won't have an optical drive, they're considering an external one.

That's a pretty weird thought process for Nintendo, saying it definitely won't have an optical drive, but is still iffy on whether or not an external solution would work. Wouldn't those problems be decided in tandem with each other?

My guess is that he misspoke, considering the home and the portable as a single device, and saying that NNID can only be shared between your single NX combo.

The big question on my mind is: what's the gimmick? Sure, cross-buy is convenient, and lacking an optical drive is cheap, but what's going to change the way we play? Nintendo loves doing that!

I'm assuming so. Especially given this pair of slides from a while ago which I thought made it pretty clear. Litterally explaining the difference between how the transition from the previous generation to this one worked. Where each device had its own isolated "account".

and then detailing how they expect it to work for the transition to the next generation of portables/home consoles. With a single NNID shared across Wii U, 3DS and their successors. Presumably with shared friends lists, purchases, MiiVerse and so on. The 3DS/Wii U relationship is already part way there, all they were talking about is making it more elegant.

.... so when this rumour says "NNID tied to a single device"? Either something was lost in translation or they're completely buggering up what the NNID was supposed to be doing.

@Nicolai: When they say "complete overhaul of online infrastructures," they mean an overhaul of Nintendo Network to make it more seamless, integrated, and just overall better. As Iwata put it, their current network services look like patchwork as they were developed separately with different goals in mind, rather than one overarching goal that has multiple parts like pretty much every other network out there.

Just for the record, plausible =/= likely. What is much more likely is that this "anonymous tip" is made-up, but it was done so by someone a little smarter than usual.

I mean, many of us recognize all these "leaks" as plausible, so I see no reason why any of us couldn't have come up with this list as well.

@iKhan:
Pretty much. Although at the very least I'd argue that this list is a pretty nice compilation of what my thoughts were until now. So it's got that going for it. Which is nice.

Yeah, or all of this is bogus. Though the document this guy typed up is pretty long; he's bound to have made a few mistakes. None of the mistakes are glaring, anyway; they just look like misunderstandings someone might have come up with after talking to a bunch of people.

Still, the glaring question, where's the gimmick? I'm certain there is one, and you'd think someone that close to development would know what it is by now. The way I see it, either the guy didn't want to get in serious enough trouble as to spoil the big surprise that Nintendo wants to reveal next E3, or the guy who fabricated this couldn't think of one that was believable.

@IceClimbers: Still, whether or not its a new system, they're making major changes, and I hope it doesn't mean they start charging per month and cutting off games. Online connectivity isn't THAT important to me. But it would be rad if Splatoon stayed online and free for decades, as long as it has the popularity.

I think there are two bits lost in translation related to this speculation. One in this list, about nnid tied to a single device - the whole point of a better online infrastructure is not needing to do precisely that. The second, though, could be the statement made by the late and great iwata. “NX is new hardware” could’ve easily been “NX is all about new hardware” or anything of the sort.

Most of the list makes sense, especially the roadmap for the portable and the followup console device. With nintendo looking to not have 2 separate userbases, like they have now with portables being different from home systems entirely, the roadmap looks like a doable plan that makes converging the two as seamless as can be.

Or Nintendo is being careful about what information is going out to developers and others. Stuff like online infrastucture and tech specs are kinda hard to keep hidden. Developers need to know about that sort of stuff so they can build the core game around it. But more specific details than that like the "big gimmick" of the system? Unless they're building a game specifically to take advantage of it or it's something radically different it's not something they're going to tell everyone.

Really? I would think that Nintendo would want as many developers as possible taking advantage of the new gimmick, especially if it's a part of the system they're required to code for. I mean, each 3rd party Wii U launch title had to use the game pad, and a few even went outside the box and made something that wasn't always a map, like Zombie U. I'm sure most big developers know what the gimmick is, if there is one.

So I guess we'll know if it's all true or not by October?

The first thing to look out for would be the new membership system that's going to be revealed by the end of the year. If the details match up, I would believe the rumor.

I am wrong to say that third parties themselves have to port the engine to wii u? I have a hard time following you logic.

Looking at that rumor again, I realized why there was an issue with the Sonic thing. The companies listed as having a devkit already are referring to the ones who got a devkit coming out of E3, as the previous sentence mentions Nintendo shopping the NX around to 3rd parties at E3. Sega wasn't at E3. That's why they weren't listed. They most likely would have gotten a devkit soon afterwards.

Anyways, one thing I noticed is that a lot of the vague info or straight out missing pieces of info are about the NX console, which would actually make sense considering that the console would be coming later than the handheld according to this rumor.