Topic: So NX Is A Home Console Afterall?

Well I'm a Software Engineer so I always look at tech from the "what new can be done with it" perspective. I know everyone is set on this idea that it's a home console but that's boring. Uninteresting. There's not much they could do with it that they can't already. And on the other side when they say they should abandon portables for mobile? Well those games won't be as good. We'd miss out on content. Same approach I take to the hybrid idea which I can't see how it'd technically work. I'm naturally sceptical of forum theories.

I just think it's interesting that you guys immediately rule out the possibility that it might be a portable. I know it's not as sexy and nobody ever asks about it but it is a possibility. And I'd argue that it'd be far more interesting from a consumer's perspective. And if we're talking about signals? Well when that investor asked about how the NX is pulling people away from the Wii U Iwata responded by talking about the Wii U AND 3DS. What about that is "pointing" towards it not being a portable? Or anything infact. Other than the fact that people only care about the home-console headline act.

Well, like I said, they already said NX will not replace Wii U or 3DS. That's one of the first things they said when they announced NX even existed. Look up "NX will not replace Wii U" on Google, and you will see that many sites specifically made that clear as day.

I don't think Wii U or 3DS can even handle things like the QoL products on their own, purely based on connectivity between hardware like that(kind of like syncing to a wireless printer, except more devices and all simultaneously), so that is why I'm sticking with NX being a QoL hub, running a few exclusive programs that may interact in some way with Wii U and/or 3DS, streaming, and other features like that that you wouldn't have without it, but still not replacing anything.

Anyone who has been keeping with emerging technologies and industries within gaming already knows what the NX is going to be. What a lot of people don;t understand is that we are currently in a very critical time period within the the gaming industry. Whatever happens in the next 5 yrs will dictate the next 50. This why you see a mad rush into VR/AR because it is most definitely part of the future of gaming. VR/AR is not a fad. The only issue with VR/AR as of present is that no one has ''figured it out'' yet but once someone does(which will be very soon) it will go mainstream and become a huge industry within gaming/entertainment.

This is the same with mobile gaming. Mobile gaming along with VR/AR will become major gaming industries within the next 5 yrs. Nintendo and every major player knows this. An example is how Konami in transitioning into mobile or how Sony/Facebook. Microsoft into VR/AR. Everyone is essentially fighting to be the next ''Netlfix'' of mobile and VR/AR. Nintendo is putting its bets on mobile. The Nintendo NX is essentially going to be a very powerful smartphone. Think of it as a very powerful N-Gage with TV connectivity. The Nintendo NX is intended to replace the 3ds and any smartphone you currently have. This is where Nintendo is heading. If Nintendo pulls it off which I believe there is a high chance they will, Nintendo could become the number 1 gaming company within the next 5-7yrs.

@SCAR392
The actual wording was that it wouldn't be a "simple" replacement for the Wii U or 3DS. In the same way that the Wii, Wii U and DS weren't "simple replacements". I'd assume that Nintendo would also regard the 3DS as being in that same category. As opposed to their competitors who Nintendo would say just release the same product with better specs. Now I don't have a problem with the same thing that has better specs but.... Nintendo makes a point of saying a spec upgrade alone isn't enough. And that's fair enough. I wouldn't read into it anymore than that.

@AlienGod
The problem I have with this line of thinking is that it ignores entirely how we use our tech. I have no doubt that VR is not a fad but I can't see it replacing the TV or portable devices with screens. You're not going to whip out your VR headset and headphones and shut yourself off entirely from the world while you sit in a waiting room. It's not going to replace the family-room TV where most home-consoles find themselves setup. It's niche will be the same niche that you currently see a small gaming monitor in your bedroom or the Wii U GamePad for off-TV play. Important but not necessarily central. Plus we're talking about a display here not a device, a display that companies will build software for their hardware to support.

The same sort of blinkered thinking is present in your thoughts about mobile. The only thing that separates mobile and portable gaming is the fact that you need your mobile. You have your mobile within arms reach at all times. But because it has to be a multi-function every-day device? They've paired the input right back. You're saying that they should find a way to get a gaming device into that same space? Well you mention the N-Gage but you forget the end result of that experiment. A similar thing happened to the Vita. People don't want their mobile and their portable gaming device to be the same thing. The market has made that perfectly clear. Because think about it from a user's perspective, do you want to be without your phone because Mario Kart drained your battery? No.

This is the most illogical and ridiculous statement i have read in a long time.
_{That's what i get for actually reading one of these stupid NX speculation threads.}

@skywake
The way I see it, New 3DS doesn't replace 3DS, but Wii U replaces Wii(especially with Wii mode). I look at the New 3DS as the GBC. You can play all of the games that you already have, a little bit better, a few that will only run on the slight upgrade, and most of the games that matter the most will come right before New 3DS is on it's way out. By then the "3DSense" will probably already run all that ,plus some, and you'll need to buy that instead. For the time being, New 3DS really isn't all that necessary for me. If there were like 10 games that mattered when it came out, I would have been more determined to buy it, but auto 3D calibration, slight processing upgrade, and current NFC features just aren't going to be enough for me to buy one as it is. I manage the 3D effect fine as it is, and I have seen the auto 3D in person, for the record. If the NFC let me hook up my Bluedio R+ via NFC and Bluetooth 4.0, which is where the technology actually is right now, then I would care a lot, but it's not there. I feel the same way about New 3DS as the new iPhone 7,8,9, etc. Minor upgrades like that just aren't enough to convince me, period, especially if it misses features I was specifically looking for, like the NFC headphone connection.
My point is that, even if the NX was a Wii U upgrade like New 3DS, it probably still wouldn't be enough to justify me buying one(I can spend my money better somewhere else). Besides that Nintendo already said that it wouldn't replace it and an upgrade is unlikely by all logic, it still makes more sense have something like I said, where this box handles QoL, few other exclusive features, and then has enhanced connectivity with other Wii U and 3DS stuff.

@SCAR392
I didn't say anything about the New 3DS. All I said was that when they say "not a simple replacement" they mean it in the same way as they always have. The same way it was true for the following to not be just "simple replacements":

GBA -> DS (the DS was more than just a better spec GBA)
GC -> Wii (the Wii was more than just a GC upgrade)
Wii -> Wii U (the Wii U was more than just Wii HD)

In all cases you could argue that getting the newer one meant you didn't need the older one anymore. Because of backwards compatibility. However they weren't just an upgrade to the spec. They all fundamentally changed the way that new games would play. At least in theory.

I'm just waiting for some leaked tidbits of info from either Nintendo's contracts and partners or the outlets that have connections to people over at Foxconn / Shenzhen plants. I know it's gonna happen, just gotta be patient till then

@skywake
Ya, but that's why I said that a minor upgrade isn't a simple replacement, because you might not even care about upgrading it at all.

There really doesn't need to be a Wii U successor, or even a minor upgrade like New 3DS. I'm like 99% positive it will be some QoL, streaming, extra feature type box, because logic.

VR is not going to replace anything. VR/AR is going to have its own market just like mobile will. The only form of gaming that I see being replaced in the near future are consoles by PC's The future of the gaming industry as a whole is going to shift into a pc/mobile based industry. Consoles are about to be on their way out. PC's are going to replace console gaming, There are two reason for this. The first is that traditionally in the past consoles were leading pieces of technology. A lot of these gaming consoles were more powerful than most computers out there. That has changed. PC's now vastly outperform their console counterparts to the point that releasing a console in this day and age is akin to releasing outdated technology. The reason for this is that it doesn't have the same ability to upgrade itself as the PC does. So essentially with a console you are stuck with whatever piece of technology it came with. The second reason is that in order to take full advantage of games in general these days you need a powerful computer, Powerful enough to run a game at the minimum of 1080p/60fps. To take full advantage of VR/AR you will need even much more powerful computers . Much more powerful than today's high end gaming computers. VR/AR are going to force people into PC's because of the power requirements that will be required to run future programs/games.

Nintendo pretty much has two choices. Either primarily focus on PC/VR/AR gaming or mobile. It look like to me that Nintendo are going to focus their futures gaming plans on mobile first and then PC/VR/AR second at a later date. This is why I'm pretty sure that whatever the Nintendo NX is will be a portable handheld. Now as far as the N-Gage and the VITA is concerned. The reason why they failed per se is because of the lack of support and they didn't have as many good/great games as the 3DS. Software sells hardware. Now as of today smartphones have become multi purpose/all in one devices. In the past people had separate devices to listen to music(Ipod) but now the majority of people out there listen to music on their phones and is now becoming the same with games. At the end of the day it is a hassle to be carrying multiple devices. Nintendo and every major player out there knows that mobile gaming is going to be a huge market in the future and it's on pace to become the biggest market when it comes to gaming. Nintendo already anticapted this. This is why Nintendo is gearing up to release the number 1 gaming smartphone on the market.

@AlienGod
Even as someone who has a decent gaming PC I don't agree with you. I'm more than happy to argue that PCs are a better platform for one reason or another but they're not going to kill off consoles. Because whether you like it or not people want to be able to buy a box that they put under their TV and forget about. Same thing with this idea that we'll all "need" PCs because of the extra horsepower required in the future for games. Last I checked there wasn't anything stopping console manufacturers from releasing more powerful machines. That's not to say that what a console is won't change or that we might get to the point where consoles are even more like PCs. I'm just saying that I doubt people are going to start flocking to PC gaming anytime soon. If they were going to they would have done so already.

Then there's your bit about mobile devices and how they're taking over. And sure, for some functions they have. The simpler the function the more likely a multi-function device will be able to do just as good a job. So for playing back music? Phones have pretty much entirely replaced dedicated devices. For taking photos? Well sure, but less so. Because of the physics involved in optics a phone sized sensor will never be as good as a higher end camera. For games it's all about decent controls and a typical smartphone isn't really good for anything that's not a match 3 puzzle game. For some people that's enough but for not for everyone, people who still buy dedicated hardware do so for a reason. And I'm willing to wager that a lot of those ~50mill 3DS consoles out there were sold to people who have a smartphone. Would those same people buy a Nintendo-phone? Well probably not. I'd argue that people don't want to hold a Nintendo phone upto their ear, a decision that outweighs the inconvenience of carrying two devices.

tl;dr: I still don't agree and I think you've weakened your argument with that post

I don;t think you truly understand what Nintendo is trying to do here. The Nintendo NX is intended to replace the 3DS and Wii U.Quite simply the next Nintendo console will be a mobile/portable handheld console. The Nintendo NX is going to be a much more powerful version of the 3DS but with smartphone/pc capabilities. It will be similar as to having a PS4 in your hands. It will be able to run Triple AAA title quality games. This is significant because the only way to play Triple AAA games is either on a pc or on a home console. The console is going to appease to a wide demographic including those gamers who are hesitant and unwilling to play mobile games because of the controls like you stated. Also about the part people not wanting to buy a Nintendo phone is absurd. if Nintendo were to release a phone right now even if it was just touchscreen will become the fast selling phone on the market.

@AlienGod
And pigs will fly

One thing we do know is that it is a dedicated gaming device. That is really the only thing nintendo has said about the NX. Nintendo Direct NX

Wow, that sounds good. If you like $1000 gaming machines.

Things we can be fairly certain of:
1. It's a piece of dedicated gaming hardware
2. It'll launch sometime after an official unveiling in 2016, potentially a year or more
3. They're talking about making your NNID mean more than it currently does. So cross-buy is possible
4. At a "PS4" level launch price we'd be looking at upto 1080p @ 60fps where the PS4 does 30fps by 2017
5. For a portable system we're likely talking something closer to 360 level graphics at 3DS-ish launch prices
6. A hybrid console would be limited to the same specs that a portable would

Iwata: "Whether we will ultimately need just one device will be determined by what consumers demand in the future, and that is not something we know at the moment."

This was said before the launch of MK8 and Smash which did not give the Wii U target sales momentum. I'm wondering if the weak demand for Wii U at this point has encouraged their next console and handheld to be physically unified?

Context answers your question for you:

"Still, I am not sure if the form factor (the size and configuration of the hardware) will be integrated. In contrast, the number of form factors might increase. Currently, we can only provide two form factors because if we had three or four different architectures, we would face serious shortages of software on every platform. To cite a specific case, Apple is able to release smart devices with various form factors one after another because there is one way of programming adopted by all platforms. Apple has a common platform called iOS. Another example is Android. Though there are various models, Android does not face software shortages because there is one common way of programming on the Android platform that works with various models. The point is, Nintendo platforms should be like those two examples. Whether we will ultimately need just one device will be determined by what consumers demand in the future, and that is not something we know at the moment. However, we are hoping to change and correct the situation in which we develop games for different platforms individually and sometimes disappoint consumers with game shortages as we attempt to move from one platform to another, and we believe that we will be able to deliver tangible results in the future"

hmm a few weird things here...

much more powerful than the 3DS.... PS4 in your hands.... what?

"the only way to play Triple AAA games is either on a pc or on a home console" lol what? two words: Golden Sun. I mean, I could own that sentence with 1000 words but I think one AAA GBA title should suffice. what a silly comment!

I think you are making a lot of assumptions about the NX. there's no guarantee it'll be a portable device like you think.

people are getting too hysterical over the whole "NINTENDO ARE REPLACING THE WII U" "NINTENDO ARE KILLING THE WII U". you're just falling to the scaremongering, people saying "teh wii u failed now they're killing it off". doesn't every console replace the next? isn't it just good PR spin to say that you wont be replacing the 3DS or Wii U? the answer is duuhhhh. why would they publicly come out and go "don't buy any more Wii U games, we're making a new console that's replacing it"? because they're not stupid and it's not true anyway, they still value what's out there and the millions of people who own them, they're just letting us know they're hard at work at something revolutionary.

that's the next step, remember - Nintendo have always said they go in stages of Revolution, Evolution - NES Revolution, SNES Evolution; N64, GCN; Wii, Wii U; the next stage is the next Revolution and they haven't let us down yet have they?

http://mynintendonews.com/2015/06/29/rumour-diddy-kong-racing...