With what we know about the NX so far, it seems likely that we're looking at an ecosystem of multiple form factors with a unified central operating system and development teams. Obviously, this is being done to make sure that a Wii U situation is not repeated, where popular software isn't locked behind a unpopular hardware. But I got into thinking this morning that there's another unpopular system that could benefit from such a system: Playstation Vita.
With the performance of the Vita, especially in the west, it's questionable whether or not Sony will develop a successor. Right now, it seems unlikely. But clearly, with 10-12 million units sold worldwide, there is an audience for the device. There's a niche crowd that wants something different from a handheld than what Nintendo typically offers. Better specs, single higher quality screen, etc. The software for the Vita at the beginning of its life also seemed to be courting the traditional console crowd, entries in series like Uncharted, Assassin's Creed, and Call of Duty. These games were successful enough. Then later in its life, support for the system was dominated by Japanese 3rd party exclusives, games that might not have been possible or wouldn't have necessarily found an audience on the 3DS.
So if Sony decides not to continue a handheld line after the Vita, this seems like it could be an opportunity for Nintendo. Mr. Iwata had spoken about the possibility of increasing the number of form factors from two a couple of years ago, and some of us assumed that he was talking about something like a tablet or something completely new. But what about another handheld with specs and content that catered to the Vita audience? Even if the 3DS successor is far more popular, as the 3DS is to the Vita, there is undeniably a dedicated audience for the brand of handheld experience that the PSP and Vita offered over the DS and 3DS. And a Nintendo handheld that covers that market would be able to get around the disadvantages that the Vita has, namely the lack of quality 1st party support.
If Sony exits that market, should Nintendo commandeer it? Create a "third pillar" that caters to the soon-to-be displaced PSP/Vita audience?
Nintendo will never again put out a console that actually has a decent amount of power, and I very much doubt they'd put out two handheld consoles. You have to remember that many of those PS Vita sales were from people who bought it for Sony games, because they had previous Sony models, or possibly simply because it wasn't Nintendo's. I don't think many of those people would flock to a Nintendo model, especially when Nintendo models would still have so many disadvantages over what Sony would have provided, at least when it comes to what their fans are looking for.
If I owned a PS Vita and didn't much care for Nintendo or its games, I wouldn't be interested in a console with lackluster online, region locking, and safety policies built for children that inhibit my ability both to communicate with and play with my friends online. Now that's not to say that Nintendo's next console would actually have all of these problems, but given the fact that the 3DS and Wii U do, it's a safe bet to assume they will. I just don't think Nintendo would gain enough additional sales to make it worth it.
I feel Sony's loss is all of our losses. With no direct competition, I feel Nintendo will go the very slow and steady route when it comes to upgrading their Handhelds' specs. I'd be surprised if their next one was much more powerful than the 3DS to be honest. I don't see them creating a 3rd pillar because since they're the only option for dedicated handhelds, they'll just make one knowing people will buy it .
@Geonjaha: They are working with DeNA to beef up it's online through a new membership service. I think they know they need help with online if they're doing this.
First of all, Nintendo does not aim to compete with the others. If they ever want to compete, they obviously would need to do more like Sony and Microsoft like doing more than just making games.
Secondly, the Vita is too damm expensive. Heck, even more than the Wii U. Atleast with consoles, its understandable that they need more power. But handhelds should never reach that power unless the technology is affordable to begin with.
Also, you seem to forget that the Vita acts as a controller to play PS4 games. The NX would most likely either do something different to that or just not do it at all.
Sony can do fine without the Playstation but Nintendo can't do fine without its consoles and handhelds. So the fact that Nintendo remains the only one to ever dominate the handheld market just proves that others can't compete with that not even Sony. Infact, the vita might be the last handheld Sony will do.
Also I don't think that Sony has lack of first party. What they lack in is understanding how handheld markets work. Every phone that I can think of is already just as powerful as the Vita so power really isn't the core thing anymore.
First of all, Nintendo does not aim to compete with the others. If they ever want to compete, they obviously would need to do more like Sony and Microsoft like doing more than just making games.
Secondly, the Vita is too damm expensive. Heck, even more than the Wii U. Atleast with consoles, its understandable that they need more power. But handhelds should never reach that power unless the technology is affordable to begin with.
Also, you seem to forget that the Vita acts as a controller to play PS4 games. The NX would most likely either do something different to that or just not do it at all.
Sony can do fine without the Playstation but Nintendo can't do fine without its consoles and handhelds. So the fact that Nintendo remains the only one to ever dominate the handheld market just proves that others can't compete with that not even Sony. Infact, the vita might be the last handheld Sony will do.
Also I don't think that Sony has lack of first party. What they lack in is understanding how handheld markets work. Every phone that I can think of is already just as powerful as the Vita so power really isn't the core thing anymore.
You managed to go on so many tangents yet failed to answer the original point. It's impressive in a way.
@Geonjaha: He claims that Sony has lack of first party to which I said no, its not that reason that the Vita failed.
Also, like I said, Nintendo will most likely do it differently than what Sony did. They may do it such that the NX will have two versions of the same game but each version will have technical issues like Smash for example. Or they could make the NX powerful so that the limits could barely be noticed to which I doubt because that requires a hefty sum which is something I'm positive Nintendo doesn't want to do.
If I owned a PS Vita and didn't much care for Nintendo or its games, I wouldn't be interested in a console with lackluster online, region locking, and safety policies built for children that inhibit my ability both to communicate with and play with my friends online. Now that's not to say that Nintendo's next console would actually have all of these problems, but given the fact that the 3DS and Wii U do, it's a safe bet to assume they will.
Fair enough, but let's assume for the sake of discussion that Nintendo wasn't lying when they addressed those concerns.
First of all, Nintendo does not aim to compete with the others. If they ever want to compete, they obviously would need to do more like Sony and Microsoft like doing more than just making games.
Er, I said nothing about competition. My post is about filling in a gap that will soon exist if Sony exits the handheld market. And whether Nintendo likes it or not, their products compete with other products. That is the nature of an open market.
Secondly, the Vita is too damm expensive. Heck, even more than the Wii U. Atleast with consoles, its understandable that they need more power. But handhelds should never reach that power unless the technology is affordable to begin with.
Also, you seem to forget that the Vita acts as a controller to play PS4 games. The NX would most likely either do something different to that or just not do it at all.
Sony can do fine without the Playstation but Nintendo can't do fine without its consoles and handhelds. So the fact that Nintendo remains the only one to ever dominate the handheld market just proves that others can't compete with that not even Sony. Infact, the vita might be the last handheld Sony will do.
Also I don't think that Sony has lack of first party. What they lack in is understanding how handheld markets work. Every phone that I can think of is already just as powerful as the Vita so power really isn't the core thing anymore.
Here is a list of internally developed Vita exclusives available at retail:
I'm confused, in what way would a true 3DS successor not be filling the gap left by the Vita? Back before the PSP Nintendo owned the entire portable market with fairly average spec hardware. With the DS and then 3DS they continued that strategy but Sony took a chunk from the higher spec side of the market. With Sony out of the picture surely Nintendo just takes that back, right?
The Vita is as old as the 3DS is and both are almost as old as the DS and PSP were when they were replaced. And it's not like the 3DS wasn't quite a bit more powerful than the PSP when it came out either. So I think it's fairly safe to assume that whatever Nintendo's next portable is and whenever it comes out it'll also replace the Vita. And it'll hold the entire portable market, or at least what's left of it. Just like how it was before and what probably would have happened if Sony hadn't released the Vita. Having a second portable wouldn't make sense. It'd just split their own market.
While I doubt the 3DS successor will be some super-ultra-mega-powerful handheld like the Vita was trying to be in 2012, I think it is safe to assume that it will be have better hardware and a higher screen resolution than the Vita currently is. At least I hope...
Now, back onto the topic. I am going to have to make a few assumptions in order to make a proper response. So:
1) Let's assume Sony does not make a PS Vita successor due to the Vita's poor commercial performance and their current lack of support for the handheld.
2) Let's assume Nintendo's statements about their next generation platform is true, and that NX is not a singular device but rather a "family" of devices that share the same or similar software, applications, OS. architecture, and development tools.
3) Let's also assume that the Wii U's and 3DS's successors are both part of this NX "family."
If these assumptions hold true, then the idea of introducing a more powerful version of the 3DS's successor to cater more toward the (former) Vita audience would not be a bad idea. Nintendo would be able to gain an extra 10 million+ units in hardware sales and probably an extra 40 million+ in software sales, which would result in an expanded audience. As long as the entirety of Nintendo's future handheld market is not solely aimed to cater to the current niche Vita audience, then Nintendo's handheld(s) will be fine.
Of course, Nintendo doesn't really have to do any of this. As long as the handheld has sufficient hardware specs (at least powerful enough to handled most 3rd-party development engines ala Unity and Unreal) and an HD/sub-HD screen resolution, then it will already cater to the Vita audience, since it would be able to receive more indie and Japanese support, which is where the majority of the Vita audience lies.
@Operative: They do that already. The handhelds tend to match their consoles - the GBA is basically an SNES, the DS is an overclocked N64, the 3DS is equivalent to the GameCube (except the CPU, hence Ice Climbers being cut), and the New 3DS is roughly equivalent to the Wii. The most reasonable expectation for the next handheld is for it to surpass the Vita, but it won't be anything mindblowing.
I'd expect it to be somewhere between the Vita and the Wii U in terms of raw power. Therefore, in response to the OP, there's no reason to release a second higher-spec handheld because the 1st one will take care of that already.
Saying that Vita has an audience is like saying the Wii U has an audience. There is one, but it ain't that big
Right, but this matters less with unified development teams. A game doesn't have to be successful "for the Vita" or "for the Wii U," it can just be successful.
The Wii U has sold over 60 million software as of June. Billions of dollars in revenue. The problem is that taking losses on hardware and ballooned HD development costs mean that the Wii U is still losing money overall, or maybe just breaking even. And I think that's a big reason why this NX family is going forward in the first place. In order to avoid that happening again, software is no longer going to be locked behind a single piece of hardware. Rather, one division will be making software and the consumer will be able to choose their own form factor to best fit their play style and taste.
With a system like that, form factors can easily be introduced or dropped with much less risk.
So Anakin kneels before Monster Mash and pledges his loyalty to the graveyard smash.
I don't think Sony will exit the handheld business. Yes, Vita is a disaster but Sony doesn't care. It bleeds money in dozens of different ages. They want to make TVs they still want to somehow recreate thevwalkman they even want to make their awful cameras although competing in a diminishing market with Canon and Nikon is stupid. That's the way they are. As long as it sells at least 10% of whatever Nintendo sells they'll still do it.
@dumedum: sounds like a horrible business plan that ULTIMATELY will lead to their exit of the handheld business. Hemorrhaging money in different markets will lead to money being pulled to shore up those failing businesses should they choose to save it. Will it be pulled from The PS4 brand? I doubt it, but desperate times, call for desperate measures that hopefully won't come to pass. I like sony but they seem scattered to me as a whole.
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They do that already. The handhelds tend to match their consoles - the GBA is basically an SNES, the DS is an overclocked N64, the 3DS is equivalent to the GameCube (except the CPU, hence Ice Climbers being cut), and the New 3DS is roughly equivalent to the Wii. The most reasonable expectation for the next handheld is for it to surpass the Vita, but it won't be anything mindblowing.
You've made a good point but I think your spec-equivalence stuff is a tad off. You're pretty close to the mark on the other ones but the 3DS is not "equivalent" to the Gamecube, it's a tad under. And the New 3DS doesn't boost the spec that much. Certainly not enough to say that it's now "on-par" with the Wii. It's always a bit complicated though because decades down the road there are some things which get a lot cheaper. You'll get far more RAM for a similar spec now for example and so on. But in terms of raw hardware spec? The 3DS and even the New 3DS really aren't above the Gamecube.
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"Don't stir the pot" is a nice way of saying "they're too dumb to reason with"
In some ways GC and Wii are better but in some ways 3DS is a beast. Very different architecture. Luigi's Mansion 2 and Resident rvil Revelations make the 3DS look way better like next gen amazing so it depends.
Well I still am one of the only people that thinks that Nintendo risks being cannibalized by multiple fronts - one being the mobile ecosystem, the other being sony. Seriously.
If apple releases the new tv box in a handful of days, and sony builds a portable ps4, which are both extremely likely to happen, Nintendo is between a rock and a hard place. Nx better be a platform and multiple device ecosystem, as well as singular in software compatibility and support, for them to stand a chance.
I don't think so. The Vita made as much (okay, little) of a decent in Nintendo's handheld sales as every other attempt at competing with them in that space. If Sony decides not to follow up with it, the difference will pretty much be unnoticeable.
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Topic: Handhelds: Is Sony's loss Nintendo's gain?
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