Topic: Idea For Discussion: Wii U Portable Version?(Nothing To DO With NX)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Nomad

Sega Nomad was basically a Sega Genesis you can take on the go with you. It failed, but it seemed like a pretty good idea.

Do you think Nintendo could make a portable version on the Wii U you could take on the go with you? I think that'd be pretty cool. Although there are 3 problems: battery life, price, and internal storage. But if its possible i think it would be really cool, like giving Wii u a new job of sorts. I understand its very unlikely, and again there are those three problems, but I think it'd be cool to discuss. Thoughts?

I think the tech is at the level at where I think we could see a WiiU portable. The system's GPU is around the same power level as a Nvidia 200, I think the phones are getting to the point where they can easily do graphics that look better than what is possible with that card.

@Smash_kirby: true. And Wii U's motherboard is pretty small as it. I think realistically a Wii U portable would have to be $250 unless they sell it at a loss.and the battery life would have to be at least 2ds numbers.

A Wii U's power consumption is about that of a laptop, and it already comes with its own screen. Just add a battery and you're all set.

For all you know, that could be what the NX is: a 3DS successor with Wii U class hardware.

I liked the idea, (could be possible to help Wii U sales abit.) but im not sure if Nintendo well do it for the Wii U, Maybe the NX?

It's an interesting idea, but I don't think I'll buy it. My biggest issue is that motion controls would be tricky. With Splatoon, I love using the motion controls to aim, but this would be frustrating if the screen moved as well.

Plus, price is another concern. The Wii U is more powerful than the 3DS, so I'd expect the price of a portable version to be more expensive. I think the price needs to be cheap to appeal to the casual market, but I don't see how they can make it cheap enough.

The NX is a different matter though. I can't wait to see what they do with that.

@crimsontadpoles: yeah realistically itd be about $250. And again its not a brand new next gen portable. It's literally the entire wii U shrunk into a DS xl or gamepad type portable. Not meant to replace 3ds or Wii U.

But yeah its probably not happening.

That'd work for the Off-TV games, but anything that uses the GamePad in a meaningful way would be neutered.

And if we're just going to nix the dual-screen nature of it all, then we're really just asking for a PSVita with Nintendo games and branding.

Hey, a $250 portable wii u is a pretty great deal to me. I definitely wouldn't mind it.

@Operative: Plus I figure if it happened you could use it to control a console Wii U. That combined with basically being able to play Splatoon, Smash Wii U, 3D World, MK8, Captain Toad, Bayo2, etc on the go would be pretty sweet imo.

I don't know what the point would be. If they're going to all that trouble why not just make it its own thing rather than limit themselves to Wii U? Make an entirely new portable from the ground up.

For a start with a portable you don't need to support HD resolution screens. With a 4" screen even 480p is pretty damn sharp. With a smaller screen they don't need as fast a GPU or as much RAM both of which would lower the cost. And with a portable they can't really use disks of any kind which means the games can't be quite as big as some are on the Wii U. With all of those changes its no-longer a portable Wii U so at that point why not just go with a different architecture entirely?

@skywake: alright...even though that's not what the topic is about. At all.

@WebHead: How so? The topic is literally about a portable version of the Wii U. I'm saying that I don't see the point of it. The Wii U has 25GB disks, 32GB flash, HDD expansion and a 1080p screen. If they're going to make a portable they're not going to have those things if they want to keep it at a reasonable price. And on a screen that small they're not going to make much of a difference anyway. They're far better off making something entirely new for the portable space.

IF they could somehow fit all the internal workings of the Wii U console itself into the Wii U gamepad (would likely have to be a bit of a bulkier gamepad, unless our nano technology has suddenly advanced significantly, I imagine the dis drive wouldn't be included to save space, but this means you'd have to download digital copies only for the system), and then instead just have a hub that connects to your TV that you can optionally sync the gamepad to for playing games on the TV (especially necessary for titles that require 2 screens for proper gameplay), I'd be all for such an idea.

And I do think that in another decade or so, such an idea would be completely feasible. But as it stands now, there would be no way to comfortably get all the internal components of the Wii U into the Gamepad, without making it a bulky as all hell device. Our nanotechnology simply isn't there yet. But yeah, I could see such a thing happening in time for sure.

I love how people think you can just make the motherboard smaller, and put it into a DS frame a viola! A portable Wii U for $250! For one, the IBM PPC CPU, a portable would A)need a brand-new expensive ultra-low-power CPU (made by IBM with the same specs and everything) that doesn't need any sort of cooling or B)a relatively giant fan to cool the CPU with the appropriate vents. That's just issues with the CPU never mind the GPU problems, the Wii U uses a Nintendo-AMD co-developed gpu, based of off the Radeon R700, AMD doesn't make mobile GPUs that could perform anywhere close to that well, again, without cooling.