@Grumblevolcano They could get away with $200 and break even or at a small profit. Besides, they didn't say that the NX wouldn't be sold at a loss, they said they plan to make profit from day 1. There's a difference. Selling the hardware at a loss then making profit overall from software still counts as making profit from day 1.
@rallydefault The reason people are up in arms about the power isn't because of Nintendo's first party game line up, it is because the very fact that this could very well signal another system without real third party support - and that does matter. Even if Nintendo fans only buy the console for the first party lineup, in order to attract any new customers, Nintendo must have third party support.
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@Therad well...yeah. the system is a dead platform. Move on.
If the NX is exactly as the rumours say, then probably. But it is probably more to it. For one thing, it would make sense to make more form factors, it would also make sense if they start shorter cycles. Getting nvidia on consoles are huge, even if it isn't their most powerful chipset, they are still very good.
No, of course nobody ever said "massive" boost, but it is well within the realm of possibility that, with some of the tweaks being mentioned, it will end up somewhere between current Wii U and Xbox One power, leaning even a bit more toward the Xbox One end. And that's completely discounting the possibility of its being X2. If it is, then they may be able to get pretty darn close.
But let's be realistic: As Nintendo gamers, why are we getting so up in arms about the power of the thing? Nintendo has been making spectacular, award-winning games on the 3DS for crying out loud, and that thing's operating with who-knows-what processing and negative 15 gigaflops (sorry - just trying to instill some perspective here). The bottom line is that tech has evolved, and pretty much no matter what Nintendo chooses it will have more than enough power to handle running the games they make.
The obvious kerfluffle is the 3rd parties. So yea, that's the discussion to have.
I am really not really talking about power, I am talking price/performance. Which is the real issue people are having. If wii u had been $200 at launch, not many would have complained. If it is an handheld with x1 it will have a screen and a large battery, so the price goes up without performance do. And then it becomes a question if the added portability is worth the loss in power.
For example, for some PC gamers the added portability is such a big deal that they buy gaming laptops instead of standalone computers. Laptops are always less capable, but there is still a market for them. But here is the thing, that market is smaller. And it doesn't compete with the smartphone, which might be a concern.
This is kind of confusing but I saw here: http://www.liovinci.com/i/nx that it was leaked that the NX would be portable, but you still need to attach it to a TV so it seems like it's just like what regular consoles are today. What do you guys think?
I imagine instead of docking the tablet onto the box they'll connect via special cable. I mean otherwise how are you supposed to play Wii U, 3DS, and DS VC on TV?
I imagine instead of docking the tablet onto the box they'll connect via special cable. I mean otherwise how are you supposed to play Wii U, 3DS, and DS VC on TV?
You remaster the Wii U games (Most can skip the seconds screen with some tweaks) and skip the others?
@Therad I think the retail one will us a wireless thumbstick to plug into the box. I think detaching pads are for portability and optional touch controls.
Gotcha. Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see what price they go for. A potential "win" here in terms of price may come from the storage issue: If the handheld itself is going to need HDD space for game saves, an OS, etc... well... it's going to be pretty limited just because of the lack of physical space to put an HDD in. (Solid state drives can be pretty tiny, but if they would go that direction...ha... yea, the price would be crazy.) So we may end up saving big bucks on the price of the machine if the handheld itself doesn't include a heck of a lot of storage. It may just end up being a "system" SD card (I think they make them all the way up to 2TB now, but lord knows the price on that).
To me these are the potential problems:
-3rd parry support is likely going to be both different from the other and rather limited. I'm expecting lots of late ports.
-battery life could suffer due to high power.
-Can be really expensive depending on final spec.
-seems a bit complicated honestly.
-Storage could get expensive. The unit will likely have internal memory but not a lot, even then some of it is gonna go to the system software. It is unlikely that the tablet with have a hard drive dock on itself and if Nintendo is recommending 32gb carts for retail games you realistically need a microsd with AT LEAST 128gb if you want to be all digital.
Yea, I see the storage as being an interesting issue that we haven't really touched on. Realistically, they're probably going to go with an SD card, just like the 3DS. And as we know, SD cards have come a long way and can store a ton of data these days, but I'm not sure what the price would look like. But it could turn out to really save money in calculating the price of the system.
But how about this in terms of 3rd party (not my feelings, mind you, just a talking point): The 3DS, as we know, is a unique little bugger but pretty darn low-powered. But it doesn't really have issues getting 3rd-party support. 3rd parties sometimes even develop entire 3DS-exclusive versions of their bigger games. Part of this is because it has a nice, healthy install base, which is something we certainly wish for the NX. But assuming that DOES happen, who says the NX can't enjoy the same steady 3rd-party support, even if the power isn't quite there?
Storage could get expensive. The unit will likely have internal memory but not a lot, even then some of it is gonna go to the system software. It is unlikely that the tablet with have a hard drive dock on itself and if Nintendo is recommending 32gb carts for retail games you realistically need a microsd with AT LEAST 128gb if you want to be all digital.
I can see 128GB of internal storage being a real possibility. Forget the price scaling from companies like Apple and Samsung, flash doesn't cost that much. At one of my local PC retailers they have a 128GB SD card for $99AU, SSD for $59AU and thumb drive at $69AU. Retail. They can absorb those costs.
I'd also imagine that the dock does a little bit more than just power the thing and pass through a signal. They could easily have USB support and therefore external HDD support. Possibly a bit of storage of its own. Maybe the dock even has a small ARM chip in it so it can download updates for when you bring the main system back. So there are ways they could do this.
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I think it's cool that N is still pushing local multiplayer. I remember Iwata citing Turkle's book "Alone Together", and how gadgets leave us socially isolated. Console gaming is usually a solitary affair. That you can actually play with someone physically next to you bucks the trend. And now multiplayer will be possible on a portable game machine: that's a first.
Multiplayer on a portable? That also means you can share with non-Nintendo gamers. Bring your NX with you on the bus, on the plane, or when you visit. Remember those silly Wii TV commercials with those guys going door to door saying "Wii would like to play". With the NX, that will be you, infiltrating non-Nintendo territory.
Speaking of infiltrating, the NX can sell as a second console. N cannot compete directly against the PS4/XB1 as a primary home console, but they can offer a cheap second machine for those who want to play on the road. And look: you can play on your TV at home too! This will prime the market for an NX home console. NX: sneaking into enemy territory through the back door, in your (oversized) pocket.
To be cheap, I don't expect the docking station to be anything more than a dumb power/HDMI pass-through. But even then, it could be a performance booster. How? Mobile devices normally don't run at maximum performance since that will suck the battery dry. They normally do things like adaptively lowering the CPU clock rate. But if docking the NX signals the game that it can run at full throttle, it could have a big impact. There was a rumor that NX platform games are supposed to adapt to different hardware capabilities. I thought this referred to different NX products, but this could easily apply to different power profiles.
If Nvidia also give Nintendo access to their GeForce now service, Nintendo would get access to a streaming service like PlayStation now. And one of the rumours was about streaming from other places. So it might not be to unlikely, since that would boost the service for Nvidia while at the same time expand NX library with little effort.
And if they add PC-streaming, you can buy xbox one games on your win10 machine and play them on NX.
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