Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

Yeah, 3rd parties are going to abandon Nintendo anyway so unless they only release 1 console, the same droughts nonsense will repeat itself.

And if they didn't have a lot of 3rd party support, having all their teams work on one device would fix the drought problem.

@Grumblevolcano @Lzeon I don't think having one console would necessarily fix the drought problems like everyone seems to think. Just because the home and handheld teams have been merged doesn't necessarily mean more games.

I don't think we will see one or more games every month, I still expect long periods of time between many of the games just like it is now.

Well keeping them split will make things even worse, so what's the advantage of having two systems?

Then why hire new people for separate handheld and home console branches all of a sudden? The question should be; Why should they only release one system? There are benefits to both, but combining them means that you'll end up with a system that has the disadvantages of both systems. Seeing how the Wii U didn't sell well, I'd argue that it's a risky move to place all your bets on one console. If that console doesn't succeed, then there's nothing to fall back on.

Releasing two consoles, or two separate form factors that share a big chunk of their library, but can have exclusive content will solve both problems. Software is shared where necessary—that means games like Mario Kart, Smash, Animal Crossing, your 2D platformers and whatnot will appear on both systems. That alone would already free a huge amount of time for Nintendo. Two separate systems means also more options for other developers to develop for. Lastly, if once fails, there's always the other console to fall back on.

@Octane With the hybrid strategy you can fall back if it fails too. Just remove the things that make it work as a home console and drop the price to handheld levels. Put an exclusive Pokemon main series game on it and there you have it.

@Grumblevolcano What makes it work as a home console then? The high-end chips in the system? I don't think they can drop that. That ''dock'' can be dropped, but that was supposedly nothing more than just a dock. That isn't going to alter the price at all. The idea behind a hybrid is that it does both; two systems integrated into each other; it's difficult to remove one part without altering the entire device.

Anyway, we're pretty much at square one regarding the NX. It's a dedicated gaming device that plays video games. That's all I know at this point.

They're not going to spoil what their plans are by doing a hiring spinoff. The reason both vacancies exist is because they are one and the same position. Where I work, we do that too sometimes.

Also, business wise, you don't let momentum fall off a cliff on your main cash cow product.

Like it or not, 3ds looks a lot like something that needs replaced.

Surely those 'industry leading chips' are not industry leading anymore. That was a year ago!

My theory for a while, which I've not seen anywhere for a while, is that it is indeed a hybrid, and those tow detachable controllers can come together, when not attached to the tablet, to form one fairly 'standard' controller, when plugged into the TV.

Meanwhile, it is not too much of a stretch to imagine it capable of streaming PC games to it - as the Shield did - and while I very much doubt that it would have an Android-based OS, I wonder if it could have some kind of compatibility layer, either to allow Android games (presumably curated through Nintendo's eShop) or at least make it VERY straightforward for Android developers to transfer their games over.

A machine which has the 'serious gamer' cred of the Shield combined with exclusive Nintendo games is quite an exciting proposition. For the hardcore gamers, it is a second machine which allows extra functionality to their PC gaming rig. For Nintendo fans, it is obviously as appealing as ever. Plus the bonus of the best of the burgeoning mobile scene, without all of the shovelware.

It seems that would position Nintendo as relevant in the gaming world once again, without trying to compete with the Xbox or the Playstation (which they can't really).

With the news of Nvidia's cancellation of the Shield, this seems more credible to me than ever. Perhaps the NX is the new Shield. Perhaps the Nintendo NX is actually the NX Nintendo: Nvidia x Nintendo.

Thoughts?

Well the latest patents are pointing towards a hybrid.

@Lzeon Yup, but unless I've missed it, I've not seen anyone suggest anything about streaming from PC, Android game support, or the idea that the two parts of the controller create a single controller (as if you took the two sides of the Wii U Gamepad off, then stuck them together without a screen to create a sort of Pro Controller).

NintendoLife seems to have doubled down on the Eurogamer NX rumor by citing the discontinuation of the NVidia Shield product. On the other hand, this could also mean that NVidia is throwing in the towel on the mobile GPU business, having picked up exactly 0 real customers for their X1 and no announced wins for upcoming products. Their August 11th earnings call was notably silent on new Tegra deals, and did not cite mobile as one of their 4 areas of growth.

I think that HappyNintendoFan Twitter feed has the better of the argument so far. Nintendo was probably the last, best hope for the Tegra line. Rumors are that Nintendo is going with AMD/ARM/DMP, dumping NVidia after the latter failed to deliver (shades of 3DS). At this point, there is no longer any reason for Tegra and Shield to live. The audition has failed. Nobody wants them. Tegra is toast.

(This is in the context of mobile gaming and consumer electronics, of course. If you're auditioning for the automotive business, you would not be shipping Shield gaming gadgets)

@antonvaltaz
Of the three things you pointed out there I think one has been a huge part of the speculation. The detachable controller parts. This was a large part of the original Eurogamer rumour in the first place. The idea that after being detached they would then attach to some sort of other controller base is a fair reading of that. I happen to think that of all the detachable controller ideas having a passive component detach makes the most sense. More sense than if they were somehow stand-alone components. So you're not alone there.

On the streaming aspect I think you're right, nobody else is suggesting that. I happen to think game streaming will be a large part of gaming going forward. At this stage I don't think the NX will be a part of that. Certainly not to the NX from a competing platform. I can see maybe down the line streaming games to the NX from another Nintendo product. Or from the NX to a PC or Tablet. But I don't think we'll be playing PC games on the NX via streaming. It's technically possible and it'd be something I'd go nuts for. It's just that knowing Nintendo I just can't see Nintendo allowing it.

@cwong15
It's not just Nintendo Live it's every major gaming publication. And these are media outlets that would have talked to a lot of developers off-the-record about the NX. So for them to all at the same time just stop and say "yeah, we've heard something similar"? It's hard to believe it's anything else really.

At this point I'd argue that anyone who thinks the NX is anything but a portable of some kind? They're barking. What they speculate beyond that is all fair game. It might still be a pure portable though that's seeming less likely. It could be a hybrid of some kind. It might be a tablet style device with detachable parts it could still be more along the shape of the 3DS with some kind of Circle Pad Pro deal going on.

But one thing we can almost guarantee is that it's not a home console powered by AMD. The idea that it's DMP again is pretty laughable. And ARM? Tegra would be ARM based so....

On the speculation about detachable controllers:

@skywake well, the alternative rumors call for a ARM/DMP portable and an x86/AMD home console, though the relative timing for each is unclear. It's perfectly possible that the hybrid is the portable version of the NX. I'm perfectly open to the possibility of a hybrid like they predicted, but it may not be NVidia.

Personally, I think Nintendo will introduce a portable of some sort, so I'm not disagreeing with you now. It's been my prediction even when you rather strongly disagreed with me. I just have some doubts about whether NVidia's Tegra will be delivering the guts for that portable, especially since their Tegra emphasis seems to be automotive rather than mobile/gaming.

That's pretty cool. But I can't imagine how that would work with Just Dance, one of the few announced games for the NX.

I thought the NX would be an ARM based portable from the start. I was thinking mid-to-low-tier portable specs like Nintendo has always done. There was a brief period where I brought into the AMD speculation when Zelda was announced for NX. Because at that point the portable theories didn't really add up. In order for Zelda:BotW to work on a portable it would have have Tegra X1 or better. And hopefully better because of the thermal/power limits. We're talking high end, industry leading specs. I never thought that they'd actually do it.....

They have Just Dance on iOS and Android. Those games can use the Camera. I'd also imagine that it wouldn't be too hard at all for the NX to support legacy controllers. Bluetooth is almost a given. So odds are you'll be able to use WiiMotes and Pro Controllers on the NX. Not a stretch to think that Just Dance would continue to support WiiMotes.

I know many don't want the Eurogamer leak to be true, but it is the most credible yet. It has been reinforced by other media outlets, which makes it very likely to be true. They might not have every detail right, or the whole picture, but that doesn't mean they are wrong.

Having x86/amd and arm/DMP doesn't make any sense in the context of the only real quotes we have had from Nintendo. And why would they go for a DMP GPU, when the mobile market is flooded with efficient GPUs? And why not simplify their toolset by having arm on both consoles?

Another thing, we have had rumours about NX having Android and rumours about streaming games from other sources. Both of those rumours fits the functionality of the shield platform. It isn't a stretch to think the shield console was in the first batch of dev kits and people (especially non developers) got confused about that.

Maybe Nintendo threatened Nvidia to bad circumstances if they hinted at the NX at all so Nvidia focused on the automobile side of Tegra to avoid that. From the latest info, the only thing that could suggest NX is the ditching of the new Shield console but that could also be interpreted as leaving consoles completely.