Topic: Why do people think the NX is coming so soon?

Lots of people and critics bag on Nintendo for not modernizing, and personally I don't mind that, however ever since Nintendo said that the NX is actually a thing people started with the doom and gloom naysaying. Another thing that is quite strange to me is how much people think the NX is coming in 2016 or 2017. I personally think we might hear a few details next year, but no official announcement until maybe 2018. Does anyone agree with me or do you think the Wii U will die prematurely?

Because there's nothing else to talk about, I guess.

Because the Wii U is doomed and Nintendo has obviously given up on it.

Why do people automatically think that it has to be a console rather than a handheld, which is far mor likely given the age of the 3DS.

You know...I could say the same for you.

Haha! In all seriousness though I'd say the chances of NX being a replacement for the 3DS is more likely than the Wii U being dropped early.

Anyways from what I heard those were actually the reasons, no clue why...but they keep saying that they're abandoning the Wii U and all that, and they're not releasing anything big for it anytime soon. Guess Splatoon isn't big. lol

Because people have a very simple, shortsighted view of the industry.

To a lot of people, the combination of the Wii U's poor sales, the delay of Zelda, and the announcement of the NX this year means that the NX is the Wii U's successor coming to bail out Nintendo in 2016.

People don't think about:
-The fact that the Wii U is increasing in it's sales, and riding out the system until sales decline could be great way to make sure Nintendo gets the most out of their investment developing the system.
-The fact that a new home console takes years to develop, and may not be ready by 2016
-That the 3DS's sales have been steadily shrinking, and support for the system from Nintendo is fading.
-The fact that every 3D Zelda game has been delayed at least once.
-And I'm sure there are more that I'm short sighted of.

They also assume "announce" means "release", Nintendo is just announcing the NX next year.

It would be strange if Nintendo was to announce the codename of a new product more than two years out. It would be strange if Nintendo, having announced the NX first, released something that wasn't the NX first. It would also be strange if Nintendo did retire the Wii U next year (less strange if it was late 2017). And thirdly I think it would be pretty strange if Nintendo kept the 3DS going beyond late 2017.

So either Nintendo is being strange.... or the NX is a portable that launches before late 2017

Well, everybody already knew they were working on a new system. All three big console makers are always working on their next system in some way, after all.

The only difference with the NX is that Nintendo mentioned it themselves. Which aparently defaults to "coming soon".

Edit: also, it must be a home console because portables don't count, obviously.

True. However, part of me thinks that the reason why they confirmed the NX so soon was so people wouldn't freak out and assume Nintendo is going third party and exiting the dedicated hardware market. I dunno, they announced it the same day they announced they were making mobile games.. Maybe I'm wrong but I still have a feeling Nintendo announced the NX two years early just to avoid the mobile/third party "backlash" if you will.

The official NX reveal won't be until next year so they could release it in 2017 just like they revealed the 3DS in 2010 but it release until 2011. A 2017 release would make sense whether it be a portable or home console.

Nintendo was willing to cut off the Gamecube pretty early. That was under Iwata. And the Wii U is doing worse.

Plus, the Wii U is, in a lot of ways, a let down to a lot of Nintendo fans. The games, although high in quality, lack the sense of scale of the games of Nintendo's previous consoles. The Wii, although not very well liked for many reasons, at least had Zelda: Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, Mario Galaxy, and Super Paper Mario. The first 3 could be argued to be the best in the series.

Even ignoring opinions, there's one thing that is undeniable: Nintendo has been unable to capitalize on the strength of the Gamepad in their game design when it comes to larger-scale games. I like off-TV play as much as the next guy, but I can't help but think that it just doesn't offer enough value on its own. The thing is, although Pikmin 3 and Mario 3D World do use the thing, they don't use it in a way that feels at all crucial to the experience, and it could be easily replicated with a pause menu in Pikmin 3 and a button press in Mario 3D World.

People call the Wii gimmicky. Although there's truth in that, at the very least it was a gimmick justified through the games it was made for. Metroid and Zelda in particular where enhanced in ways that make it really hard to go back to the older ones because of the IR functionality. Those aren't B-grade minigame collections. They are full scale games that are enhanced through the change in control method.

What I'm getting at is that people want to play Nintendo's games, but they don't want to shelve out that much money for a system that isn't getting much support at all, and that doesn't really need the thing that is making it so pricey: the Gamepad. Plus, there's some pretty high port potential with all of the 1st party effort on the system (minus minigame collections), as well as for the Platinum Games titles that were published by Nintendo.

tl;dr People like Nintendo games, but don't like the Wii U. Might as well hope that Nintendo caters to their desires sooner than later. Plus, the Wii U is failing miserably..

You lost me at this point because the Gamecube wasn't cut off early. I had to dig around the forums for it but I made this chart when the NX was first announced. Worth noting that I made 2017 = early 2017 purely because it seemed ridiculous to push the 3DS out for longer than that. Especially given that new releases in the 3DS library are looking pretty thin.

As I've said from the start. Late 2017? I could see them replacing the Wii U that early but not much earlier. More likely though they'll do it sometime in 2018 if they're going by their standard timeline. Such a timeframe would also give them a fair amount of clear air, they wouldn't be trying to compete against the PS4 at that stage. People forget that replacing a platform isn't just about whether or not the platform you have is selling. It's about whether or not you can offer something that people will be willing to buy. Against the PS4? They'd basically be wasting all their time.

The 3DS is a different story. I can't see them not replacing it before the end of 2017. I could see them potentially replacing it as early as late 2016. The only other platform they've had out for much longer than that is the original Gameboy. I don't think the 3DS is anywhere near in the same league as the original Gameboy. Plus there's the fact that they're effectively the only viable contender in that market right now. What other portable gaming consoles are on the market right now? The 3DS is the only one that's doing well. Nintendo has plenty of clear air.

So given Nintendo are talking about the NX as the next platform? I don't see any reason to think it's not a portable.

"doom and gloom"

People getting hyped about NX does not equal doom or gloom-- it means people still have hope in Nintendo to release something they want to buy.

Nintendo's average timeline is 5 years. The Wii was kept on the market too long. If the NX launches next fall, the WiiU will have had four years. There is nothing unusual at all in launching next fall considering the WiiU's performance and total abandonment of major third party releases.

The question that needs to be asked is why do WiiU owners assume Nintendo should continue supporting the hardware for periods equal to or longer than N64 or GameCube?

Why do non Wii U owners insist on Nintendo releasing a new console sooner than necessary?

If Nintendo dump the WiiU early in favour of a new console, I see it as being just a quick fix to the current problems.
Nintendo could quite easily bring out new hardware with specs similar or just ahead of the XBONE/PS4 consoles, which would be a clean slate for Nintendo to start again with 3rd parties. But the thing is, what's going to happen in 3 or so years when Microsoft and Sony decide to bring out their next consoles, Nintendo are going to be left with outdated hardware again.
Nintendo would do better to hold out for that bit longer and release hardware inline with the other two, and at around the same time frame.
One thing we all know for sure is that Nintendo will do as they see fit, and stick two fingers to common sense and what we want as gamers.

I don't think it IS coming in 2016, but I think it's a real possibility. 5 years is standard for a Nintendo console, so 2017 isn't crazy to start out with. Now consider how badly the Wii U has bombed and you can understand them wanting to move on. I'm positive the Wii U project is losing them money still. They have all these big successes over the last 12 months like MK8, Smash, Pokemon, amiibo and the new 3DS, but their profit is pretty small. There was no big stock buy out to explain it this time either. A lot of the Wii U games they put out likely aren't turning profit. 3 years of bad sales is too much to turn around. It's got that stigma of a flopped console and that will never change. A bad first six months, even a year, and you can turn it around, but not 3 holiday periods that have all failed to deliver.

Why do so many people think Nintendo's worst selling console will have the longest lifespan of any of it's hardware?

Well the onus of proof should be on the ones assuming the unprecedented. If the NX is not a portable then the 3DS will have the longest lifespan of any Nintendo product since the original Gameboy. On the other side of things the Wii U will have had the shortest lifespan of any non-portable console. Shorter than the Gamecube, shorter than the N64. It makes far more sense for them to release a new portable first and a home console a year or so after. Then it would be the same life for the Wii U as the GC and would still put the 3DS' lifespan closer to the DS than GBA but without going into original GB territory

.... you also have to explain why the new releases for the 3DS are slowing down. Something which has happened for every other console in history and tends to suggest that their development teams are moving over. Or you could flat out ignore that fact and pretend it isn't so.