The human body does not work at 60 Hz. Athletes have to make predictions and make a statistical analysis of a situation and decide how to act prior to the moment. Controller latency is far more important to performance than 60 FPS.
@Grandpa_Pixel I am already there. I will buy a PS4 when it's last generation.I see no point in paying a premium to play right away, especially with Sony and Microsoft in a hurry to make their own consoles obsolete.
By that logic there isn't a market to support dedicated game devices. It would be important to note that smart devices are to portable gaming as Steam is to console gaming.
Besides, Nintendo hasn't said that the NX is a dedicated game device. In fact they have made statements that lean in quite the opposite direction. NX might be a Nintenphone.
They need the support of developers so whatever they do it needs to be a tandem action with developers. I think they should send launch developers out to do tours with the product. Give away a few for free at impromptu NX parties, maybe do it at popular pokestops, and let people develop their own personal opinions about the product then share their excitement online. Nintendo and the developers need to have an organic hype train that skips the publications and starts with the public.
Or if they announce an exclusive monster hunter and pokemon crossover game with features than only work on NX...
I honestly hope they don't. I would like one console to place game design before immersion. Bethesda has been great at making audio visual experiences that are otherwise flawed from both a design and coding perspective. Bethesda and Crytek can stick to high-end gaming. VR at 4k with 120 FPS doesn't leave any room for a developer to think about design and interactivity.
Nintendo consoles require developers to know how to design a game, but they don't require devs to invest their entire budget in asset creation. Capcom's Deep Down is the smoke alarm. The industry is about to split into two. You can't make an Elder Scrolls on a Monster Hunter budget, but when it comes to profit why would you?
@DarkKirby Software sells the hardware. Bethesda is a developer/ publisher that can choose to put their weight behind hardware and help make it successful. They can purchase development kits already.
What I would say isn't fair is a company being vague about whether or not they will support a console. Say no early and set expectations. Right now it sounds like they are afraid that NX might be the future of the industry and they don't know how they are going to transition.
Good job Nintendolife! I am glad that this is properly reported and there wasn't any confusion between rumor and fact. This is believable fiction, but I doubt all if the information is there. I also wonder if Nvidia would really make a chip for a direct competitor. I have a Razer Forge and Nvidia has been very careful about ensuring they have exclusive content. If Nintendo used a Nvidia chipsets it would be really easy to write native code for both consoles which is really the only leg-up Nvidia has now.
This is the most probable path. I wouldn't doubt NX will be closer to a smartphone, a tablet, and a set-top box using server architecture to unite the devices as clients under one host. Nintendo Cross will be surprisingly successful because of a Nintendo online service that gives users, most importantly quality of life users, the ability to have lifestyle devices that don't just talk to each other, they come together with devices that other members in the household use under a central home server centered around the TV. Nintenphones under one Nintenhome.
I am guessing NX stands for Nintendo Cross. It will be a family of devices all tied together by some distribution service. Like Apple and Steam had a baby. I originally thought Nintendo would make a portable tied to a ARM server for the home, giving players ownership of multiplayer servers in a way. Now I am thinking this is way more ambitious.
As a US customer, this is pretty good. When you frame it in the context of Splatoon and Windwaker being cheaper than retail, new or secondhand, it is a bit surprising. I just sold my copy of Splatoon for 45 USD on ebay. If you own a physical copy of Splatoon you could probably buy the digital copy and sell the hard copy for a higher price on Ebay.
Oh, also I think Nintendo is killing this E3. Zelda is the single most ambitious game at E3 from what I have seen so far, especially since it was actual gameplay and not a commercial.
Steep seems like Ubisoft putting a lot of money into a niche enthusiasts game. It must have VR integration. Otherwise it is Gran Turismo with a smaller built-in fan base.
@Damo Referencing a Twitter feed is like referencing Wikipedia. If it doesn't come directly from Nintendo it is speculation.
In that context they could be talking about developing VR cellphone apps. Phones provide them with a installed hardware userbase. It is more likely that Nintendo would consider this of any option.
Why didn't Nintendolife contact Nintendo to confirm instead of relying on and building upon speculation. Also why didn't that article cite the articles predicting VR was going to be a 120 billion dollar industry? All of the market analysis I have read and heard points to a majority of VR industry growth is to be in technical training simulations and medical treatment. These two articles together seem to be scratching up Nintendo news articles wherever it can be found because my guess is Nintendo is being tight lipped.
@Damo unless Digitimes is being fed bad information on purpose. Nintendo has been very careful about saying anything about the NX. One of the things Nintendo did say is that VR isn't something worth supporting in the near future. The cost itself of VR, both in hardware and development, would make a strong argument against VR implementation.
I would be willing to guess that Nintendo is moving toward a streaming and distribution system connected to a family of devices. The stockholders aren't worried about Nintendo competing in a dwindling console market (overall hardware sales are down) and instead competing with smart devices. Nintendo is positioning themselves to be the new Apple I bet.
I think the next system will bring 3rd party publishers back to local multiplayer. Splitscreen local is a different beast altogether. It is inconvenient because of the cost of extra controllers for the consumer and resource management for the developer. It also decreases sales (we had 8 friends and two xboxs and two copies of halo instead of 8 of each.)
Nintendo's all, but confirmed hybrid approach solves the resource restriction by creating a hub that can lend resources to the portable devices. Publishers will be more open to making a local multiplayer ad-hoc option for portables as they can still sell independent copies to each player. It also solves the extra cost issue for the player by merging the value of a system and controller and helping justify the cost.
Splitscreen multiplayer is becoming a niche product that Razer is trying to carve out for micro-consoles and I think they will be successful. My friends and I are around 30 and we just had this discussion on Saturday while playing Splatoon. While discussing how petty people can be during WOW raids we came around to discussing how our decreased patience for bad attitudes has severely decreased the value of an online option, which quickly turned to praising the decision of Nintendo to not include voice chat for Splatoon.
Nintendo's approach to multiplayer has been cautious and calculated which has served them far better than people realize. Online multiplayer is a service, not a good. When purchasing a game it is important that players realize that they are paying for a service that is not guaranteed to be available for any amount of time or with any specific quality. The MMO space is already feeling the impact of a consumer base that does not trust a service enough to pay for mere access to that service.
Nintendo has been rather noble in their quest to avoid what is essentially a microtransaction business plan with map packs. I hope the gaming community at large learns to appreciate the value of local multiplayer. I know that Timesplitters fans do:)
Nice. For anyone that questions why Wii U and not NX, with this not on NX and the next Dragon Quest being on NX, I would guess it is because Dragon Quest fits better on the NX for some reason. Maybe the NX will not have analog joysticks. Maybe they aren't close enough to producing the NX for Bandai Namco to wait. Maybe they are already making Pokken Tournament 2 and saving it for NX. Maybe they want to take advantage of the Amiibo craze before Nintendo "fixes" the supply problem. There are a few reasons at least.
No one invests in a failing product. You may have noticed that the used games market on Wii U isn't very robust. Unless it is Ubisoft making too many copies, it takes a longer time for used game prices to drop below 55 USD on the Wii U than on the competition. That combined with a smaller library of competing games makes the Wii U an excellent platform for smaller publishers to use. The NX also might be too successful to try to introduce an honestly niche product like Pokken Tournament. If not for Hyrule Warriors having little to compete with my personal friends would not have ever purchased a Dynasty Warriors game.
@TheRealThanos It was an interesting article from Gamingbolt. There were some issues with the writer's technical knowledge. Playstation 3 for example is not PowerPC, but rather a modified and proprietary RISC architecture that uses a PowerPC chip.
Also their reference regarding Iwata denying a hybrid system you will notice that he doesn't deny it at all.
"In this perspective, while we are only going to be able to start this with the next system, it will become important for us to accurately take advantage of what we have done with the Wii U architecture. It of course does not mean that we are going to use exactly the same architecture as Wii U, but we are going to create a system that can absorb the Wii U architecture adequately." Architecture at the base level is all about how a system's pieces communicate. The most important part about the Wii U architecture that they would need to "absorb" is the two screen functionality with a touch screen controller. Essentially to minimize porting a game the hardware on two platforms have to mimic each other's user input and output. A lot of programmers ran into this issue when porting their Google Play games to the Ouya because the user input was different (controller vs. capacitive touch) and output was different (horizontal vs upright).
"When this happens, home consoles and handheld devices will no longer be completely different, and they will become like brothers in a family of systems. Still, I am not sure if the form factor (the size and configuration of the hardware) will be integrated. In contrast, the number of form factors might increase."
This is misleading because Nintendo has never limited itself when it comes to form factor. The 3DS had a completely different form factor than the 2DS and a slightly different form factor than 3DSXL.
"Currently, we can only provide two form factors because if we had three or four different architectures, we would face serious shortages of software on every platform." This actually supports a hybrid system. A hybrid system is a system that shares architecture so not only can they easily port software, but also easily communicate between each device simply. If I have an A-button input on my portable and my home console has an address for A-button communications it is possible to not only use my portable as a controller, but also stream my games from my console to my portable.
"To cite a specific case, Apple is able to release smart devices with various form factors one after another because there is one way of programming adopted by all platforms. Apple has a common platform called iOS. Another example is Android. Though there are various models, Android does not face software shortages because there is one common way of programming on the Android platform that works with various models. The point is, Nintendo platforms should be like those two examples. Whether we will ultimately need just one device will be determined by what consumers demand in the future, and that is not something we know at the moment. However, we are hoping to change and correct the situation in which we develop games for different platforms individually and sometimes disappoint consumers with game shortages as we attempt to move from one platform to another, and we believe that we will be able to deliver tangible results in the future."
This wraps it up in a nice, vague bow. He pretty much says that he wants the systems to share the same OS and the same input/output schemes. However he doesn't elaborate on the issue of hardware differences between different Android and Apple devices, with many apps suffering from bugs and crashes post-release because of hardware differences. What is more vague is the fact that he leaves the possibility of only a single device depending on consumer demand.
The only thing we can draw from Iwata is that they want, essentially, an OS that acts like middleware. They want an OS that makes porting to multiple devices very easy. IOS is actually driven by a modified version of the C-programming language and it makes porting more difficult than it needs to be. That approach would alienate third parties. Middleware support has really helped support software catalogs across both IOS and Android, but the drawback is middleware is limiting and inefficient because it is an additional layer of code over two other layers of code.
Despite all of the things that Iwata said and these publications report, Nintendo never does what is expected. Market analysts are usually wrong and rumor mills more so when it comes to The Big N. I look back to what they have done rather than what they say they will do. They have been working on a portable meets console solution for too long to ditch it. They are diversifying their portfolio with Quality of Life products which they have built a knack at doing with Wii and Wii U Fit, essentially removing those peripherals from their core gaming demographic. They guard licensing with Disney like tenacity. The Gameboy in all it's iterations is the best selling console in history, with Tetris being the best selling game partially because it was bundled with the original Gameboy.
If business sense prevails Nintendo will make a gaming dedicated handheld that pairs with a television solution. It will be multiplayer focused and will integrate a social platform. It will deviate from Sony and Xbox because Nintendo probably feels that the traditional 16 button input with two analog sticks is too complicated for a large market. The architecture may be a modified version of ARM made specifically to work well with their OS. AMD will not be making the chip for the handheld because Nintendo will not need a large amount of graphic processing on a small handheld screen. AMD might make a GPU for their TV solution. Nintendo will probably release several cross-licensed titles at launch because they are baiting third-parties to make exclusive software for Nintendo products with Nintendo licences. They will also have a lot of prominent indie devs talking about the accessibility of developing for the NX during the next E3. The largest draw will be pricing. It has to be cheap for Nintendo to sell and cheaper for Nintendo to make. I am going to guess it will release with a price of about 120 Euro/$135 US. Because it is a portable they will stay below the $150.00 mark. They might sell a TV solution for $200 to $250 USD or $230 Euro, with portables doubling as controllers to make local multiplayer seem more accessible in price. They ultimately aim for the portable, TV solution, and Quality of Life products to create a line of products to fit every member of the family.
@TheRealThanos hahaha, the emoji is apparently the "see no evil" emoji. I used it as there isn't an appropriate "wait and see" emoji.
The AMD making a Steambox chip is my assumption based on the fact that Steam OS is actually a modified Linux OS and not Windows. Nvidia favors Windows and Direct X technology while AMD tries to straddle the fence. With the failures of several attempts at a modular Steambox I would expect that Gabe Newell is going to have someone (probably AMD) make a closed-box solution. It is a long shot, but if AMD won the Steam Wars I think it would have a larger impact than winning Nintendo.
As far as Gamefly I just thought it made sense because AMD is gambling big on a major ARM-based server chip they say will be ready in 2017. Server chips aren't a home consumer product. Without a corporate account ready to consume a large amount of servers I can't imagine AMD spending so much money on something it doesn't seem there is a lot of demand for. I know a lot of Information Managers and most companies haven't made the switch to blade servers, so a new technology offering convenience for cost seems odd without a client ready to buy a bulk of them.
That being said, maybe AMD is make an ARM Server that will be cheap enough to make a home server solution? Maybe the two halves of NX will be an AMD-made portable with an AMD home server? That might be interesting.
@TheRealThanos Sorry about the wall of text. Still have not adapted to the way the forum formats the comments.
The Android thing makes me think Nintendo is leaning toward ARM because Nintendo specifically said "We are not using Android" which is obvious because Android is an OS on top of ARM. However, Nintendo didn't take it a step further and say "We are not using ARM and so Android is out." That makes me think Nintendo is using ARM for at least the portable side.
For third parties ARM is a better solution because it is cheaper to make games for. Rockstar and EA already have a catalog of original and ported games for ARM architecture that are doing quite well without the investment of a X86 quality game.
Dolphin is interesting, but you must remember that people invest time to port games to that type of solution. While looking for a reason that Nintendo didn't port Pokemon titles to the Wii U I found an article addressing the cost of porting. It is easy to forget in the odd world of free roms and mods that someone is actually doing the work of making those items for free. Apparently porting can take a lot of time for a studio and in Game Freaks' case Nintendo would prefer they use those resources to make new Pokemon games instead of porting old ones.
ARM is actually stronger than X86. Processing power per nanometer in ARM is ridiculously larger in comparison. The problem is that it has been a rather expensive technology until the past year or so. NVIDIA's K1 technology is running 1080p games with advanced shader technology with proprietary texture compression software to improve loading times. A lot of engineers disagreed with Sony's move to X86 because of how dated and limited the technology is even compared to Sony's Cell Processor architecture.
As far as AMD's claims I like to remind people that it is in AMD's best interest to use Nintendo's silence to build hype about their portfolio. You may have noticed in that article that AMD is claiming that they have two major design contracts. AMD also has an ARM server chip coming out in 2017 which would more likely be used for cloud computing solutions. If they have big contracts it is more likely that they are going to be with Steam and Gamefly as Steam needs a Linux-friendly solution for Steam OS (which AMD is) and Gamefly needs a budget solution for their game streaming servers.
Nintendo would be foolish to use AMD for a portable anyway because AMD is years behind Qualcomm and NVIDIA in solving the problems of portability. In fact AMD is generally late to the ARM architecture side of things and in R&D terms a few months are enough to lose a patent and years of development. The AMD rumor all-around doesn't make sense because it also puts the breaks on releasing in China because under the current law the product still has to be produced in China to be sold in China. Nintendo had an easy-in with Foxconn made chipsets and I doubt they are going to let that go. In fact it would seem that Nintendo's general console release schedule change with Wii U almost perfectly aligned Nintendo's next console release with China's new policy on gaming devices. They look like they will be in China with a new console before Sony or Microsoft.
As for a hybrid of X86 and ARM I doubt that will happen just because it requires porting for developers. Nintendo will want developers to be able to use the portable for Off-TV play and the big screen for high resolution or possibly second screen uses. I think Nintendo is going to capitalize on Sony's failed attempt to do the "Take the game on the road" thing that they did with the Vita. Part of the Vita's problem was the cost of porting a PS3 game to the Vita. They expected the consumer to bear the burden of the cost by purchasing two full-price versions, one for console and one for portable, and $100.00 on one game was just too much. Nintendo will solve that by having a single architecture across the portable and the home console so one game can be used on both systems.
I think Nintendo has been building up to this so I am pretty confident we will at least see a hybrid system. They were working on it with the Gamecube, then they developed motion controls with the Wii, then they merged a motion-controlled portable with a console with the Wii U. The past three generations of Nintendo consoles are like public release R&D systems. A big part of it was waiting for the technology to come down in price so they could execute this without taking a risk with a loss leader.
Either way I guarantee that the NX will change the entire way people think about the entire industry. Recently the writers of popular publications have been butchering the business and engineering aspects of game consoles and have in turn hurt the industry by making it murky. Honestly I can't think of a single industry that applies the term "generation" over an entire industry. In the auto industry (and just about every other one) the term generation is used to describe a significant change in a model of a product that continues carrying the same badge. For example the Volvo S40 had a first generation through 2004 and a second generation through 2012, but that doesn't mean that BMW also released a new M1 at the same times. It is ridiculous to do that with gaming and I appreciate Nintendo for deviating from the expectations of the lazy and uneducated game journal media. It is almost as if every Senior Editor for these VG media sites happened upon an episode of "Top Gear" and thought "oh, that is how you run a consumer report journal". I digress, but I think it is time Nintendo, if not someone else, took the industry and shook the nonsense out of it with a message of "this is how you make a console for people that love to play games." I am hoping the NX will be that shake. If it is it will worth the wait.
@TheRealThanos I agree that the NX project is an ecosystem of products, much like Apple has done. I am not discounting the possibility of Nintendo smartphones in the future. However, I don't think they will use X86-64 architecture. X-86 is an extremely power hungry architecture. They have come about as far as they can with removing the south bridge and adding cache to the CPU. Outside of that issue X-86 is also a poor choice for communication between devices. X-86 was built to be a modular architecture, but that is about it. The move to X86 for Playstation was really about pleasing the high-end consumers while making it profitable for publishers. They have already spent 60 million on the new Metal Gear. Imagine trying to sell a venture capitalist the idea of "I want to spend twice the budget of the original Toy Story to make a product for a market of about half of the size of the family movie market." Microsoft and Sony were forced into X86 because rising costs demanded publishers found a way to maximize the potential market for investors. Now publishers can publish on Steam, Xbox1, and PS4 with minimal additional investment in porting. They can also inflate their potential market numbers with investors. Obviously the smart investor knows that users are shared between the 3 devices in most cases and the market is roughly the same size. Initial hardware sales for Sony might seem promising now but it will slow down because content production will slow down. Konami is about to exit the stage, Sega's strongest sales were in mobile games, THQ folded, Deep Silver now only has Saint's Row performing, Focus Home is making smaller games, City Interactive is taking a beating, Crytek's Warface is under performing, Capcom is struggling to make something other than Street Fighter, which leaves Ubisoft, EA, Activision/Blizzard, 2K, and Warner Brothers to carry the financial burden of content production for PS4 and Xbox1. If I am an investor I see more potential gain in Mobile Software IPO than there is in existing console publishers. Even some developers are seeing better sales on Google Play than they are on X86 systems. The developer of the game Sproggiewood sold more copies on Google Play in one week than he sold for the months his game was on Steam. When I see Sony brag about Towerfall (a game written for Android) and Kickstarter campaigns I see a company searching for content wherever they can find it. It is clever, but often clever is what is left when the best options are off the table. From a sales point of view, when Playstation did so well growing with PS1 and PS2 on a RISC instruction set, then Apple repeated that success with RISC on a smartphone, and tablet and smart device gaming is competing (in some opinions winning) for highest installed user base for gaming devices then the obvious move for Nintendo is to stick with RISC, but probably move to ARM or ARM-compatible and away from PowerPC. Backwards compatibility between X86 and RISC requires emulation, which you may think is an option, but emulation is a time-consuming proposition. Honestly I think backwards compatibility is dead. Gamestop's opening of retro game sales is a sign that the market has reached the age of nostalgia. The youth don't get it and the elders will pay for it. Emulation is a middle-ground that will have limited uses. It is like companies that sell Kit Cars, build-a-car kits that are emulations of classic cars. It is a niche business that focuses on providing product substitution for products that have an increasingly low supply. If the cost of buying a working SNES and Final Fantasy 3 cartridge rise too much some people may be willing to pay for an emulation, but more people would be willing to by a remake that is made from the ground-up with prettier graphics or more features. The others that can afford it will spring for the value of nostalgia that the authentic product provides. Without the worry of backwards compatibility and with the market supporting mobile (just the very mention of it raises their stock prices) then the logical business move for Nintendo is creating a gaming platform that works with mobile as directly as possible which means they cannot move to X86. X86 to mobile doesn't just require porting, it often requires writing entirely new code to handle new user input. X-86 is also a headache when trying to make a portable solution because it is incredibly inefficient. Nintendo will probably try to make an ARM-compatible system that gives the developers the option of using traditional controls, touch controls, or motion controls. Foxconn doesn't make AMD-propriety systems and I doubt they would make the investment to tool their shops to make them. If Nintendo uses them like it is rumored then Nintendo is sticking to RISC, but probably not PowerPC. Another important point to remember is that Nintendo talking to third-parties about NX at E3 could be about Nintendo moving to ARM. If I am Nintendo I am talking to EA about their mobile business and their ROI in mobile vs. their ROI in large ticket products like console games. Console makers are like suppliers for developers. They supply them with a piece that they need to make their games. The change in relationship has changed the way they have to approach third-parties. In engineering you have to approach a client and either give them a product that competes with an existing product at a lower-cost, a product that gives them extra performance that they need for higher-end products, or you offer them a product that fills a gap in cost vs. performance. Right now there is a huge gap in the gaming market between smartdevice gaming cost and console gaming performance. Indie developers and publishers prefer the low-cost of making smartdevice games, but their current client base doesn't take smartdevice gaming seriously. The PC crowd is the luxury number crowd and they will spend a ridiculously large amount of money for needlessly large performance numbers and they aren't going to deviate from that view. Console gamers, however, are more casual and will buy entertainment before performance. Nintendo is going to try to supply a product to developers that helps them bridge that gap and move their casual console players into the low-cost realm of ARM-based gaming. They aren't using Android, but ARM can easily be confused with Android so I am sure there was validity to that rumor as well.
Nintendo did the right thing. Publishing personal feelings about Co-workers is just not professional. That with the fact that he has an English degree and not at least a marketing degree is enough for future employers not to hire him for a marketing position. It is a bit embarrassing that Nintendo was ever paying him. They are just putting people that lack credibility out there to interact with consumers, so I am not surprised that this happens. It seems to be a huge problem in the industry as a whole. Marketing departments in gaming generally seem to not understand how to communicate with their consumers without a screen.
@TheRealThanos I also hope they turn it around. Fantasy Flight games are doing well enough keeping my friends around, but I would really like something that requires less space and set-up time. I am hoping NX starts with a reasonably priced portable that will double as controllers for a later home console solution. Gaming is in desperate need of a hardware ecosystem. If all else fails Razer is supposed to give me a deal on the Forge because I have an Ouya, but I would much rather have a solution that comes with Pokemon.
@TheRealThanos Ahhhh, yes that is understandable. When considering market trends with the then established demographic I can see the Wii as a fluke. The Wii almost begs to be redefined as a different type of product all together apart from video game consoles. The design emulated the experience a person has with games at an amusement park with your motions being restricted to above the waist, but it's electronic nature expanded content and convenience while reducing price. It really was more electronic amusement than it was a video game console. The PS3 and Xbox360 were stuck as video game consoles in public perception even after the introductions of Kinect and Move partially due to the price of the systems and partially due to their initial dedication to their established demographic. I think the Wii U is under performing because it was Nintendo trying to usher their new electronic amusement consumers into the video game world. I don't think you could reproduce the Wii success without expanding on the peripherals in a non-traditional direction. The Gamepad is too much of a "hey I am a video game console" message. A headset isn't really socially acceptable enough for the Wii consumers either, but maybe a holographic system like the ones they have in Japan instead of a TV would test well with groups. Either way I think Nintendo was intentionally on to something with the Wii, they just had a hard time abandoning their video game roots and took a step back with the Wii U. The data was there to support the Wii, it was just abstract and buried. When boardwalks were popular in the US in 80s and 70s the largest attractions where the rides, then the amusement games, and then the arcade. Disney probably makes more money today in theme park goods and services than they do in video games and arcades. People like feeling that they are being social and active. If they can do that in the comfort of their own home, especially with alcohol or their children, then a quality product providing that will sell. Bag-O by the way is a backyard amusement that involves throwing a small bean bag into a hole from a distance. It, like the Wii was once, is now at almost every large gathering I go to and has a propensity to be enjoyed in tandem with alcohol. Fortunately it doesn't end in broken televisions.
@TheRealThanos. Hahahaha, indeed it will be hard to repeat, but I wouldn't call it a fluke. It hit all the points that we have so far been able to identify as increasing dopamine and serotonin responses across a majority of people. Simple muscle movement controls combined with games that encouraged positive and structured group activity, often with mechanics that raised heart rate. In the states the Wii was replaced with a game we call Bag-O or Cornhole. It is similar to how my parents played horseshoes or bocce ball. It is a gaming concept that is reproduced successfully, albeit in different mediums. If Nintendo could make a Wii that you could use in the sunshine that would hit the endorphin trifecta.
@TheRealThanos. Don't forget that gaming happens outside of a TV. I would say that a sports enthusiasts, like people that do fantasy/simulated sports management, are hardcore gamers. I think hardcore gamers are those that look at a game analytically instead of as just a form of entertainment. I work and am friends with a lot of analytical gamers and we spend half our time discussing the balance and design of everything from Splatoon to Baseball. Casual gamers are in it for entertainment only, right? They are also in every type of game. The people playing mini-golf and not keeping score are casual gamers and consume games as a source of entertainment, not for competition. Skyrim is a casual game because it doesn't demand that you practice to accomplish. It may not have to be mature, but a hardcore gamer invests time because hardcore games require time. Hardcore gamers are a different type of consumer in general. My favorite example of hardcore gamers are the Games Workshop guys. No matter how acceptable wizards, vampires, or WOW becomes those guys at the table playing Warhammer 40k arguing about mechanics are as hardcore as it gets.
Gamepad in game design terms was the only innovation. It created the opportunity for asymmetric local multiplayer and for 4 dimensional single-player. The issue is that kind of game design takes serious chops and all the game design professionals left video games for board games. The people that are left are great at rehashing old designs or limited real-world simulations, but don't have the ability to innovate game design. Nintendo Land and Scribblenauts were amazing games, but no one is buying them because the vast majority of video game consumers aren't gamers, they are escapists. They want their interactive entertainment experiences to be immersive enough to remove them from reality. The popularity of VR solutions reflects that attitude. NX might be popular if it is a low msrp per unit product environment that is geared toward games as a group activity. If it tries the high-end graphic powerhouse console approach with "life style" feature they will just split the existing market and while better than Wii U sales it will not offer the success of Wii.
@InterwebUser I am into winning is all. If it were pure ground cover I might go with an Aerospray, but combat is the core of Splatoon. If you are splat, not only do you loose time waiting for respawn, you loose time travelling through your defensive zone before you can start painting. Once there you are at the front line and likely to be splat again if you don't have a bubble ready. I have tested every weapon in game and in the test yard. There are serious imbalances that become obvious if you put time in with every weapon. Rollers for example don't just cover ground well, but they have a one hit splat and they have longer range than aeros, splattershot, or blasters and while they don't have a bubbler they do have the kraken.
@InterwebUser True, but splattershot Jr. doesn't compete in paint coverage with the rollers or even the dual squelcher. The limited range and reduced mobility while firing actual results in the user wasting paint on an already painted area. If your mobility increased like it does for rollers during use it might be reasonable, but because it does not it actually leaves the player at a disadvantage. Even in something like turf wars the limited combat ability reduces the effectiveness because it is easier for the competition to suppress you in the neutral zone and a win only requires majority, not all of the map. If Nintendo made it take 1.5 times the amount of paint to cover opposing paint than it does fresh ground then some weapons may have more value, but as it is A ranked players use splattershots, rollers, gals, and squelcher more than anything else.
I am torn on Splatoon in general. I like how the painting mechanic gives the game the same feel as hockey with control of the neutral zone and trap defense. On the other hand the actual weapon mechanics are incredibly broken. The poor snipers have to deal with lasers giving away their position and where they are aiming, not to mention they are worthless for targeting squid. The smg like guns have such a large spread and such a short distance. They aren't great for combat and their limited range is a big negative when trying to gain ground in neutral territory. There are a lot of weapons that are a waste of memory and make the game feel more like an rpg than a skill shooter. I have considered trading it a few times as I have completed the fantastic single player campaign and now all I have to do is grind through ranked, which is ok except I am getting really bored of having to use a splattershot to be competitive.
@MajinSoul. I think there is supposed to be Cross-platform support for multiplayer. Wii U version is more likely to work without bugs. PC optimization will most likely be half-hearted. That and you will be dealing with FTP publishers like Nexon. You can't beat the price though.
Japanese Amazon reviews are favorable so far. A lot of 4 and 5 star review. The negative reviews seem to lean toward playing FTP PC instead of full purchase. Sounds like if you Like Ninja Gaiden you will like this. Ninja Gaiden is too much game for most NA gamers to enjoy so it will probably be a small release here. Too bad because it sounds like people enjoy multiplayer.
How did Nintendolife miss the most important part of this story? Siliconera reported today that the Wii U version has sold more copies than Elliot Quest has sold on Steam. It blows the whole "low installed user base" argument right out of the water. It is one of the few financial success stories for 3rd party Nintendo devs and it isn't on a Nintendo news site. A shame that.
No Nintendo NX release. Slightly Mad is ruining their reputation with horrible PR. They say it's the Wii U, but the Steam reviews mention that the game runs poorly on AMD GPU systems. Outside of that, their insistence that they can't make a worthy game without downgrading graphics reflects the other Steam reviews stating that the actual game is a sub part racing simulation. They can't compete with Codemasters in the game play, Sony in content, and they can't keep a decent account of their own skill level. They are just as bad as 22cans as far as I can see.
As professional journalists and not professional game designers I would probably move away from being critics and work towards reporting. Spending time defending Unseen64's reporting while questioning the ability of Nintendolife to present a review well enough the first time around makes me wonder what the point of this site is. With a reasonably loyal community I think Nintendolife is a good site, but I would hope that someone representing Nintendolife would want this site to be more than an RSS feed. Maybe recruit someone that studied Game Theory and do articles about how games we play are just giant equations or something to give the site a little more Ethos when making any claims.
@StarDust4Ever It is refreshing to have a real, well crafted reply. I would love the solution of having a portable with plug-in hdmi features. Native backwards compatibility is probably not part of NX, but Nintendo might use the PlayStation approach and create a cloud based VC program that allows players to use Nintendo points or codes to access classics. It was odd that they supported with the Wii U because they dropped Blu Ray with the explanation that consumers already had a Blu Ray player. Most Wii U owners own a Wii. Bundling Wii U with a Wii Mini to give consumers a Wii U, Wii, and Gamecube solution would have been interesting.
As for the NX I hope they use proprietary game storage solutions that are a little more revolutionary than the Wii U discs. There was a certain value in cartridge design that was lost with discs. I see the resurgence of cartridge design in thumb drives, and if there was a way for them to make the games for a portable become a part of the aesthic design of the system then the value of buying a limited edition run of a game would be more appealing to consumers.
I agree that the ease of development and publishing invites bad software onto the market. The quest for affordable and effective curation of digital marketplaces is definitely a valuable one. Ouya actually had done this quite well with their O-rank system. I am shocked Nintendo didn't buy them for their software alone. I am excited to see how NX will change the approach to games. Developers need a break from chasing the luxury numbers of FPS and Resolution to get back to fundamental game design. I think NX will attempt to provide that solution. I just don't see a game market surviving if they spend anymore resources on making the grain of the wood on a coffee table sharper and more dynamic, unless they raise the price of retail games.
@electrolite77 That is according to Kaz Hirai. The PS4 just had it's first model revision. Unless distribution or base cost for the parts fell considerably I wouldn't think that his definition of profitable is substantial.substantial prior to this new model. You can sell it for more than it costs to produce and then lose money during distribution. Kaz was careful with his wording and compared it to their PS3 business model which wasn't much of an achievement for them. Sony is doing much better this time around as far as hardware goes, but it is a lot of power being used. Long term things will be different I think. All of that heat without sufficient cooling is going to take it's toll. They are essentially gaming PCs without gaming PC cooling systems. top that with AMD made and early adopters are probably going to be experiencing hardware issues soon now that they are out of warranty periods. Intel may be slower for the cost, but Intel needs to make products for business which is why Nintendo uses them I would bet. Wii U is a superior system when it comes down to efficiency and efficiency in engineering terms usually means the system will last longer.
You also have to remember that until there is a firm announcement from Nintendo it benefits AMD to create unfounded speculation about their prospective growth.
I doubt Nintendo will use x86 because a hybrid system design with the limited x86 architecture would be a rough engineering task and it would discourage developers from hybrid development ala Vita meets PS4. It will be ARM to appease the tablet/cell phone devs and create better hybrid integration. That being said I doubt they are using Intel, but I also doubt AMD. Hisilicon or Qualcomm is more likely. I would say Nvidia, but Nvidia doesn't have any interest in sharing the K1. You also have to remember that in order to sell th NX in China that have to meet the domestic production requirement and I doubt Foxconn has the ability to produce custom AMD technology.
@Peach64 it's important to remember that PS4 and XBOX1 are being sold at a loss while Nintendo profits from every Wii U sold. The Dreamcast was also sold at a loss which is why Sega had to can it. It is easy to forget that because Sony and Microsoft spin it like console sales will cause profit, but sometimes a loss leader is just a loss.
An important thing to note is Splatoon is an exclusive title and out performing multi-platform releases. I would like to see sales for individual platform releases. The lower development costs of not porting the title, not to mention the huge loses WB is taking because of the Batman PC issues, would lead me to believe that Nintendo is making a larger profit than any other publisher this month besides 2K, maybe.
This is a rather rough review of a game that seems to run and play fairly well in the video. It is amazing that Valhalla was able to get that performance from UE3 on what is essentially a Macbook. If anyone tried to get Borderlands to run on a Mac compared to PC then you know how poorly optimized the engine is for PowerPC architecture. The graphics are on the higher end of last gen. It's not Uncharted, but I find that a good thing because a 10 hour action platformer that is more casual than Flappybird isn't worth $60. If I want amazing visuals I will watch a movie. Saying this was at home on SD is a low blow. The textures are higher than Saints Row 2 or Mercenaries 2 and are on part with Dragon's Dogma without the annoying model issues. Framerate issues aren't anything I haven't dealt with when playing other UE3 games. For some reason Explosions and fast movement make UE3 chug in anything that isn't a traditional Microsoft PC. All in all the game reminds me of Dark Sector, which wasn't incredibly well received despite being a decent game. For some reason I feel that if the game was "open-world" or had rpg elements then the review would be more generous because Western gamers seem to prefer those mechanics. I would be willing to bet that opinions will change when Multiplayer is released. Western players have quite an affair with competitive multiplayer games. They are willing to forgive the weakest single player experience if multiplayer delivers cheap thrills, even if they are horribly imbalanced and expensive DLC driven experiences.
@BLPs I figured Nintendo was either dodging a feminist uproar or creating a false rumor to find their leak. I also think that at this point that this was a leak finding mission and Unseen 64 has some way or another lost their source.
@Madadam81 Marketing is the largest cost a publisher takes on, but print and distribution are by far the smallest investment. Devil's Third isn't going to get a huge marketing campaign starting now. With NoJ and NoE still backing it isn't a loss cutting move. Fiscally it doesn't make sense. Not to mention the DLC profits they are cutting themselves out of. Even Forbes has a hard time understanding why they wouldn't just make it a DL only title in the NA region. This is a PR move if it is true.
It also just occurred to me that NoA could be trying to duck "feminists" from starting some NoA hates women campaign. That is actually the more likely reason if they don't publish. I bet game play is fantastic, but their PR team is killing it before it is released especially because Nintendo had their hands in the development piece. That is why NoJ and NoE aren't backing down.
Knowing that euro and Japanese publications gave Ninja Gaiden 3 decent scores while US publications gave it weak scores I can see why it might be considered to be a prospective clunker. That being said it still doesn't make fiscal sense to cut themselves out of a larger profit margin if they already spent the development cash. Activision releases garbage all the time so I don't see anythung supporting the idea that releasing a stinker hurts a publishers sales, especially for a console exclusive, and more so when you are NoA and you defend Metroid:FF and Star Fox as if public perception didn't matter at all. Reggie loves insulting his consumer base 16 hours a day so why wouldn't he continue to do so if it meant more money? The only way that this rumor is true is if NoA was offered money almost equal to their development investment for a Third Party to publish. If Euro zone is still NoE and Japan is NoJ then I don't see Xseed (they import Japanese market titles to NA, not NA market titles to NA), or Deep Silver for that matter picking up the tab. Who would pay for those rights unless it gets them Valhalla as an exclusive developer is really the weak part of this rumor. Unless the game has a strong multiplayer section in which case I could see Activision or Ubisoft picking it up strictly for future DLC sales profit.
That is bad information all around. Development is the largest investment. This is a western market product. The voice work is in English. NoA would not lose the cost of development by not shipping it in the market it was made for. It just doesn't make financial sense. If NoA is worried about their family image on the other hand I could see Reggie lining up a 3rd party to publish it, but letting a 3rd party take the largest part of the sales pie when Nintendo fronted development capital, and a large amount at that, makes no sense at all. I am sure Nintendo isn't keen on people leaking news and at this point is feeding bad information to discredit the rumor mill.
PS4 and XBOX 1 users will skip it purely because it was originally a Wii U game and they will see it as incredibly inferior without any consideration given to the actual game. I thought it had a refreshing take, the 28 Days Later of zombie games. Although if given the choice between Dying Light and Zombi I wouldn't consider Zombi at all. I would love to see it fail so Ubi can stop blaming install base for failure instead of not fully investing talent into a new IP. if anything the title ZombiU tells me they had an decent idea and instead of building a franchise they built and tried to sell an exercise in Wii U development. It reminds me a lot of Little Deviants for Vita in that it was a title that was seemingly designed as a demonstration of how hardware features could be used, but fell short of delivering an experience that felt like a cohesive design.
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Re: Poll: Exceptional Graphics or 60fps, Which is More Important for the NX Generation?
I would like to put a nail in the 60 FPS coffin. http://www.athleticarcade.com/athletics/reactiontime/
The human body does not work at 60 Hz. Athletes have to make predictions and make a statistical analysis of a situation and decide how to act prior to the moment. Controller latency is far more important to performance than 60 FPS.
Re: Lifetime American Hardware Stats Show The Size Of Nintendo's Task With NX
@Grandpa_Pixel I am already there. I will buy a PS4 when it's last generation.I see no point in paying a premium to play right away, especially with Sony and Microsoft in a hurry to make their own consoles obsolete.
Re: Lifetime American Hardware Stats Show The Size Of Nintendo's Task With NX
By that logic there isn't a market to support dedicated game devices. It would be important to note that smart devices are to portable gaming as Steam is to console gaming.
Besides, Nintendo hasn't said that the NX is a dedicated game device. In fact they have made statements that lean in quite the opposite direction. NX might be a Nintenphone.
Re: Talking Point: What Approach Should Nintendo Take With Its NX Reveal?
They need the support of developers so whatever they do it needs to be a tandem action with developers. I think they should send launch developers out to do tours with the product. Give away a few for free at impromptu NX parties, maybe do it at popular pokestops, and let people develop their own personal opinions about the product then share their excitement online. Nintendo and the developers need to have an organic hype train that skips the publications and starts with the public.
Or if they announce an exclusive monster hunter and pokemon crossover game with features than only work on NX...
Re: 3DS Claims Top Spot in July NPD US Results, Helped by Pokémon and Monster Hunter Generations
Deep Down Capcom knows Monster Hunter on Nintendo is the only franchise they need. NX will launch with a Monster Hunter game.
Re: Bethesda Doesn't Rule Out Nintendo NX Support, But "It's Too Early to Say"
I honestly hope they don't. I would like one console to place game design before immersion. Bethesda has been great at making audio visual experiences that are otherwise flawed from both a design and coding perspective. Bethesda and Crytek can stick to high-end gaming. VR at 4k with 120 FPS doesn't leave any room for a developer to think about design and interactivity.
Nintendo consoles require developers to know how to design a game, but they don't require devs to invest their entire budget in asset creation. Capcom's Deep Down is the smoke alarm. The industry is about to split into two. You can't make an Elder Scrolls on a Monster Hunter budget, but when it comes to profit why would you?
Re: Bethesda Doesn't Rule Out Nintendo NX Support, But "It's Too Early to Say"
@DarkKirby Software sells the hardware. Bethesda is a developer/ publisher that can choose to put their weight behind hardware and help make it successful. They can purchase development kits already.
What I would say isn't fair is a company being vague about whether or not they will support a console. Say no early and set expectations. Right now it sounds like they are afraid that NX might be the future of the industry and they don't know how they are going to transition.
Re: Multiple Sources Outline a Portable NX With Detachable Controllers, Including a 'Base Station' for TV
Good job Nintendolife! I am glad that this is properly reported and there wasn't any confusion between rumor and fact. This is believable fiction, but I doubt all if the information is there. I also wonder if Nvidia would really make a chip for a direct competitor. I have a Razer Forge and Nvidia has been very careful about ensuring they have exclusive content. If Nintendo used a Nvidia chipsets it would be really easy to write native code for both consoles which is really the only leg-up Nvidia has now.
Re: Editorial: Nintendo NX in Multiple Form Factors Could Shake Up the Video Game Industry
This is the most probable path. I wouldn't doubt NX will be closer to a smartphone, a tablet, and a set-top box using server architecture to unite the devices as clients under one host. Nintendo Cross will be surprisingly successful because of a Nintendo online service that gives users, most importantly quality of life users, the ability to have lifestyle devices that don't just talk to each other, they come together with devices that other members in the household use under a central home server centered around the TV. Nintenphones under one Nintenhome.
Re: Editorial: Nintendo NX in Multiple Form Factors Could Shake Up the Video Game Industry
@crimsontadpoles The smaller display actually cuts resource demand quite a bit. Most Wii U games could run on the Vita now.
Re: Nintendo NX Has A Core Idea Which Doesn't Just "Follow Advancements In Technology", Claims Miyamoto
I am guessing NX stands for Nintendo Cross. It will be a family of devices all tied together by some distribution service. Like Apple and Steam had a baby. I originally thought Nintendo would make a portable tied to a ARM server for the home, giving players ownership of multiplayer servers in a way. Now I am thinking this is way more ambitious.
Re: Nintendo Unveils Massive E3 eShop Sale in North America
As a US customer, this is pretty good. When you frame it in the context of Splatoon and Windwaker being cheaper than retail, new or secondhand, it is a bit surprising. I just sold my copy of Splatoon for 45 USD on ebay. If you own a physical copy of Splatoon you could probably buy the digital copy and sell the hard copy for a higher price on Ebay.
Oh, also I think Nintendo is killing this E3. Zelda is the single most ambitious game at E3 from what I have seen so far, especially since it was actual gameplay and not a commercial.
Re: Live Blog: See Special Guests from Nintendo Appear on YouTube Live at E3
Steep seems like Ubisoft putting a lot of money into a niche enthusiasts game. It must have VR integration. Otherwise it is Gran Turismo with a smaller built-in fan base.
Re: Nintendo NX Production Reportedly Pushed Back To 2017 To Incorporate Virtual Reality
@Damo Referencing a Twitter feed is like referencing Wikipedia. If it doesn't come directly from Nintendo it is speculation.
In that context they could be talking about developing VR cellphone apps. Phones provide them with a installed hardware userbase. It is more likely that Nintendo would consider this of any option.
Why didn't Nintendolife contact Nintendo to confirm instead of relying on and building upon speculation. Also why didn't that article cite the articles predicting VR was going to be a 120 billion dollar industry? All of the market analysis I have read and heard points to a majority of VR industry growth is to be in technical training simulations and medical treatment. These two articles together seem to be scratching up Nintendo news articles wherever it can be found because my guess is Nintendo is being tight lipped.
Re: Nintendo NX Production Reportedly Pushed Back To 2017 To Incorporate Virtual Reality
@joedick That was both incredibly polite and astute.
Re: Nintendo NX Production Reportedly Pushed Back To 2017 To Incorporate Virtual Reality
@Damo unless Digitimes is being fed bad information on purpose. Nintendo has been very careful about saying anything about the NX. One of the things Nintendo did say is that VR isn't something worth supporting in the near future. The cost itself of VR, both in hardware and development, would make a strong argument against VR implementation.
I would be willing to guess that Nintendo is moving toward a streaming and distribution system connected to a family of devices. The stockholders aren't worried about Nintendo competing in a dwindling console market (overall hardware sales are down) and instead competing with smart devices. Nintendo is positioning themselves to be the new Apple I bet.
Re: Talking Point: Online Gaming Can't Recreate the Unique Fun of Local Multiplayer, Yet It's Dominant
I think the next system will bring 3rd party publishers back to local multiplayer. Splitscreen local is a different beast altogether. It is inconvenient because of the cost of extra controllers for the consumer and resource management for the developer. It also decreases sales (we had 8 friends and two xboxs and two copies of halo instead of 8 of each.)
Nintendo's all, but confirmed hybrid approach solves the resource restriction by creating a hub that can lend resources to the portable devices. Publishers will be more open to making a local multiplayer ad-hoc option for portables as they can still sell independent copies to each player. It also solves the extra cost issue for the player by merging the value of a system and controller and helping justify the cost.
Splitscreen multiplayer is becoming a niche product that Razer is trying to carve out for micro-consoles and I think they will be successful. My friends and I are around 30 and we just had this discussion on Saturday while playing Splatoon. While discussing how petty people can be during WOW raids we came around to discussing how our decreased patience for bad attitudes has severely decreased the value of an online option, which quickly turned to praising the decision of Nintendo to not include voice chat for Splatoon.
Nintendo's approach to multiplayer has been cautious and calculated which has served them far better than people realize. Online multiplayer is a service, not a good. When purchasing a game it is important that players realize that they are paying for a service that is not guaranteed to be available for any amount of time or with any specific quality. The MMO space is already feeling the impact of a consumer base that does not trust a service enough to pay for mere access to that service.
Nintendo has been rather noble in their quest to avoid what is essentially a microtransaction business plan with map packs. I hope the gaming community at large learns to appreciate the value of local multiplayer. I know that Timesplitters fans do:)
Re: Pokémon Brawler Pokkén Tournament Coming To Wii U Early Next Year
Nice. For anyone that questions why Wii U and not NX, with this not on NX and the next Dragon Quest being on NX, I would guess it is because Dragon Quest fits better on the NX for some reason. Maybe the NX will not have analog joysticks. Maybe they aren't close enough to producing the NX for Bandai Namco to wait. Maybe they are already making Pokken Tournament 2 and saving it for NX. Maybe they want to take advantage of the Amiibo craze before Nintendo "fixes" the supply problem. There are a few reasons at least.
No one invests in a failing product. You may have noticed that the used games market on Wii U isn't very robust. Unless it is Ubisoft making too many copies, it takes a longer time for used game prices to drop below 55 USD on the Wii U than on the competition. That combined with a smaller library of competing games makes the Wii U an excellent platform for smaller publishers to use. The NX also might be too successful to try to introduce an honestly niche product like Pokken Tournament. If not for Hyrule Warriors having little to compete with my personal friends would not have ever purchased a Dynasty Warriors game.
Re: Nintendo: Wii U GamePad Is The Only Real Innovation This Console Cycle, But We Didn't Showcase It Well Enough
@TheRealThanos It was an interesting article from Gamingbolt. There were some issues with the writer's technical knowledge. Playstation 3 for example is not PowerPC, but rather a modified and proprietary RISC architecture that uses a PowerPC chip.
Also their reference regarding Iwata denying a hybrid system you will notice that he doesn't deny it at all.
"In this perspective, while we are only going to be able to start this with the next system, it will become important for us to accurately take advantage of what we have done with the Wii U architecture. It of course does not mean that we are going to use exactly the same architecture as Wii U, but we are going to create a system that can absorb the Wii U architecture adequately." Architecture at the base level is all about how a system's pieces communicate. The most important part about the Wii U architecture that they would need to "absorb" is the two screen functionality with a touch screen controller. Essentially to minimize porting a game the hardware on two platforms have to mimic each other's user input and output. A lot of programmers ran into this issue when porting their Google Play games to the Ouya because the user input was different (controller vs. capacitive touch) and output was different (horizontal vs upright).
"When this happens, home consoles and handheld devices will no longer be completely different, and they will become like brothers in a family of systems.
Still, I am not sure if the form factor (the size and configuration of the hardware) will be integrated. In contrast, the number of form factors might increase."
This is misleading because Nintendo has never limited itself when it comes to form factor. The 3DS had a completely different form factor than the 2DS and a slightly different form factor than 3DSXL.
"Currently, we can only provide two form factors because if we had three or four different architectures, we would face serious shortages of software on every platform." This actually supports a hybrid system. A hybrid system is a system that shares architecture so not only can they easily port software, but also easily communicate between each device simply. If I have an A-button input on my portable and my home console has an address for A-button communications it is possible to not only use my portable as a controller, but also stream my games from my console to my portable.
"To cite a specific case, Apple is able to release smart devices with various form factors one after another because there is one way of programming adopted by all platforms. Apple has a common platform called iOS. Another example is Android. Though there are various models, Android does not face software shortages because there is one common way of programming on the Android platform that works with various models. The point is, Nintendo platforms should be like those two examples. Whether we will ultimately need just one device will be determined by what consumers demand in the future, and that is not something we know at the moment. However, we are hoping to change and correct the situation in which we develop games for different platforms individually and sometimes disappoint consumers with game shortages as we attempt to move from one platform to another, and we believe that we will be able to deliver tangible results in the future."
This wraps it up in a nice, vague bow. He pretty much says that he wants the systems to share the same OS and the same input/output schemes. However he doesn't elaborate on the issue of hardware differences between different Android and Apple devices, with many apps suffering from bugs and crashes post-release because of hardware differences. What is more vague is the fact that he leaves the possibility of only a single device depending on consumer demand.
The only thing we can draw from Iwata is that they want, essentially, an OS that acts like middleware. They want an OS that makes porting to multiple devices very easy. IOS is actually driven by a modified version of the C-programming language and it makes porting more difficult than it needs to be. That approach would alienate third parties. Middleware support has really helped support software catalogs across both IOS and Android, but the drawback is middleware is limiting and inefficient because it is an additional layer of code over two other layers of code.
Despite all of the things that Iwata said and these publications report, Nintendo never does what is expected. Market analysts are usually wrong and rumor mills more so when it comes to The Big N. I look back to what they have done rather than what they say they will do. They have been working on a portable meets console solution for too long to ditch it. They are diversifying their portfolio with Quality of Life products which they have built a knack at doing with Wii and Wii U Fit, essentially removing those peripherals from their core gaming demographic. They guard licensing with Disney like tenacity. The Gameboy in all it's iterations is the best selling console in history, with Tetris being the best selling game partially because it was bundled with the original Gameboy.
If business sense prevails Nintendo will make a gaming dedicated handheld that pairs with a television solution. It will be multiplayer focused and will integrate a social platform. It will deviate from Sony and Xbox because Nintendo probably feels that the traditional 16 button input with two analog sticks is too complicated for a large market. The architecture may be a modified version of ARM made specifically to work well with their OS. AMD will not be making the chip for the handheld because Nintendo will not need a large amount of graphic processing on a small handheld screen. AMD might make a GPU for their TV solution. Nintendo will probably release several cross-licensed titles at launch because they are baiting third-parties to make exclusive software for Nintendo products with Nintendo licences. They will also have a lot of prominent indie devs talking about the accessibility of developing for the NX during the next E3. The largest draw will be pricing. It has to be cheap for Nintendo to sell and cheaper for Nintendo to make. I am going to guess it will release with a price of about 120 Euro/$135 US. Because it is a portable they will stay below the $150.00 mark. They might sell a TV solution for $200 to $250 USD or $230 Euro, with portables doubling as controllers to make local multiplayer seem more accessible in price. They ultimately aim for the portable, TV solution, and Quality of Life products to create a line of products to fit every member of the family.
Re: Nintendo: Wii U GamePad Is The Only Real Innovation This Console Cycle, But We Didn't Showcase It Well Enough
@TheRealThanos hahaha, the emoji is apparently the "see no evil" emoji. I used it as there isn't an appropriate "wait and see" emoji.
The AMD making a Steambox chip is my assumption based on the fact that Steam OS is actually a modified Linux OS and not Windows. Nvidia favors Windows and Direct X technology while AMD tries to straddle the fence. With the failures of several attempts at a modular Steambox I would expect that Gabe Newell is going to have someone (probably AMD) make a closed-box solution. It is a long shot, but if AMD won the Steam Wars I think it would have a larger impact than winning Nintendo.
As far as Gamefly I just thought it made sense because AMD is gambling big on a major ARM-based server chip they say will be ready in 2017. Server chips aren't a home consumer product. Without a corporate account ready to consume a large amount of servers I can't imagine AMD spending so much money on something it doesn't seem there is a lot of demand for. I know a lot of Information Managers and most companies haven't made the switch to blade servers, so a new technology offering convenience for cost seems odd without a client ready to buy a bulk of them.
That being said, maybe AMD is make an ARM Server that will be cheap enough to make a home server solution? Maybe the two halves of NX will be an AMD-made portable with an AMD home server? That might be interesting.
Re: Nintendo: Wii U GamePad Is The Only Real Innovation This Console Cycle, But We Didn't Showcase It Well Enough
@TheRealThanos Sorry about the wall of text. Still have not adapted to the way the forum formats the comments.
The Android thing makes me think Nintendo is leaning toward ARM because Nintendo specifically said "We are not using Android" which is obvious because Android is an OS on top of ARM. However, Nintendo didn't take it a step further and say "We are not using ARM and so Android is out." That makes me think Nintendo is using ARM for at least the portable side.
For third parties ARM is a better solution because it is cheaper to make games for. Rockstar and EA already have a catalog of original and ported games for ARM architecture that are doing quite well without the investment of a X86 quality game.
Dolphin is interesting, but you must remember that people invest time to port games to that type of solution. While looking for a reason that Nintendo didn't port Pokemon titles to the Wii U I found an article addressing the cost of porting. It is easy to forget in the odd world of free roms and mods that someone is actually doing the work of making those items for free. Apparently porting can take a lot of time for a studio and in Game Freaks' case Nintendo would prefer they use those resources to make new Pokemon games instead of porting old ones.
ARM is actually stronger than X86. Processing power per nanometer in ARM is ridiculously larger in comparison. The problem is that it has been a rather expensive technology until the past year or so. NVIDIA's K1 technology is running 1080p games with advanced shader technology with proprietary texture compression software to improve loading times. A lot of engineers disagreed with Sony's move to X86 because of how dated and limited the technology is even compared to Sony's Cell Processor architecture.
As far as AMD's claims I like to remind people that it is in AMD's best interest to use Nintendo's silence to build hype about their portfolio. You may have noticed in that article that AMD is claiming that they have two major design contracts. AMD also has an ARM server chip coming out in 2017 which would more likely be used for cloud computing solutions. If they have big contracts it is more likely that they are going to be with Steam and Gamefly as Steam needs a Linux-friendly solution for Steam OS (which AMD is) and Gamefly needs a budget solution for their game streaming servers.
Nintendo would be foolish to use AMD for a portable anyway because AMD is years behind Qualcomm and NVIDIA in solving the problems of portability. In fact AMD is generally late to the ARM architecture side of things and in R&D terms a few months are enough to lose a patent and years of development. The AMD rumor all-around doesn't make sense because it also puts the breaks on releasing in China because under the current law the product still has to be produced in China to be sold in China. Nintendo had an easy-in with Foxconn made chipsets and I doubt they are going to let that go. In fact it would seem that Nintendo's general console release schedule change with Wii U almost perfectly aligned Nintendo's next console release with China's new policy on gaming devices. They look like they will be in China with a new console before Sony or Microsoft.
As for a hybrid of X86 and ARM I doubt that will happen just because it requires porting for developers. Nintendo will want developers to be able to use the portable for Off-TV play and the big screen for high resolution or possibly second screen uses. I think Nintendo is going to capitalize on Sony's failed attempt to do the "Take the game on the road" thing that they did with the Vita. Part of the Vita's problem was the cost of porting a PS3 game to the Vita. They expected the consumer to bear the burden of the cost by purchasing two full-price versions, one for console and one for portable, and $100.00 on one game was just too much. Nintendo will solve that by having a single architecture across the portable and the home console so one game can be used on both systems.
I think Nintendo has been building up to this so I am pretty confident we will at least see a hybrid system. They were working on it with the Gamecube, then they developed motion controls with the Wii, then they merged a motion-controlled portable with a console with the Wii U. The past three generations of Nintendo consoles are like public release R&D systems. A big part of it was waiting for the technology to come down in price so they could execute this without taking a risk with a loss leader.
Either way I guarantee that the NX will change the entire way people think about the entire industry. Recently the writers of popular publications have been butchering the business and engineering aspects of game consoles and have in turn hurt the industry by making it murky. Honestly I can't think of a single industry that applies the term "generation" over an entire industry. In the auto industry (and just about every other one) the term generation is used to describe a significant change in a model of a product that continues carrying the same badge. For example the Volvo S40 had a first generation through 2004 and a second generation through 2012, but that doesn't mean that BMW also released a new M1 at the same times. It is ridiculous to do that with gaming and I appreciate Nintendo for deviating from the expectations of the lazy and uneducated game journal media. It is almost as if every Senior Editor for these VG media sites happened upon an episode of "Top Gear" and thought "oh, that is how you run a consumer report journal". I digress, but I think it is time Nintendo, if not someone else, took the industry and shook the nonsense out of it with a message of "this is how you make a console for people that love to play games." I am hoping the NX will be that shake. If it is it will worth the wait.
Re: Nintendo: Wii U GamePad Is The Only Real Innovation This Console Cycle, But We Didn't Showcase It Well Enough
@TheRealThanos I agree that the NX project is an ecosystem of products, much like Apple has done. I am not discounting the possibility of Nintendo smartphones in the future. However, I don't think they will use X86-64 architecture. X-86 is an extremely power hungry architecture. They have come about as far as they can with removing the south bridge and adding cache to the CPU. Outside of that issue X-86 is also a poor choice for communication between devices. X-86 was built to be a modular architecture, but that is about it.
The move to X86 for Playstation was really about pleasing the high-end consumers while making it profitable for publishers. They have already spent 60 million on the new Metal Gear. Imagine trying to sell a venture capitalist the idea of "I want to spend twice the budget of the original Toy Story to make a product for a market of about half of the size of the family movie market." Microsoft and Sony were forced into X86 because rising costs demanded publishers found a way to maximize the potential market for investors. Now publishers can publish on Steam, Xbox1, and PS4 with minimal additional investment in porting. They can also inflate their potential market numbers with investors. Obviously the smart investor knows that users are shared between the 3 devices in most cases and the market is roughly the same size. Initial hardware sales for Sony might seem promising now but it will slow down because content production will slow down. Konami is about to exit the stage, Sega's strongest sales were in mobile games, THQ folded, Deep Silver now only has Saint's Row performing, Focus Home is making smaller games, City Interactive is taking a beating, Crytek's Warface is under performing, Capcom is struggling to make something other than Street Fighter, which leaves Ubisoft, EA, Activision/Blizzard, 2K, and Warner Brothers to carry the financial burden of content production for PS4 and Xbox1. If I am an investor I see more potential gain in Mobile Software IPO than there is in existing console publishers. Even some developers are seeing better sales on Google Play than they are on X86 systems. The developer of the game Sproggiewood sold more copies on Google Play in one week than he sold for the months his game was on Steam. When I see Sony brag about Towerfall (a game written for Android) and Kickstarter campaigns I see a company searching for content wherever they can find it. It is clever, but often clever is what is left when the best options are off the table.
From a sales point of view, when Playstation did so well growing with PS1 and PS2 on a RISC instruction set, then Apple repeated that success with RISC on a smartphone, and tablet and smart device gaming is competing (in some opinions winning) for highest installed user base for gaming devices then the obvious move for Nintendo is to stick with RISC, but probably move to ARM or ARM-compatible and away from PowerPC.
Backwards compatibility between X86 and RISC requires emulation, which you may think is an option, but emulation is a time-consuming proposition. Honestly I think backwards compatibility is dead. Gamestop's opening of retro game sales is a sign that the market has reached the age of nostalgia. The youth don't get it and the elders will pay for it. Emulation is a middle-ground that will have limited uses. It is like companies that sell Kit Cars, build-a-car kits that are emulations of classic cars. It is a niche business that focuses on providing product substitution for products that have an increasingly low supply. If the cost of buying a working SNES and Final Fantasy 3 cartridge rise too much some people may be willing to pay for an emulation, but more people would be willing to by a remake that is made from the ground-up with prettier graphics or more features. The others that can afford it will spring for the value of nostalgia that the authentic product provides.
Without the worry of backwards compatibility and with the market supporting mobile (just the very mention of it raises their stock prices) then the logical business move for Nintendo is creating a gaming platform that works with mobile as directly as possible which means they cannot move to X86. X86 to mobile doesn't just require porting, it often requires writing entirely new code to handle new user input. X-86 is also a headache when trying to make a portable solution because it is incredibly inefficient.
Nintendo will probably try to make an ARM-compatible system that gives the developers the option of using traditional controls, touch controls, or motion controls. Foxconn doesn't make AMD-propriety systems and I doubt they would make the investment to tool their shops to make them. If Nintendo uses them like it is rumored then Nintendo is sticking to RISC, but probably not PowerPC.
Another important point to remember is that Nintendo talking to third-parties about NX at E3 could be about Nintendo moving to ARM. If I am Nintendo I am talking to EA about their mobile business and their ROI in mobile vs. their ROI in large ticket products like console games. Console makers are like suppliers for developers. They supply them with a piece that they need to make their games. The change in relationship has changed the way they have to approach third-parties. In engineering you have to approach a client and either give them a product that competes with an existing product at a lower-cost, a product that gives them extra performance that they need for higher-end products, or you offer them a product that fills a gap in cost vs. performance. Right now there is a huge gap in the gaming market between smartdevice gaming cost and console gaming performance. Indie developers and publishers prefer the low-cost of making smartdevice games, but their current client base doesn't take smartdevice gaming seriously. The PC crowd is the luxury number crowd and they will spend a ridiculously large amount of money for needlessly large performance numbers and they aren't going to deviate from that view. Console gamers, however, are more casual and will buy entertainment before performance. Nintendo is going to try to supply a product to developers that helps them bridge that gap and move their casual console players into the low-cost realm of ARM-based gaming. They aren't using Android, but ARM can easily be confused with Android so I am sure there was validity to that rumor as well.
Re: Talking Point: Nintendo's Dismissal of Chris Pranger Highlights Issues With Company Culture
Nintendo did the right thing. Publishing personal feelings about Co-workers is just not professional. That with the fact that he has an English degree and not at least a marketing degree is enough for future employers not to hire him for a marketing position. It is a bit embarrassing that Nintendo was ever paying him. They are just putting people that lack credibility out there to interact with consumers, so I am not surprised that this happens. It seems to be a huge problem in the industry as a whole. Marketing departments in gaming generally seem to not understand how to communicate with their consumers without a screen.
Re: Nintendo: Wii U GamePad Is The Only Real Innovation This Console Cycle, But We Didn't Showcase It Well Enough
@TheRealThanos I also hope they turn it around. Fantasy Flight games are doing well enough keeping my friends around, but I would really like something that requires less space and set-up time. I am hoping NX starts with a reasonably priced portable that will double as controllers for a later home console solution. Gaming is in desperate need of a hardware ecosystem. If all else fails Razer is supposed to give me a deal on the Forge because I have an Ouya, but I would much rather have a solution that comes with Pokemon.
Re: Nintendo: Wii U GamePad Is The Only Real Innovation This Console Cycle, But We Didn't Showcase It Well Enough
@TheRealThanos Ahhhh, yes that is understandable. When considering market trends with the then established demographic I can see the Wii as a fluke. The Wii almost begs to be redefined as a different type of product all together apart from video game consoles. The design emulated the experience a person has with games at an amusement park with your motions being restricted to above the waist, but it's electronic nature expanded content and convenience while reducing price. It really was more electronic amusement than it was a video game console. The PS3 and Xbox360 were stuck as video game consoles in public perception even after the introductions of Kinect and Move partially due to the price of the systems and partially due to their initial dedication to their established demographic. I think the Wii U is under performing because it was Nintendo trying to usher their new electronic amusement consumers into the video game world. I don't think you could reproduce the Wii success without expanding on the peripherals in a non-traditional direction. The Gamepad is too much of a "hey I am a video game console" message. A headset isn't really socially acceptable enough for the Wii consumers either, but maybe a holographic system like the ones they have in Japan instead of a TV would test well with groups. Either way I think Nintendo was intentionally on to something with the Wii, they just had a hard time abandoning their video game roots and took a step back with the Wii U. The data was there to support the Wii, it was just abstract and buried. When boardwalks were popular in the US in 80s and 70s the largest attractions where the rides, then the amusement games, and then the arcade. Disney probably makes more money today in theme park goods and services than they do in video games and arcades. People like feeling that they are being social and active. If they can do that in the comfort of their own home, especially with alcohol or their children, then a quality product providing that will sell. Bag-O by the way is a backyard amusement that involves throwing a small bean bag into a hole from a distance. It, like the Wii was once, is now at almost every large gathering I go to and has a propensity to be enjoyed in tandem with alcohol. Fortunately it doesn't end in broken televisions.
Re: Nintendo: Wii U GamePad Is The Only Real Innovation This Console Cycle, But We Didn't Showcase It Well Enough
@TheRealThanos. Hahahaha, indeed it will be hard to repeat, but I wouldn't call it a fluke. It hit all the points that we have so far been able to identify as increasing dopamine and serotonin responses across a majority of people. Simple muscle movement controls combined with games that encouraged positive and structured group activity, often with mechanics that raised heart rate. In the states the Wii was replaced with a game we call Bag-O or Cornhole. It is similar to how my parents played horseshoes or bocce ball. It is a gaming concept that is reproduced successfully, albeit in different mediums. If Nintendo could make a Wii that you could use in the sunshine that would hit the endorphin trifecta.
Re: Nintendo: Wii U GamePad Is The Only Real Innovation This Console Cycle, But We Didn't Showcase It Well Enough
@TheRealThanos. Don't forget that gaming happens outside of a TV. I would say that a sports enthusiasts, like people that do fantasy/simulated sports management, are hardcore gamers. I think hardcore gamers are those that look at a game analytically instead of as just a form of entertainment. I work and am friends with a lot of analytical gamers and we spend half our time discussing the balance and design of everything from Splatoon to Baseball. Casual gamers are in it for entertainment only, right? They are also in every type of game. The people playing mini-golf and not keeping score are casual gamers and consume games as a source of entertainment, not for competition. Skyrim is a casual game because it doesn't demand that you practice to accomplish. It may not have to be mature, but a hardcore gamer invests time because hardcore games require time. Hardcore gamers are a different type of consumer in general. My favorite example of hardcore gamers are the Games Workshop guys. No matter how acceptable wizards, vampires, or WOW becomes those guys at the table playing Warhammer 40k arguing about mechanics are as hardcore as it gets.
Re: Nintendo: Wii U GamePad Is The Only Real Innovation This Console Cycle, But We Didn't Showcase It Well Enough
Gamepad in game design terms was the only innovation. It created the opportunity for asymmetric local multiplayer and for 4 dimensional single-player. The issue is that kind of game design takes serious chops and all the game design professionals left video games for board games. The people that are left are great at rehashing old designs or limited real-world simulations, but don't have the ability to innovate game design. Nintendo Land and Scribblenauts were amazing games, but no one is buying them because the vast majority of video game consumers aren't gamers, they are escapists. They want their interactive entertainment experiences to be immersive enough to remove them from reality. The popularity of VR solutions reflects that attitude. NX might be popular if it is a low msrp per unit product environment that is geared toward games as a group activity. If it tries the high-end graphic powerhouse console approach with "life style" feature they will just split the existing market and while better than Wii U sales it will not offer the success of Wii.
Re: Poll: We Want Your Views on Splatoon Version 2.0
@InterwebUser I am into winning is all. If it were pure ground cover I might go with an Aerospray, but combat is the core of Splatoon. If you are splat, not only do you loose time waiting for respawn, you loose time travelling through your defensive zone before you can start painting. Once there you are at the front line and likely to be splat again if you don't have a bubble ready. I have tested every weapon in game and in the test yard. There are serious imbalances that become obvious if you put time in with every weapon. Rollers for example don't just cover ground well, but they have a one hit splat and they have longer range than aeros, splattershot, or blasters and while they don't have a bubbler they do have the kraken.
Re: Poll: We Want Your Views on Splatoon Version 2.0
@InterwebUser True, but splattershot Jr. doesn't compete in paint coverage with the rollers or even the dual squelcher. The limited range and reduced mobility while firing actual results in the user wasting paint on an already painted area. If your mobility increased like it does for rollers during use it might be reasonable, but because it does not it actually leaves the player at a disadvantage. Even in something like turf wars the limited combat ability reduces the effectiveness because it is easier for the competition to suppress you in the neutral zone and a win only requires majority, not all of the map. If Nintendo made it take 1.5 times the amount of paint to cover opposing paint than it does fresh ground then some weapons may have more value, but as it is A ranked players use splattershots, rollers, gals, and squelcher more than anything else.
Re: Poll: We Want Your Views on Splatoon Version 2.0
I am torn on Splatoon in general. I like how the painting mechanic gives the game the same feel as hockey with control of the neutral zone and trap defense. On the other hand the actual weapon mechanics are incredibly broken. The poor snipers have to deal with lasers giving away their position and where they are aiming, not to mention they are worthless for targeting squid. The smg like guns have such a large spread and such a short distance. They aren't great for combat and their limited range is a big negative when trying to gain ground in neutral territory. There are a lot of weapons that are a waste of memory and make the game feel more like an rpg than a skill shooter. I have considered trading it a few times as I have completed the fantastic single player campaign and now all I have to do is grind through ranked, which is ok except I am getting really bored of having to use a splattershot to be competitive.
Re: It All Gets Crazy in This Devil's Third Launch Trailer
@MajinSoul. I think there is supposed to be Cross-platform support for multiplayer. Wii U version is more likely to work without bugs. PC optimization will most likely be half-hearted. That and you will be dealing with FTP publishers like Nexon. You can't beat the price though.
Re: It All Gets Crazy in This Devil's Third Launch Trailer
Japanese Amazon reviews are favorable so far. A lot of 4 and 5 star review. The negative reviews seem to lean toward playing FTP PC instead of full purchase. Sounds like if you Like Ninja Gaiden you will like this. Ninja Gaiden is too much game for most NA gamers to enjoy so it will probably be a small release here. Too bad because it sounds like people enjoy multiplayer.
Re: Elliot Quest For Wii U To Get Free Content Update
How did Nintendolife miss the most important part of this story? Siliconera reported today that the Wii U version has sold more copies than Elliot Quest has sold on Steam. It blows the whole "low installed user base" argument right out of the water. It is one of the few financial success stories for 3rd party Nintendo devs and it isn't on a Nintendo news site. A shame that.
Re: Exclusive: Project CARS "Simply Too Much For Wii U", Developer Now Waiting On New Nintendo Hardware
No Nintendo NX release. Slightly Mad is ruining their reputation with horrible PR. They say it's the Wii U, but the Steam reviews mention that the game runs poorly on AMD GPU systems. Outside of that, their insistence that they can't make a worthy game without downgrading graphics reflects the other Steam reviews stating that the actual game is a sub part racing simulation. They can't compete with Codemasters in the game play, Sony in content, and they can't keep a decent account of their own skill level. They are just as bad as 22cans as far as I can see.
Re: Video: Summing Up The Good And Bad Of Devil's Third
As professional journalists and not professional game designers I would probably move away from being critics and work towards reporting. Spending time defending Unseen64's reporting while questioning the ability of Nintendolife to present a review well enough the first time around makes me wonder what the point of this site is. With a reasonably loyal community I think Nintendolife is a good site, but I would hope that someone representing Nintendolife would want this site to be more than an RSS feed. Maybe recruit someone that studied Game Theory and do articles about how games we play are just giant equations or something to give the site a little more Ethos when making any claims.
Re: Speculation Grows That AMD Will Provide the Nintendo NX Processor
@StarDust4Ever It is refreshing to have a real, well crafted reply. I would love the solution of having a portable with plug-in hdmi features. Native backwards compatibility is probably not part of NX, but Nintendo might use the PlayStation approach and create a cloud based VC program that allows players to use Nintendo points or codes to access classics. It was odd that they supported with the Wii U because they dropped Blu Ray with the explanation that consumers already had a Blu Ray player. Most Wii U owners own a Wii. Bundling Wii U with a Wii Mini to give consumers a Wii U, Wii, and Gamecube solution would have been interesting.
As for the NX I hope they use proprietary game storage solutions that are a little more revolutionary than the Wii U discs. There was a certain value in cartridge design that was lost with discs. I see the resurgence of cartridge design in thumb drives, and if there was a way for them to make the games for a portable become a part of the aesthic design of the system then the value of buying a limited edition run of a game would be more appealing to consumers.
I agree that the ease of development and publishing invites bad software onto the market. The quest for affordable and effective curation of digital marketplaces is definitely a valuable one. Ouya actually had done this quite well with their O-rank system. I am shocked Nintendo didn't buy them for their software alone. I am excited to see how NX will change the approach to games. Developers need a break from chasing the luxury numbers of FPS and Resolution to get back to fundamental game design. I think NX will attempt to provide that solution. I just don't see a game market surviving if they spend anymore resources on making the grain of the wood on a coffee table sharper and more dynamic, unless they raise the price of retail games.
Re: Splatoon Splats Top 10 NPD Position in June as Hardware Momentum Stays Positive
@electrolite77 That is according to Kaz Hirai. The PS4 just had it's first model revision. Unless distribution or base cost for the parts fell considerably I wouldn't think that his definition of profitable is substantial.substantial prior to this new model. You can sell it for more than it costs to produce and then lose money during distribution. Kaz was careful with his wording and compared it to their PS3 business model which wasn't much of an achievement for them. Sony is doing much better this time around as far as hardware goes, but it is a lot of power being used. Long term things will be different I think. All of that heat without sufficient cooling is going to take it's toll. They are essentially gaming PCs without gaming PC cooling systems. top that with AMD made and early adopters are probably going to be experiencing hardware issues soon now that they are out of warranty periods. Intel may be slower for the cost, but Intel needs to make products for business which is why Nintendo uses them I would bet. Wii U is a superior system when it comes down to efficiency and efficiency in engineering terms usually means the system will last longer.
Re: Speculation Grows That AMD Will Provide the Nintendo NX Processor
You also have to remember that until there is a firm announcement from Nintendo it benefits AMD to create unfounded speculation about their prospective growth.
Re: Speculation Grows That AMD Will Provide the Nintendo NX Processor
I doubt Nintendo will use x86 because a hybrid system design with the limited x86 architecture would be a rough engineering task and it would discourage developers from hybrid development ala Vita meets PS4. It will be ARM to appease the tablet/cell phone devs and create better hybrid integration. That being said I doubt they are using Intel, but I also doubt AMD. Hisilicon or Qualcomm is more likely. I would say Nvidia, but Nvidia doesn't have any interest in sharing the K1. You also have to remember that in order to sell th NX in China that have to meet the domestic production requirement and I doubt Foxconn has the ability to produce custom AMD technology.
Re: Splatoon Splats Top 10 NPD Position in June as Hardware Momentum Stays Positive
@Peach64 it's important to remember that PS4 and XBOX1 are being sold at a loss while Nintendo profits from every Wii U sold. The Dreamcast was also sold at a loss which is why Sega had to can it. It is easy to forget that because Sony and Microsoft spin it like console sales will cause profit, but sometimes a loss leader is just a loss.
Re: Splatoon Splats Top 10 NPD Position in June as Hardware Momentum Stays Positive
An important thing to note is Splatoon is an exclusive title and out performing multi-platform releases. I would like to see sales for individual platform releases. The lower development costs of not porting the title, not to mention the huge loses WB is taking because of the Batman PC issues, would lead me to believe that Nintendo is making a larger profit than any other publisher this month besides 2K, maybe.
Re: The Quiet Collection Will Politely Release "Four Old-School Adventure Games" on Wii U
They are great little puzzle games. Great to see another Ouya development coming to Wii U
Re: First Impressions: Trying to Believe in Devil's Third
This is a rather rough review of a game that seems to run and play fairly well in the video. It is amazing that Valhalla was able to get that performance from UE3 on what is essentially a Macbook. If anyone tried to get Borderlands to run on a Mac compared to PC then you know how poorly optimized the engine is for PowerPC architecture. The graphics are on the higher end of last gen. It's not Uncharted, but I find that a good thing because a 10 hour action platformer that is more casual than Flappybird isn't worth $60. If I want amazing visuals I will watch a movie. Saying this was at home on SD is a low blow. The textures are higher than Saints Row 2 or Mercenaries 2 and are on part with Dragon's Dogma without the annoying model issues. Framerate issues aren't anything I haven't dealt with when playing other UE3 games. For some reason Explosions and fast movement make UE3 chug in anything that isn't a traditional Microsoft PC. All in all the game reminds me of Dark Sector, which wasn't incredibly well received despite being a decent game. For some reason I feel that if the game was "open-world" or had rpg elements then the review would be more generous because Western gamers seem to prefer those mechanics. I would be willing to bet that opinions will change when Multiplayer is released. Western players have quite an affair with competitive multiplayer games. They are willing to forgive the weakest single player experience if multiplayer delivers cheap thrills, even if they are horribly imbalanced and expensive DLC driven experiences.
Re: Nintendo of America Confirms Plans to Bring Devil's Third to Region
@BLPs I figured Nintendo was either dodging a feminist uproar or creating a false rumor to find their leak. I also think that at this point that this was a leak finding mission and Unseen 64 has some way or another lost their source.
Re: Devil's Third Will Be Released In North America, Just Not By Nintendo
@Madadam81 Marketing is the largest cost a publisher takes on, but print and distribution are by far the smallest investment. Devil's Third isn't going to get a huge marketing campaign starting now. With NoJ and NoE still backing it isn't a loss cutting move. Fiscally it doesn't make sense. Not to mention the DLC profits they are cutting themselves out of. Even Forbes has a hard time understanding why they wouldn't just make it a DL only title in the NA region. This is a PR move if it is true.
Re: Devil's Third Will Be Released In North America, Just Not By Nintendo
It also just occurred to me that NoA could be trying to duck "feminists" from starting some NoA hates women campaign. That is actually the more likely reason if they don't publish. I bet game play is fantastic, but their PR team is killing it before it is released especially because Nintendo had their hands in the development piece. That is why NoJ and NoE aren't backing down.
Re: Devil's Third Will Be Released In North America, Just Not By Nintendo
Knowing that euro and Japanese publications gave Ninja Gaiden 3 decent scores while US publications gave it weak scores I can see why it might be considered to be a prospective clunker. That being said it still doesn't make fiscal sense to cut themselves out of a larger profit margin if they already spent the development cash. Activision releases garbage all the time so I don't see anythung supporting the idea that releasing a stinker hurts a publishers sales, especially for a console exclusive, and more so when you are NoA and you defend Metroid:FF and Star Fox as if public perception didn't matter at all. Reggie loves insulting his consumer base 16 hours a day so why wouldn't he continue to do so if it meant more money? The only way that this rumor is true is if NoA was offered money almost equal to their development investment for a Third Party to publish. If Euro zone is still NoE and Japan is NoJ then I don't see Xseed (they import Japanese market titles to NA, not NA market titles to NA), or Deep Silver for that matter picking up the tab. Who would pay for those rights unless it gets them Valhalla as an exclusive developer is really the weak part of this rumor. Unless the game has a strong multiplayer section in which case I could see Activision or Ubisoft picking it up strictly for future DLC sales profit.
Re: Rumour: Nintendo Isn't Bringing Devil's Third To North America
That is bad information all around. Development is the largest investment. This is a western market product. The voice work is in English. NoA would not lose the cost of development by not shipping it in the market it was made for. It just doesn't make financial sense. If NoA is worried about their family image on the other hand I could see Reggie lining up a 3rd party to publish it, but letting a 3rd party take the largest part of the sales pie when Nintendo fronted development capital, and a large amount at that, makes no sense at all. I am sure Nintendo isn't keen on people leaking news and at this point is feeding bad information to discredit the rumor mill.
Re: Ubisoft's Former Wii U Exclusive ZombiU Confirmed For PS4 & Xbox One Release
PS4 and XBOX 1 users will skip it purely because it was originally a Wii U game and they will see it as incredibly inferior without any consideration given to the actual game. I thought it had a refreshing take, the 28 Days Later of zombie games. Although if given the choice between Dying Light and Zombi I wouldn't consider Zombi at all. I would love to see it fail so Ubi can stop blaming install base for failure instead of not fully investing talent into a new IP. if anything the title ZombiU tells me they had an decent idea and instead of building a franchise they built and tried to sell an exercise in Wii U development. It reminds me a lot of Little Deviants for Vita in that it was a title that was seemingly designed as a demonstration of how hardware features could be used, but fell short of delivering an experience that felt like a cohesive design.