smashbrolink

@burninmylight I prefer serious matches with them on, honestly.
Most would argue that makes it less competitive, but in my eyes, a really good Smash player, is someone that can use the stage, including its hazards, to their advantage.
Ridley and Yellow Devil are FAR from unpredictable, and a player that can use them in their plan of attack or defense is showing knowledge of the battlefield and proper use of resources.

DUDE!
This looks like Smash T.V.! From back in the arcade days!

Oh, I'm soooooo getting this!

If it's between the PS4 and XB1 in power, that will be enough power for multiplats that are still hitting the PS4 and XBone to come to the NX.
That will be enough to qualify as being on par and "competing" with the other two.
And that's exactly what it needs.

@rushiosan
Plug the headphones into the jack on the game pad, and you get both voices and music.

@Aqueous Well, Bravely Second did away with many of the flaws of the first game, so I'm honestly not that surprised, personally.

@TheFlyingGerbil I find it funny you'd say that, considering the fact that Sony, despite having a prototype for a wand controller first, didn't seriously get into motion controls at all until Nintendo's Wii proved that it could turn a profit and become popular.XD

@Notoriousdrp More like Mojang.
Microsoft is just celebrating the fact that they bought Minecraft and that it's still turning out profit for them; it's not like Microsoft is putting one of their OWN games on a Nintendo system, just one they bought out.XD

@Radixxs Finally, someone else who gets it.

@zool There's no guarantee of that; Amiibo's, thanks to their no-strings-attached nature that lets them work across many games instead of just on one, lends them a bit more shelf life, because their uses are ever-changing and can be unique to nearly every game they are compatible with.
Also, Amiibos get Nintendo profit that can go right back into making games, and I doubt they're pulling their own first-party-game development teams out of their cozy office chairs to go glue together Amiibos in a factory somewhere, so they aren't affecting Nintendo's ability to make games.XD

@bitleman No.
Don't do that.
Don't scare us like that.
Closing down either of those would be a horrifying thing, on a much bigger scale than DI shutting down...

@rjejr
"Nintendo lost over 85% from Wii to Wii U. If Sony ever lost 85% from 1 gen to the next I'm sure they'd consider getting out"
That's an immense exaggeration, especially in light of the fact that Nintendo has its fingers in many more profit pies, thanks to its IP's, than Sony does, whereas not too long back Sony made the statement that had the PS4 not sold, it really would have made them consider stopping console development.

Also, unlike Sony, Nintendo has stayed in the black financially all the way up until the Wii U, which despite going into the red for a bit, is still going to end with having made them more money than it lost for them.
The PS3 took the majority of its extended life-span to accomplish that.

Also, "But not enough people seem to want what they are selling on home consoles."
I don't honestly believe that most gamers actually know what they really want out of Nintendo anymore, and even fewer of them have any valid opinion on what's best for Nintendo.
Hell, there are still quite a few ijits out there that have the conceited notion that the PS4 and XBone fanbases, which have spent the past 4 or more YEARS dissing Nintendo's games as children's games that they'd never purchase over the latest AAA third party multiplat, are somehow capable of giving Nintendo more money than Nintendo would make by making a great system that everyone wants to buy, instead.

When it comes to figuring out what people want out of Nintendo's home consoles, though, I think, personally, that the key lies in exclusives and power.
Multiplats, at some point, will become important to the NX, but I don't feel that it will be the most important thing during the opening year of the system's life, because many of those multiplats are already going to have their reservations firmly planted on other consoles, with no way for the NX to win them over even if it ends up getting 12M during year 1.
Exclusives, however, especially ones from third parties, could easily become a "lead in" for those early multiplats to become a powerful selling force.
Imagine, if you will, that EA, Ubisoft, and Square Enix come out with three big must-have exclusives year one for the NX.
Exclusives that third party lovers look at and say "Damn, I need an NX now."
Once they want the system for those three games, they'll start looking into the library.
And THEN, they'll see the multiplats, and they'll think to themselves, "Hey, so I can get those three games, plus the multiplats I have been wanting, all at once? The total package has sold me; I'm getting an NX!"
It would work a lot better than if third parties only made multiplats, which would cause those same people to think "But I'm already getting those on my PS4/XBone/PC. No need to pay for an NX, then!"

So, to reiterate, yeah; exclusives and power.
Those should be the top two considerations for the NX, if Nintendo wants it to sell well.

PS: For the record, however, I loath admitting to the latter stipulation.
There have been plenty of less-powerful systems in the past that have gone on to produce some of the best gaming experiences of their generations, so I'm honestly sick and appalled by this obsession that today's gamers seem to have over power and graphics.
It literally makes me want to break down and cry over how pathetically shallow and petty the gaming community I've been a part of since I was three has become, sometimes...

@rjejr Yeah, well Sony's "worst selling home console" also had 7 or 8 years on the market.
Measured at an equal life span time frame to the Wii, it didn't do that hot, either, so that's not much to brag about.
And considering how Sony might be putting out a mid-gen system soon that has a strong chance of decreasing sales of the PS5 due to shortening the leap in power/graphics, I'm not sure that they'll be releasing the PS5 within the next 5 years, anyways.
If the PSNeo is as powerful as rumored, they'd be shooting themselves in the foot to release the PS5 that soon.

But on the flip side, if it's real, and it's NOT that powerful, then it basically makes the "upgrade" pointless unless you're one of those rich people that are buying it just for PSVR and 4K TV's, which is definitely going to be a minority given how young and still-viable the original PS4 still is.

@jimi Thank you. Completely agreed.
IMO, anyone who's unwilling to pay the entry price for a recent-gen console, doesn't deserve to play its games.
That's why the consoles exist; to play host to these games, especially the exclusives, and if one is not willing to respect that and pay for it, like HONEST gamers and fans do, then they aren't entitled to, or deserving of the ability to, play any of the games meant for that system.

The same goes for anyone who is willing to get the system, but then uses illegal means to obtain the software for it.
This isn't the same as renting, or borrowing from a friend.
When you use emulation software for a Wii U game, you're unlawfully taking something you haven't paid for.

@rjejr If you're going to go the "descending sales" route, then Sony isn't much better off; sales have been dropping since the PS2, with Vita taking up one of the worst of Sony's spots.

Just because they're having drops doesn't mean they can't recover.
And E3/holidays aren't a requirement for that recovery; a strong launch line-up with lots of exclusives, great advertisement, a solid amount of power without anything turning gamers off about it in terms of what it looks like or is named as, and strong third party and network features, are what will push the system forward.
Not when or where it is announced/launched.

@Rocdema
I respectfully disagree with that.

When well-coordinated teams get together, a 4-vs-4 match can be just as exciting as any 1-vs-1.

@bro2dragons I never thought about it that way, but you're right.
In a 4V4 format, they could even employ methods such as a team of 4 that play only as Ness or Lucas, with one player in the team at a time hanging back while the others battle it out, and when one needs healing, they can run to the team mate that's been hanging back and use their Psy Shield to absorb some PK Fires. Or the one who's hanging back can use some well-timed PK Thunders to heal them at a distance.
Little strategies like that could be a big boon to growing the popularity of this idea, and I'm absolutely in love of any idea that does away with the conventions of the tier lists in a fair and exciting way like this one does.

@Spoony_Tech Here's the thing, though; even those ship jumpers are going to have their ear to the ground when the NX announcement comes.
No one's going to "forget" about Nintendo just because they aren't at E3.
E3 isn't that omnipotent a stage.
And ship jumpers are just as fickle as any other kind of gamer; if the NX turns out to be great, they'll be back.

@rjejr

"Having to launch in March b/c either the hardware or software isn't ready is one thing, but trying to make it sound like launching in March is better than launching hardware and games right before the holidays is something else. The holidays do matter, and trying to make it sound like it doesn't is just delusional. Nobody can say - holiday's don't matter - they do. Go look at any console ever launched and see where most of the sales are. Oct, Nov Dec. Yes, launch month is always good, early adopters have you covered, but Dec is a better 2nd month than April."

See, that's just it; yes, the holidays matter, but if a system isn't going to be ready for the holidays, the holidays logically cannot be the better choice for it.
Whether or not launching in the holidays or in March is better, is a case-by-case thing.
If Nintendo launched the NX this holiday, it wouldn't have had the time Nintendo wants to build up the kind of hype and software line-up it'll need to succeed.

And before you say "E3 could have provided that hype", I disagree; having to deal with hardware and software reveals from Sony and Microsoft would have stolen a lot of the NX's thunder. An event later avoids that issue.

So you see, it's not that the holidays never matter.
It's just that, in this particular case, March does, indeed, matter more than the holidays, for the NX's success.
A holiday launch would not help Nintendo as much as a March launch this time.

I'm sure the holidays next year will be a big time for the NX and Nintendo, as usual, but for now, March is the big date that Nintendo has to worry and prepare for.

@Spoony_Tech
That's just it, though; think about everything from Sony and Microsoft that is rumored to be coming to E3 this year.
If PSNeo/VR and XBone Slim get announced, those announcements would eat into the hype of any hardware Nintendo could announce at the same time.
Separating themselves from that in order to do their own show, where they don't have to share spotlight or hype, allows them a better chance at success with the announcement.
E3 is big, but it's not so big that skipping it means they can't draw a crowd afterwards.

I mean, think about it: This is the NX.
A system people haven't been able to shut up about for TWO STRAIGHT YEARS.
Do you really think everyone's suddenly going to lose interest in its official unveiling just because it's not happening at E3?XD
Nintendo's not going to have any issues drawing a crowd for the NX's unveiling, despite E3 not being the stage for it.

There's too much curiosity surrounding it for them to be incapable of drawing a crowd.

@Yorumi
Sorry.
When I think carts, I think way back to the N64 days; to me, 3DS games are just tiny little chips, rather than full-sized game carts.
I know that both are basically cartridges, but it just doesn't FEEL the same, ya know?
I guess it just comes from the era of gaming I grew up in...

@Hikingguy That's just one more reason why I love the quick-start menu of the Wii U.

@Steel76 Yeah, but the fact of the matter is that if Nintendo does do this, they'll also be shouldering the GARGANTUAN task of POPULARIZING the idea, in an age where all third parties and other console makers still rely on disks.

There's also the issue of whether or not the carts will be much more expensive to produce/use and whether or not they can be designed to hold as much as a CD at a similarly low cost.

Then there's also the consumer to think about; if the cart is too big, where are they gonna store it?

CD's are convenient not just due to storage size making them easier to package in a neat little CD holder, but also due to ease-of-development; most game makers are set up to use CD's in their game-making efforts, not carts.
They also cost far less at the moment.

I dunno, it just seems like re-popularizing carts for home consoles is going to be a tough sell for Nintendo, if this proves true.

I don't think that Nintendo should be encouraging a device that lets people create rip-offs of Nintendo games that they could, quite possibly, re-sell once created and uploaded into it.
Piracy of Nintendo games through BS like that Wii U emulator that's being worked on is already a horrible enough thing without making it even easier for pirates to have their way with Nintendo's IP's.

@Yoshis95 If you think this is weird, you should see what the darker places of the internet think of Splatoon...sinister grin

A Christmas 2016 release would put them at odds with the Neo and PSVR, as well as giving themselves, and third parties, less time to have games ready for the NX launch.

Releasing next year is the smarter decision.

It means more games will be ready for launch, and it's releasing closer to the 5-year cycle limit, so in either case I'd say Nintendo made a good move by launching next year.

My only concern is whether or not third parties will have their heads pulled out of their butts in time to deliver something meaningful for the system, instead of just more bad ports like they did on the Wii and Wii U.

This feels like Nintendo is deliberately putting themselves in an underdog position so that their comeback will be all the more fantastic.

It also shows that they've got a LOT of confidence in how awesome the new Zelda is going to be, to make it the only playable game on the show floor.

IMO, the top three things Nintendo needs to get right with the NX, in order, are:

#1 Advertisement.
They need to bring out a powerful system with as many good features as possible, then pick up, and keep up, a hype wave of advertisement.
PS4 proved that a system can sell off of hype through clever advertisements and pot-shots at rivals alone; Nintendo could do the same, then follow it up with point #2.

#2: Lots, and LOTS, of first party support.
I'm talking, bare minimum, at least one new AAA first party game every three or so months, if not more.
The Wii U, for all of its great software later on, was really lacking in compelling first-party software during its first year.

And while we're on the topic of software, let's use that as a bridge to cross into the final point:

#3 Third party EXCLUSIVES.
Now, I know what some of you might be thinking: "But smash, what about the multiplats?!"
To that, I ask you this question: "Would you give up getting those multiplats on your PS4, XBone, or PC to get them on NX?"
As long as the answer to that is "no" for the majority of non-Nintendo gamers, multiplats cannot, and will not, be able to convince non-Nintendo gamers to go over to NX.
EXCLUSIVES from third parties, however, hold that power to sway their interest.
All that's left after that is to introduce some decent multiplats alongside them, and Nintendo will be golden.
Exclusives first, multiplats second.
And they MUST be given firm and lasting advertisement.

@NintendoFan64 @Jazzer94 That's neat, but I'm too afraid of having my Wii U bricked to attempt modding it.

@PtM It's not; you hit the Y button for that.

@crimsontadpoles By that logic, all games with any sort of tutorial that explains controller or gameplay functions are loaded with "bad signs".

Having a tutorial in an article isn't a "bad sign", and the controllers aren't as hard to get used to as some critics are making them out to be. [I should know; I've tried them and it didn't take long at all to learn and enjoy them]
Well, unless the person playing just plain sucks at adapting to anything that isn't the definition of simplicity...

@rushiosan I assume that the Pro controller is tied to the person doing the flying, while the game pad is tied to the person doing the directional shooting.
The person doing the flying can still shoot, too, but their shots will be limited to straight forward with a single un-upgraded laser, and no lock-ons, while the one with the game pad will be the one doing the lock-ons and taking advantage of any laser upgrades you pick up mid-mission.

@Drumpler To be fair, if all of Nintendo's characters were set into the same Universe, they would all obviously be on different planets in different solar systems.

That would make the differences between franchises easily explainable, via the fact that they all come literally from different worlds.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE It's different for them because the focus of those games were multiplayer.

Star Fox has always been a single player focused experience, with the multiplayer taking a back-seat.

@BornInNorway81 Got a Youtube channel with all of that hilarity on screen?
If not, you totally should.

@ithari42 Well, devs seem to make it work with the 3DS and New3DS.
This is just a more drastic version of that, where the console gets these things that act like upgrade kits instead of having whole new consoles release.
It might also save them on dev costs while allowing them to extend the life of a console.

Think of it like the N64 expansion pack on steroids.

@sandman89 No it's not, because we have no idea if the specs of the NX allow for this possibility.

I would be absolutely GIDDY for a Bravely Third on Nintendo NX!

ESPECIALLY if they switch to those high-quality models from the AMV cut-scenes instead of the chibi characters, as a change of pace. [Yes, I'll admit it, I want that to happen because the ladies of Bravely Default are a real sight for sore eyes, and that's not just in chibi-form; the high quality AMV models are on an entirely different level of beauty, far as art style goes.]

@KrakenSoup That won't come to pass if the name is different and the controller is shaped/built differently.

The only reason the game pad failed to catch interest is because of its size, shape, and battery life.
Fix those three issues and put less emphasis on using the screen for games outside of off-TV play, and the whiners won't have room to complain unless they just REALLY hate Nintendo.

@Acein210 It depends on how they DO the screen controller.

If Sony can get away with sticking a mouse pad onto their DS4, Nintendo should be able to re-design a controller with a screen so that people will accept it.

@abe_hikura Well, we gotta keep in mind that Pokemon GO definitely isn't an experience created with hardcore Pokemon fans, who sit down comfortably for hours at a stretch playing the same thing, as the bigger focus.
I mean, do you really think a phone player is going to want to sit on his phone for thirty minutes selecting attacks from a list?
They're used to games that they can pick up and put down quickly, not games that take a huge amount of time and effort to figure out all the ins and outs of.

Pokemon GO being simpler is reflective of the audience they're trying to hook with it.
And for what it's worth, it sounds like the kind of neat "sub game" that some Pokemon fans who love the main games might see as an amusing diversion, but this one feels like it's definitely pointed more towards casual phone players.
Which in and of itself isn't a bad thing, since it seems people enjoy it, and the more they enjoy it, the more Nintendo will make off of it.

@JaxonH The paid songs thing sucking, I agree with, but I think that the plastic instruments were actually a part of the series' charm.
I mean, sure, you COULD play with the controller, but given the choice, a lot of people chose the plastic instruments anyways.

Having said that...I'm not really sure that this whole MMO deal would have taken off very well.

I mean, the concept of being the manager of your own music club is neat and all, and the creation and sharing of your own music would have been great, but in hindsight, I think the "management" part of the game would have been one of those "annoying in-between tasks" for people.

Far as I'm aware, when people play Rock Band or Guitar Hero, they don't do it for any reason other than the music itself.
Having something interrupt that flow from song to song might have been a big turn-off that would have killed the concept of an MMO before it even launched off the ground.

@Grumblevolcano That's just it, though; even if it does release this year, it'll be at the tail end, but if we're following all the REAL signs, as in, the ones showing that Nintendo almost always releases a console the year following its official announcement and that the majority of them are spaced roughly 5 years apart, it won't be releasing until early or middle of next year.

In either case, it's not too soon; it's right on schedule.

@Grumblevolcano Not really, considering that's what they do every time they release a new console; talk about it, AND show off a bunch of games for it.
Or have you forgotten the past several console releases when they showed off a bunch of games alongside them at E3?

@Grumblevolcano Nah.
There would have been no point in doing that with E3 so close.
E3 is where all the big announcements are made; doing it outside of that would have done more harm than good.

@MarvinTheMartian Remastering Smash 4 could make perfect sense, if this remaster is a complete edition that combines all stages, trophies, and modes from both the 3DS and Wii U versions.

I'd pay again for Smash Run in HD.

@ROBLOGNICK Not necessarily.
Wii U has BC with Wii yet still got ports of Wii games, so there's no reason the NX couldn't do both, too.

@memoryman3 New characters?
Nah; I would prefer to see them combine the Wii U and 3DS versions into one "complete" version instead.
All stages, all characters, all trophies, and most importantly, SMASH RUN IN HD.

I would be ALL OVER that.

@Zebetite
#1 I agree. Being insulted over an article like this, let alone accusing someone of being a "commie" over it, is just plain stupid at this point.
#2 Your avatar is AMAZING.XD

@abbyhitter Again, if you can't understand it, that's fine.
So long as you AREN'T knocking anyone else for being able to understand that feeling, then it's fine to express yourself however you wish.