Jump to content
NEurope
Serebii

Nintendo Switch - Happy Switchmas Everyone!

Recommended Posts

Well don't forget that Sony is putting out their own new device this year, the PS4K. That's far more risky than what Nintendo's doing.

 

HOWEVER, it also is likely to help Nintendo. It's not just a "what is Nintendo doing?" situation anymore with Nintendo releasing hardware when nobody else is, Sony is and Microsoft is rumoured to. As such, having it be an entirely new device rather than just a more powerful version of what's out there could be very beneficial, especially as what Sony is doing is risky as it potentially fragments their current pushing 40m userbase with future games. It's not the best way to create consumer confidence. That's why we don't have many N3DS games. As such, Nintendo having NX at this point could be quite beneficial

 

Is this how it will be viewed though?

 

Yes the NX is very clearly a new device, but if its similar in stats to the PS4 and One do you think it will be perceived as new by those not in the know?

 

It's all guesswork until we know more about what is happening!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Is this how it will be viewed though?

 

Yes the NX is very clearly a new device, but if its similar in stats to the PS4 and One do you think it will be perceived as new by those not in the know?

 

It's all guesswork until we know more about what is happening!

True enough. We'll see how the public reacts after E3

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I think the concept of a console generation is just going to fade more and more. Even Microsoft are talking like that, with talk of Xbox just being an upgradeable device in the future.

 

In this day and age, we get new iterations of popular devices yearly and they sell. There's no being early or being late any more. That's how it used to be, not how it is.

 

If the future is iterations every 2-3 years console gaming will suck. Not convinced at all developers want it.

 

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/bioware-founder-on-ps4xbox-one-upgrades-itd-be-a-g/1100-6438664/

 

"I'd say that'd be a gigantic pain in the ass that flies in the face of the purpose of consoles," BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk told GameSpot. "It's funny, there's actually some stories behind that. For example, the original Xbox...Microsoft actually had multiple different DVD drives. They didn't tell anyone that, but as a developer, you discovered that you have different performance, and sometimes you'd have these boxes of refurbished drives and different brands and different equipment. It caused incredible variability."

 

Zeschuk went on to say the benefit of having locked system specs as consoles currently do is that it's clear to developers what they are working with.

 

"The whole purpose of consoles is the set of requirements that you work against from a hardware perspective," he said. "To change that is complete lunacy."

 

"I just think it's bad," he said. "I think, 'lock it' and let developers do their thing. But at the end of the day, if you can focus your development effort on one set of hardware requirements and target, you are going to get a better result. It's easier than having to split it, adding more people, having to port things across."

 

"It's like dipping your toe back into the PC pool where you have to consider all these things. It was nice on console not having to consider like performance sliders. But it's just crazy. I guess maybe [Microsoft and Sony] feel the need to."

Edited by liger05

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That new rumour sounds pretty okay to me. The screen only really needs to be as big as the Vita screen and it'd look/play great.

 

I still want the NX to be a handheld that can play its games on the tv, via streaming - this new rumour kinda indicates that the system would eventually reach that point - it'd maybe also play Android/tablet games to hook in the mobile app market as well.

 

I know that handheld mostly games look shitty in full HD on TV, but they could maybe release some sort of downloadable graphics pack or patches for each game that would somehow re-render it all and make it look snazzy and not like... well, a handheld game on a TV.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The most conservative estimates suggest that the PS4K is simply a spec bump to allow all games to upscaled to allow them to play in 4K (no way will it be powerful enough to natively output 4K).

 

On the other side of the rumour mill the suggestion is that the PS4K will be such a large spec bump that it will allow games that run on both PS4 and PS4K to run significantly better on the PS4K - the difference between 720p at a 30 or below framerate and 1080p at 60 frames per second. Developers are already hitting a wall with both the PS4 and XBO and there are games that are running at below 30 fps and performance issues with major titles.

 

The PS4K may well create a two tier system for Sony gamers where superior versions (and some exclusive titles) will come out on the PS4K meaning many will be forced to upgrade or endure a lesser experience (for the same money, as £50 will be charged for a game whether it is running at 30fps or 60fps).

 

This could really help Nintendo as it wouldn't look as odd for Nintendo launching a new console mid generation if Sony are essentially doing the same. Nintendo could also benefit from any consumer backlash if people don't like the idea of the console market becoming segmented and split into a two tier affair mid generation.

 

Obviously it's all speculation - but the fact Nintendo aren't the only ones releasing new hardware makes things far more interesting!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Tweets suggesting that Square were among the first developers to receive NX dev kits and that Japanese developers haven't been this excited about Nintendo hardware for ages.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Tweets suggesting that Square were among the first developers to receive NX dev kits and that Japanese developers haven't been this excited about Nintendo hardware for ages.

Must be a microtransaction-laden pachinko machine!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Must be a microtransaction-laden pachinko machine!

 

and Kojima's be banned from it because he got to westernised

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Tweets suggesting that Square were among the first developers to receive NX dev kits and that Japanese developers haven't been this excited about Nintendo hardware for ages.

 

I can actually believe this. If third parties are excited just imagine what Nintendo developers must think.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

10 days to go until Nintendo's investors meeting. What do you guys think we'll hear? Will they tell us the name? Show off the console and controller and leave the games until E3? Or are we going to learn nothing new?

 

Personally, I think they'll announce the name of the console, that they're targeting launch in 2016 and that we'll learn more at E3.

 

I'm still going to stay up late to wait for news next Wednesday though. Only in gaming are investors meetings fun!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I reckon at the investors meeting we'll just get

 

"It's coming this financial year. We'll discuss more at E3" and a press release saying the same like we got with Wii U & 3DS

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Is this how it will be viewed though?

 

Yes the NX is very clearly a new device, but if its similar in stats to the PS4 and One do you think it will be perceived as new by those not in the know?

 

It's all guesswork until we know more about what is happening!

 

I think it's all down to the name, marketing and what software Nintendo launch for it.

 

If they keep the Wii name... or the U... or the console is a smilar, flat, shiny box, then people might mistake it.

 

If Nintendo only market the consoles gimmick and nothing else, people will think it's a peripheral again.

 

Any Wii U port needs to have a considerable visual upgrade over the original. As in, considerable enough to be visible at a glance.

 

Honestly, the NX will have to match the PS4K, regardless what performance that machine may have. Yet they shouldn't pull a Saturn and throw in a bunch of extra chips in panic because they were caught off guard. It's a brand new console, it must push graphics second to none. And Nintendo need to show games right off the bat that SHOW that it's visually second to none. This is NOT done by churning out another 2D sidescroller or a toony minigame compilation.

 

I can't stress this enough: Nintendo will need a killer app. A game that has such mass appeal among everyone from Nintendo fans to dudebros, that people will want to find out when and how they can get their hands on it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I wonder how much of the general public still think the Wii U is an add-on for the Wii...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There must be a lot of people who still think that's the case. My nephew is 8 years old and the only reason he knows it exists is because I've got one - Nintendo did a really terrible job advertising the Wii U, kids at least should have been bombarded with adverts for it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I wonder how much of the general public still think the Wii U is an add-on for the Wii...

 

Out of the 30 or so kids who regularly come to play my WiiU at my local community centre, 10 never owned a Wii, so I'll just disregard those kids.

 

But out of the rest, only 2 actually knew that the WiiU was a separate console. 1 of those owns the console and the other is just well informed.

The other 20-ish did indeed think it was an add-on/accessory.

While it doesn't speak for all of Europe of course, it does go to prove that in England at least, advertising for this console was atrocious.

 

Naturally, that was over half a year ago. They all know better now. And since then, 3 of them have bought a WiiU (With Smash, of course).

So I've done about as much as they have?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I think it's all down to the name, marketing and what software Nintendo launch for it.

 

If they keep the Wii name... or the U... or the console is a smilar, flat, shiny box, then people might mistake it.

 

If Nintendo only market the consoles gimmick and nothing else, people will think it's a peripheral again.

 

Any Wii U port needs to have a considerable visual upgrade over the original. As in, considerable enough to be visible at a glance.

 

Honestly, the NX will have to match the PS4K, regardless what performance that machine may have. Yet they shouldn't pull a Saturn and throw in a bunch of extra chips in panic because they were caught off guard. It's a brand new console, it must push graphics second to none. And Nintendo need to show games right off the bat that SHOW that it's visually second to none. This is NOT done by churning out another 2D sidescroller or a toony minigame compilation.

 

I can't stress this enough: Nintendo will need a killer app. A game that has such mass appeal among everyone from Nintendo fans to dudebros, that people will want to find out when and how they can get their hands on it.

 

I don't think it has to match PS4k. The PS4 will be the dominant console of the generation. Matching the PS4k isn't the requirement when the vast majority of games will he developed to run on PS4 and XB1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The PS4K just makes me sad. I'm staggered the industry isn't outraged by it and how console generation cycles have basically been cut in half. I bought my PS4 a year ago and it'll soon be old tech, thanks a lot Playstation.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Do we actually know what PS4K is? I may have missed it? Could it just be a simple revision to enable 4k but also a possibility it could be the console version of the NEW 3DS?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
The PS4K just makes me sad. I'm staggered the industry isn't outraged by it and how console generation cycles have basically been cut in half. I bought my PS4 a year ago and it'll soon be old tech, thanks a lot Playstation.

 

If this is the future may as well go PC gaming.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
If this is the future may as well go PC gaming.

 

Unless you want Ninty games?

Also I really don't have the income for PC gaming...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Do we actually know what PS4K is? I may have missed it? Could it just be a simple revision to enable 4k but also a possibility it could be the console version of the NEW 3DS?

 

We know nothing, people are just speculating.

 

Worth pointing out that last generation Microsoft went for 8 years and Sony's 7. Generation lengths are changing. This one may be smaller, it may not be. Let's wait until we know what the PS4K is before we get too het up.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I suppose the PS4K could end up helping the NX if it does cut the console generation in half, the latter could end up far more appealing as a 300 quid purchase than an upgraded PS4, no matter how much Sony spin the enhanced graphics and cpu.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

And if it's released next year it'll mean Microsoft can put out a new console and we'll just have a four year generation this time around.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
The PS4K just makes me sad. I'm staggered the industry isn't outraged by it and how console generation cycles have basically been cut in half. I bought my PS4 a year ago and it'll soon be old tech, thanks a lot Playstation.
Thanks a lot PlayStation?...

 

You're crazy if you thought this generation of consoles was going to last anything like the length of the last. With the speed PC is moving at, 5 years seemed the max heading into it; I thought this was common knowledge.

 

Yes it sucks. I bought my PS4 last year too and have barely had time to use it, I also never saw this coming... but I can at least completely understand it!

 

It's no 'spin'... no one is forcing you to upgrade.

As @Zechs Merquise said, developers are already hitting a wall with these consoles.

 

Maybe watch this episode of Final Bosman talking about it... He's right in saying that comparatively, this generation of consoles are the weakest generation yet. They had to be if they were going to be affordable and not laughed out of the market as per the PS3's original price. Sacrifices had to be made and Sony and Microsoft may now regret it, but with the speed the industry is moving they're caught between a rock and a hard place.

 

Edited by Retro_Link

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

×