The next Nintendo hardware? [2021-09]

[wco81]

Gaming journalist overhears someone at Nintendo Redmond talking about some hardware after the Switch.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021...rheard-chatter-led-to-a-nintendo-goose-chase/

Like the author admits, of course they'd be working on more hardware. In fact maybe they're working on several and only one will actually become a product, some day. No hint on when such a product would come out, based on an overheard conversation at a Seattle-area restaurant.


But the thing I'd be surprised about is whether Nintendo America would actually be that involved in hardware development. Sure Nintendo has to work with AMD or Nvidia and they might have some Nintendo America people as part of the team that interfaces with one of the GPU vendors.

You would still think though that major product design would be decided in Japan, not Redmond?

 

[Rodéric]

It's rather obvious that when a product is out of the door your team won't be on standby but work on the next possible products.
Nintendo does a lot of trial and error, I'm not suprised they have more than one team or possible product (or part of) being in the work simultaneously.

I suppose we'll start hearing rumours about Nintendo & Microsoft working together on a next generation console after that article...

(Writing an article on hearsay is rather... wrong. Everyone could tell that Nintendo would be working on its next console anyway...)

 

[orangpelupa]

It's rather obvious that when a product is out of the door your team won't be on standby but work on the next possible products.
Nintendo does a lot of trial and error, I'm not suprised they have more than one team or possible product (or part of) being in the work simultaneously.

I suppose we'll start hearing rumours about Nintendo & Microsoft working together on a next generation console after that article...

(Writing an article on hearsay is rather... wrong. Everyone could tell that Nintendo would be working on its next console anyway...)

That's why I miss Iwata ask. The story of prototyping, the challange during making the console, etc were a nice read.

 

[Johnny Awesome]

I heard a super secret rumor that Nintendo was working on a new Mario game.

 

[cheapchips]

I heard a super secret rumor that Nintendo was working on a new Mario game.

If you didn't read it, the article is mostly the author talking about their giddy excitement of randomly overhearing the conversation. It's not really a news article.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

Here's the Nintendo Direct from yesterday:

The games seem so dated. I feel like I could have watched this in 2008 and it wouldn't have been particularly impressive back then.
All their games are starting to look like mobile games made by Gameloft using some older Unity distribution. That Bayonetta 3 trailer looks like an EMBM show reel..


For how long can Nintendo hold the old hardware? Given the fact that they usually announce the development of new hardware around 1 year before release, aren't we probably looking at a 2023 release for a Switch successor?

 

[Nisaaru]

Why would Nintendo even need better hardware but just the hardware they can buy as cheap as possible?

Their whole market is based on getting to young kids at their normative years and when they grow up they still buy the generations old stuff as adults because they want to re-generate that special feeling they once had as a kid playing a Mario/Zelda....

If you've never caught that mental virus early you're protected

 

[Johnny Awesome]

It's Nintendo. They'll milk their aging hardware as long as possible. Look at the sales charts for the reason they don't care.

 

[eastmen]

Nvidia is a USA based company so its possible that Nintendo of America has more direct access for the machine.

My guess on the nintendo side is a 5nm or 3nm chip using a tegra that is 1-2 generations behind at that point. However it will need to be comparable in terms of feature support ( ray tracing , modern upscaling tech , machine learning) to the series s/x and ps5 otherwise they are going to have a lot of trouble getting non indy ports to the system

As for the system looking dated. Well I think control and dying light 2 as cloud only games tells the tale. They now have competition that will run those games natively on the go

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Until sales for the NSW start to slow down, it really doesn't make much business sense to invest money into a new console.

There's likely constant plans in motion in case a new console is needed, but I'd be extremely surprised if Nintendo seriously starts to put into motion a new console until sales start to flatten out.

Combined with the fact that, at least in the US, they currently generate more revenue from game sales than any other game publisher ... why risk ruining a good thing?

Two things can potentially trigger serious development of a new console there. Games sales slowing down or Hardware sales slowing down. Neither of those are happening, so it's unlikely they'll do anything drastic.

It's not like they are in competition with either Sony or MS, so there's no reason for them to react to anything Sony or MS do. Nintendo's only real competition is ... Nintendo.

The one thing to keep an eye on is whether or not Nintendo grow complacent and in the future release another "Wii-U".

Regards,
SB

 

[eastmen]

Until sales for the NSW start to slow down, it really doesn't make much business sense to invest money into a new console.

There's likely constant plans in motion in case a new console is needed, but I'd be extremely surprised if Nintendo seriously starts to put into motion a new console until sales start to flatten out.

Combined with the fact that, at least in the US, they currently generate more revenue from game sales than any other game publisher ... why risk ruining a good thing?

Two things can potentially trigger serious development of a new console there. Games sales slowing down or Hardware sales slowing down. Neither of those are happening, so it's unlikely they'll do anything drastic.

It's not like they are in competition with either Sony or MS, so there's no reason for them to react to anything Sony or MS do. Nintendo's only real competition is ... Nintendo.

The one thing to keep an eye on is whether or not Nintendo grow complacent and in the future release another "Wii-U".

Regards,
SB

The Switch got a price cut in the UK and other territories. In the past nintendo has put out newer versions of the older hardware most likely because it was getting harder to source those components or even the fabs were being upgraded or changed. I just don't think the old way will cut it for nintendo to be honest. Nintendo has had a ton of success with 3rd party support mostly because it was very easy to move xbox 360 and ps3 engines over and while it required more work the ps4 xbox one stuff was also easy to move over since what 4 or 5 years passed since that hardware was released and the handheld was able to keep up.

This time I don't think a new 3ds style upgrade will work for them. A faster clocked Switch wont suddenly make stuff like control or dying light 2 run on the system. They are going to need a whole new design. I'd also wager that they should have something ready to go sooner than later because I don't see anything in their catalog that will make people run out and buy a new system. Like zelda did with the switch. Which will lead them exactly to a wii u scenario.

As for competition , well they have valve now. Like it or not the deck is capable of playing modern games at resolutions , frame rates and quality settings that the switch is just incapable of playing. LIke I've mentioned you can get a steam deck when it releases and play control , dying light and other new releases natively on the console. No internet connection required. It wont capture of all of Nintendo's audience but it will make it harder for Nintendo to transition to an ew device .

Another thing is at this last connect nintendo reminded me of their greatest flaw which is online support. 1) We are getting a new spaltoon after the sequel got very limited online support. 2) they are affraid to tell us how much they will charge us for genesis and n64 titles.

 

[milk]

I heard a super secret rumor that Nintendo was working on a new Mario game.

Be honest. Your uncle that works at nintendo told you that, didn't he?

 

[Johnny Awesome]

The Switch got a price cut in the UK and other territories. In the past nintendo has put out newer versions of the older hardware most likely because it was getting harder to source those components or even the fabs were being upgraded or changed. I just don't think the old way will cut it for nintendo to be honest. Nintendo has had a ton of success with 3rd party support mostly because it was very easy to move xbox 360 and ps3 engines over and while it required more work the ps4 xbox one stuff was also easy to move over since what 4 or 5 years passed since that hardware was released and the handheld was able to keep up.

This time I don't think a new 3ds style upgrade will work for them. A faster clocked Switch wont suddenly make stuff like control or dying light 2 run on the system. They are going to need a whole new design. I'd also wager that they should have something ready to go sooner than later because I don't see anything in their catalog that will make people run out and buy a new system. Like zelda did with the switch. Which will lead them exactly to a wii u scenario.

As for competition , well they have valve now. Like it or not the deck is capable of playing modern games at resolutions , frame rates and quality settings that the switch is just incapable of playing. LIke I've mentioned you can get a steam deck when it releases and play control , dying light and other new releases natively on the console. No internet connection required. It wont capture of all of Nintendo's audience but it will make it harder for Nintendo to transition to an ew device .

Another thing is at this last connect nintendo reminded me of their greatest flaw which is online support. 1) We are getting a new spaltoon after the sequel got very limited online support. 2) they are affraid to tell us how much they will charge us for genesis and n64 titles.

Hate to break it to you, but nobody cares. Especially Nintendo fans. Steam Deck is irrelevant to them. Nintendo will bring out a system when the hardware or software sales start to sag and not before. I don't know anyone that bought a Switch to play Doom or Control. 3rd party support for Nintendo is just bonus games IMO, because they have these:

Super Mario
Pokemon
Mario Kart
Legend of Zelda
Animal Crossing
Super Smash Brothers
Donkey Kong
Mario Party
Brain Age
Nintendogs
Yoshi
Luigi's Mansion
Professor Layton
Mario Tennis
Metroid
Paper Mario
Wario
Starfox

I've always liked Nintendo btw, since the GameCube days. The only reason I don't own a Switch for the 10 Nintendo games I would have liked this gen is because I don't want to get a divorce. I avoid portable gaming for marital reasons.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I've always liked Nintendo btw, since the GameCube days. The only reason I don't own a Switch for the 10 Nintendo games I would have liked this gen is because I don't want to get a divorce. I avoid portable gaming for marital reasons.

Easy solution, move to Utah and marry the NSW. Your wife then can't complain about what you do with your other wife.

Regards,
SB

 

[orangpelupa]

Easy solution, move to Utah and marry the NSW. Your wife then can't complain about what you do with your other wife.

Regards,
SB

Or embrace the polygamy between the wife and the switch, and have activities together for you 3

 

[eastmen]

Hate to break it to you, but nobody cares. Especially Nintendo fans. Steam Deck is irrelevant to them. Nintendo will bring out a system when the hardware or software sales start to sag and not before. I don't know anyone that bought a Switch to play Doom or Control. 3rd party support for Nintendo is just bonus games IMO, because they have these:

Super Mario
Pokemon
Mario Kart
Legend of Zelda
Animal Crossing
Super Smash Brothers
Donkey Kong
Mario Party
Brain Age
Nintendogs
Yoshi
Luigi's Mansion
Professor Layton
Mario Tennis
Metroid
Paper Mario
Wario
Starfox

I've always liked Nintendo btw, since the GameCube days. The only reason I don't own a Switch for the 10 Nintendo games I would have liked this gen is because I don't want to get a divorce. I avoid portable gaming for marital reasons.

Hate to break it to you but most of the games are not system sellers. If Nintendo waits to long they are going to have a lot of issues. Everyone I know loved animal crossing during the pandemic but at this point in time no one is interested in going back to it even with the new content that has been hitting. THe problem with fads is they hardly last. But who knows maybe they will just re release the wii u games again and people will but a switch 2. After all people had mario kart 8 on wii u and then again on switch and seem happy.

 

[Johnny Awesome]

At this point Mario is a 40 year fad.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Hate to break it to you but most of the games are not system sellers. If Nintendo waits to long they are going to have a lot of issues. Everyone I know loved animal crossing during the pandemic but at this point in time no one is interested in going back to it even with the new content that has been hitting. THe problem with fads is they hardly last. But who knows maybe they will just re release the wii u games again and people will but a switch 2. After all people had mario kart 8 on wii u and then again on switch and seem happy.

You say that, but Mario Kart 8 was still the #6 best seller in August's NPD. Animal Crossing was still 14th. 3 years after launch on NSW, Super Smash Bros is #11. Pokemon was 15, Super Mario 3D World was 17, Super Mario Party was 20, Zelda was #7.

I mean 9 of the top 20 NPD titles for Aug. 2021 were made by Nintendo. And you can only play them on the NSW. And NSW sales are still increasing year over year. So obviously something is selling those systems and if it's not the games that Nintendo are making ... uh, then what is?

Just to drive that home. Nintendo are selling more games than EA or Activision or UBIsoft or any other game publisher. And there's only one console you can play those games on. Does it matter if these are all games in long standing IPs if the games continue to outsell games made by all other publishers?

The Wii was an obvious fad. It peaked on year 3 and then declined. NSW is over 4 years old and still hasn't peaked. It's already surpassed lifetime sales of the PS3 and X360 in roughly half the amount of time. It'll likely surpass Wii lifetime sales this year. It'll likely surpass PS1 and PS4 lifetime sales next year.

The reason the NSW continues to sell strongly is that unlike the Wii, it's not relying on a gimicky and not terribly accurate control gimmick (motion controls). Basically the system doesn't die once people get over the novelty of the control scheme.

I mean, I had a Wii ... that I almost never used. I have an NSW that gets a ton of use.

Regards,
SB

 

[Johnny Awesome]

My bet is that Nintendo doesn't need new hardware until 2024 even, but there's a chance for 2023 if their studios need more power for creative reasons.

 

[see colon]

I mean, I had a Wii ... that I almost never used.

Whaaaaaaaaaaauut? What did you play LA Machineguns and Mad Dog McCree on then?