Nintendo announce: Nintendo NX

[Grall]

I'd say that's the only part of this theory that has the air of legitimacy to it.

It is indeed a very wonky-sounding concept. A portable console that comes in three pieces, one of which which isn't even included when you buy the console - that's not an easy sell! This whole thing has the air of internet fan-created rumor about it, but hell, you never really know - maybe Nintendo has clued in to the fact they're about to obsolete themselves if they don't do something drastic.

Making a three-piece portable console also sounds weird enough for Nintendo, the company that did create both Wii U AND the original Wii (which, as we may recall, was almost universally expected to be a complete bomb, sales-wise), AND the Virtual Boy as well if we want to dial in the Way-Back Machine quite a few years now...

60fps gaming could be had on modern portable devices; iOS and the last two generations of iThings have its Metal API, and I would expect recent Androids (and whichever few devices that run it) to support Vulcan, yes? You might need to scale your assets depending on the hardware though, it'd mean additional obstacles Nintendo themselves isn't very used to during game development, but which is - let's face it - pretty common practice amongst most other devs.

 

[liolio]

If I let aside the dark side in me that tells me that the game is already over (Android and iOS won even-though proper handheld have yet to materialize), I really think that the only room left for Nintendo (handheld but applies to home console) is a traditional barebone gaming device. When I say barebone I mean it, it could mean no touch screen. I've looked at the best seller games on the 3DS I suspect that the touchscreen usage is pretty gimmicky in most of those games, the same might apply to the second screen and 3D as well. All those things add up to the device cost and ultimately it prevents new user to buy the platform. Speaking of the touch screen the experience it provides won't be matched by the home console anyway.
I would also discard the tier approach (std, XL, 2DS), etc. as nobody like to feel like he is buying the lesser version of a product and it is not helping with advertizing, it has an overhead (stock management, etc).
For the fans the selling point of the new system could be more screen real estate, longer battery life, performance level that makes some genres more of a match to the system, comfortable controls, policies change wrt to emulation, etc.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

60fps gaming could be had on modern portable devices; iOS and the last two generations of iThings have its Metal API, and I would expect recent Androids (and whichever few devices that run it) to support Vulcan, yes? You might need to scale your assets depending on the hardware though...

I don't that's realistic. If N. aimed for 60 fps on a certain device, lower spec devices would not hit that target. And if they aim for 60 fps on most devices, their games would be very limited in graphics. Which, actually, would suit Nintendo really well!

 

[liolio]

There are others issues, how the Apps on the client side is going to be handled? Multi-tasking is not the same thing on iOS, Android, Windows Phones ( I know... who cares). There are many things on the client side that could disrupt the experience, for a good experience you may want root access.
There is also the matter of how scaling is handled? Most likely on the client side as we affect the amount of data that needs to be transferred from the dock to the client. It gets me to the point not all the phones are the same with different decoding capabilities and you want both low power and fast.

I think it is 100% fake rumor, I also can't see how that could have any type of decent reception from any serious actor on the market.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

For screen size, the box can scale to target's native res. Render a constant xxxp and scale accordingly.

 

[liolio]

For screen size, the box can scale to target's native res. Render a constant xxxp and scale accordingly.

Native res is all over the place. You will have to either upscale or downscale, then you when you stream the amount of data will greatly vary. You can rely on the client side scaling (up or down) but it won't grant you a consistent experience as hardware lvl of acceleration varies, CPU speeds varies, etc. different latency, power usage, etc. (also depends on other tasks in the background).
Honestly looking at Android herratic behaviour... in the history of the bad idea I think this one rates pretty well.

 

[Fourth Storm]

That rumor sounds eerily similar to some speculation I posted on Neogaf a couple days ago. At least the part about streaming an av signal to a mobile app. Either way, I agree with you guys in that ultimately it seems too problematic to work properly.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Native res is all over the place. You will have to either upscale or downscale, then you when you stream the amount of data will greatly vary.

Cap to a bitrate? All mobiles support h.264 decoding and with WiFi Direct I expect you could go with a (very) high bitrate. Of course lossless encoding would be something else.

 

[BRiT]

Why would they not just have users of Android devices use the Chromecast dongle and screen mirroring and an existing game controller that connects to the tablet? Both of those already exists, so all Nintendo needs is to supply the software.

And for windows tablets they can use an Intel streaming dongle and then have the XBox controller paired up with the tablet. All Nintendo needs to supply is the software.

For apple devices, is there already an existing dongle or controller that works in the same ways? So then all Nintendo needs to provide is the software.


Yeah, I call fake on this latest rumor, especially when it can already be done today with no hardware required from Nintendo.

 

[Grall]

If N. aimed for 60 fps on a certain device, lower spec devices would not hit that target.

Scaling assets, and/or rendering quality for different levels of hardware has existed since (at least!) Wolfenstein 3D back in 1991. It wouldn't be any kind of insurmountable problem, content generation today already deal with different levels of LoD; you just stick to the lower level assets on weaker hardware.

 

[wco81]

They could just have a controller/cradle that pairs with bluetooth and just works with the Nintendo apps/games.

 

[RDGoodla]

So nVidia Shield TV then.
It doesn't particularly benefit from mobile devices, as it's a standalone device. Potential customers will need to carry the NX with them. The only real upside is getting a display 'for free', and perhaps synergy with the controller being usable for mobile games.

Seems a back-to-front solution to me. Instead of being a standalone tablet that doubles as a console, with people buying a tablet and getting a Nintendo console 'for free', it's a console that requires a mobile, bought in addition to the mobile device and requiring moving a brick around. Basically more fuss and effort for no particularly better solution.

PS4 already can stream to Xperia tablet, Xperia phone, PSV and Vita TV.

The streaming function is not mainly for mobile gaming because it's too inconvenient. It's for home gaming. If NX can streaming to 3 more devices while connected to a HDTV, then four players can have their individual screen. This is Wii U's vision.

But steaming latency of WiiU is extreamly low (1/60 sec?). I wonder how they will achieve low latency when streaming to other devices.

 

[Rikimaru]

But steaming latency of WiiU is extreamly low (1/60 sec?). I wonder how they will achieve low latency when streaming to other devices.

They won't. Rumour is obviously fake. Like Nintendo Fusion one.

 

[Fourth Storm]

I am pretty sure Iwata or Miyamoto ruled out "cloud streaming," which this essentially is, for gaming in an interview last year. They cited the high latency, as expected. Unless this streaming is meant to be local only? Edit: just reread the rumor. I guess it is meant for local streaming. It still clashes with what we do know, however.

Still, N.E.R.D. are apparently neck deep in some type of cloud technology. What else might Nintendo use it for?

 

[Rikimaru]

Still, N.E.R.D. are apparently neck deep in some type of cloud technology. What else might Nintendo use it for?

Miiverse.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Scaling assets, and/or rendering quality for different levels of hardware has existed since (at least!) Wolfenstein 3D back in 1991. It wouldn't be any kind of insurmountable problem, content generation today already deal with different levels of LoD; you just stick to the lower level assets on weaker hardware.

It's not insurmountable, but it's quite a lot more work and you still can't guarantee the final quality. It'd also presumably be a lot more complexity for N. typical audience in tweaking render settings.

But steaming latency of WiiU is extreamly low (1/60 sec?). I wonder how they will achieve low latency when streaming to other devices.

WiFi Direct is low latency, lower than Bluetooth. As long as the rendering hardware is up to snuff, it shouldn't be a problem.

They won't. Rumour is obviously fake. Like Nintendo Fusion one.

It's still a valid topic of discussion as a hypothetical product. Feel free to join in or not.

 

[Grall]

It's not insurmountable, but it's quite a lot more work

It's not "a lot" more work. Textures can easily have different MIP levels generated automatically. 3D rendering packages can reduce 3D models. Bones can be removed. Shaders - if Nintendo games ever use any that is lol - can be replaced with simpler versions. You can render smaller buffers, and so on.

and you still can't guarantee the final quality.

Which is why you specifically target certain models/platforms as your baseline, most easily accomplished with Apple's ecosystem. Then you CAN know final quality, since the platforms you run on are known entities.

It'd also presumably be a lot more complexity for N. typical audience in tweaking render settings.

Well yeah. Duh. Growth only comes through pain, you know? Unless you're Nintendo in the 1980s and rule the market by default - although I know of no reset button for past history, so there we are.

 

[Rikimaru]

It's still a valid topic of discussion as a hypothetical product. Feel free to join in or not.

The idea has so many flaws. The amount of tech issues it brings is enormous.
And of course N would never do this.

 

[tangey]

Well if the deck/controller thing is correct, it'll be immediately killed if apple goes down the road of making AppleTV game capable. Given that apple has the best mobile graphical userbase and ecosystem, an apple TV that can stream IOS games, or download them and control them using IOS devices (including an apple game controller) is basically exactly as per this conjecture, except Apple have an enormous user base ready from day 1, and an equally large ecosystem/ game developer base.

 

[Goodtwin]

Is there a scenario where you guys actually see NX being successful? I here a lot of people claiming that Nintendo needs to offer what Sony/Microsoft offer, preferable with better specs, but do you really think that is a recipe for success? Gamecube was more or less on par with the Xbox and PS2, but was Nintendo's worst selling console to date (Wii U will take that title in a couple of years). Gamecube actually did have the majority of third party games, and had all of Nintendo's best first party games, and was the lowest priced console, and it still didn't sell well. So if you were in charge, what would you offer and why would consumers choose it instead of a PS4 or X1? Or if you don't believe it will be a direct competitor, what is your foundation for believing that will work.