Nintendo Switch Thread (March 3 2017 worldwide, US$299)

[Dr. Zoidberg]

"For our dedicated video game platform business, Nintendo is currently developing a gaming platform codenamed “NX” with a brand-new concept. NX will be launched in March 2017 globally."

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2016/160427_4e.pdf

[melancholy]

How the hell does a company launch a console in this fiscal year yet still refuse to talk about it? No NX at E3 is crazy.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

It's weird. Sega level weird. They shouldn't even wait until E3, they should be talking about it now to build up some positive hype for the system before Sony & MS announce their new machines but instead it feels like they are too embarrassed to talk about it.

IGN: Why Nintendo Is In Real Trouble

[Matisfaction]

To be fair the NX hype has been pretty crazy since it was known to be a thing, there seems to be a new rumour on a daily basis.

That IGN article misses two major points (as well as being fairly inaccurate on a few things), one bieng advertising and the second being price, Nintendo got it right with the Wii and totally wrong with the Wii U, also the Wii U had practically nothing released for for it through most of 2013 and the first half of 2014, which killed the momentum of a pretty good launch. Interestingly enough, Kmishima even stated that he thought the Wii U was a bad idea from the start.

How the hell does a company launch a console in this fiscal year yet still refuse to talk about it? No NX at E3 is crazy.

They said that they were going down this route during E3 last year, mostly due to "competitors" and fans being dissapointed with delays, apparently.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Nintendo won't sell NX at a loss

Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima has said the company isn't planning on selling the Nintendo NX at a loss. In a post-earnings Q&A with investors last week, the executive said the company isn't considering pricing its next system at anything less than break even.

While other console makers have frequently sold hardware at a loss with the intention of making up that money through software sales, Nintendo has almost never used that strategy. One notable exception was the Wii U.

"When Wii U was launched, the yen was very strong," Kimishima said. "I am assuming that situation will not repeat itself. Selling at a loss at launch would not support the business, so we are keeping that mind in developing NX."

Kimishima also commented on lowered expectations surrounding the Wii U, and how quickly the NX business will make up for the legacy console's flagging performance.

"We are predicting about 800,000 Wii U hardware sales in the fiscal year ending March 2017, which is a decrease of about 2.4 million units compared to the previous year," Kimishima said. "NX and smart device business will be essential to cover this gap, but we also expect download content business to play a role. However, we are planning with the expectation that NX sales will compensate for much of the impact on sales from reduced Wii U hardware sales."

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Nintendo Investor Q&A in English:

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/librar ... index.html

[Matisfaction]

I'm deffo waiting twelve months after launch before deciding whether to get this. Wii U is a great system and I had a lot of fun with it, but 2013 to mid 2014 was pretty painful, multiple delays, Nintendo really slow bringing key releases out and if I'd have waited I would have been able to pick up the Wind Waker pack...

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Sounds like a good idea, especially if one of the main NX games at launch will be on the Wii U as well anyway.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Matisfaction]

If EA do decide to bring games to the NX, then not bashing the hardware prior to release and throughout it's tenure (Like they did with the Wii and Wii U) would be a really good idea.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

So about NX…

On April 4th, 2016, there was a Reddit rumor claiming that NX was using x86 architecture. Reddit’s moderators verified the post, and this gave the rumor some legitimacy.



After speaking to seven different people this week, I can say with confidence that this is false. NX is not using x86 architecture like PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The NX has special, custom-made chips and the overall design of the hardware is very modern. The chips are industry leading because they are very modern chips, but having modern chips doesn’t necessarily mean Nintendo is aiming to create the most powerful hardware on the market. Furthermore, any NX rumors on “Polaris chips” and “Polaris architecture” are all wacky. There’s a good reason why those rumors are wacky.

In terms of raw power, numerous sources tell me that NX is much closer to Xbox One than PlayStation 4. Even that might be stretching it a tiny bit. Anyone who is claiming that NX is “two times the power of PS4 GPU” is being misled by their sources. Based on what I’ve heard, I don’t believe the NX will compete directly with PS4 (Neo) / PS4K in raw power.

There will be plenty of debates over the NX’s specs because it’s not simple to directly compare two apples (with x86 architecture) to an orange (that doesn’t use x86 architecture). But everything that I’ve heard (so far) indicates that NX isn’t going to blow away any of the consoles on the market today…except for Wii U.

Source: Emily Rogers

[Skynet]

So they're releasing a new console just a few years after their last console which is almost on par with a current gen console that will have a mid gen upgrade itself.

Good call...

[melancholy]

So they're releasing a new console just a few years after their last console which is almost on par with a current gen console that will have a mid gen upgrade itself.

Good call...

Considering Nintendo's ability to put out stellar-looking games on the Wii U, I am not really concerned about the power of the NX.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

If it's priced at US$199 or US$249 then that's not so bad, as long as Nintendo themselves ramp up the game production because less 3rd party companies will probably want to port their games at first.

If it's priced at the same level as the new versions of the PS4 and X1 then it will probably sell worse than the Wii U.

[Matisfaction]

Exactly, all comes down to price and software. The Handheld/home console hybrid thing makes a lot of sense as Nintendo can now pool everything togther, if the Wii U had the 3DS' software library things could have been very different.

At this point western third parties don't give a shit, they'll only release games if it's feesable to get quick returns from vanilla ports, EA have already stated that in so many words.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Nintendo NX will powered by an NVIDIA Tegra processor, not an AMD chip

Up until now, AMD was reportedly powering Nintendo's next-gen console, but it'll reportedly be an NVIDIA Tegra design

Up until now, everything we've heard on the next-gen consoles is that AMD will have APUs inside all of them. The Nintendo NX was meant to be powered by an AMD design, but according to our sources, Nintendo is working with NVIDIA and will use a Pascal-based Tegra chip inside of their next-gen Nintendo NX console.

I've been sitting on this story for a little while now, but it has been backed up by another source - who has said that NVIDIA will be providing a Pascal-based Tegra processor for Nintendo's next-gen console. First, Nintendo working with NVIDIA is a big, big deal. The GameCube was powered by the Flipper GPU provided by ATI at the time, after which the insanely popular Wii console was powered by another ATI design: "Hollywood". Hollywood was a 90nm chip, with two dies powering it.

Moving onto the Wii U, where Nintendo used a custom multi-chip module (MCM) developed by AMD, IBM and Renesas (as well as Nintendo IRD and Nintendo Technology Development). The GPU itself is the GX2, which was designed by AMD, and is based on the older R600/R700 architecture and clocked at 550MHz. It's older in the tooth now, so the use of a Pascal-based Tegra processor is interesting, and exciting. NVIDIA's current Maxwell-powered Tegra X1 processor can handle 4K output, and 1080p 60FPS gaming without a problem.

Nintendo's NX console using a NVIDIA design is also a huge win for NVIDIA over AMD, and symbolizes the shift from a much bigger CPU/APU or GPU design, to a mobile SoC design. It could also mean that the rumors of a portable Nintendo console, were right after all.

We don't have anything in the way of technical specifications, other than the news that Nintendo will use an NVIDIA Tegra processor inside of their next-gen NX console. We should expect a full reveal at E3 2016 in June, and NVIDIA stock to rise significantly once the news is confirmed. This doesn't mean AMD is out of the game, as I think we'll see the next-gen Xbox and PlayStation continue to use AMD designs, more specifically 14nm-powered Polaris offerings, in the near future.

Source: TweakTown

[OrangeRibbon]

Damn it, Zelda is delayed again!!

[Matisfaction]

Should have seen it coming with TP HD, everytime a Zelda game is delayed on the Wii U we get a HD port.... I'm still holding out for Skyward Sword HD.

[pixel]

Should have seen it coming with TP HD, everytime a Zelda game is delayed on the Wii U we get a HD port.... I'm still holding out for Skyward Sword HD.

They lost me with musical tadpoles and claustrophobic world design. If Skyward Sword were a stew, Nintendo skimped on the meat and added enough spice to the stock for the first time since 1996.

The NPCs and story had finally evolved past Ocarina Of Time. Some of the characters were actually likable and were slightly deeper than a thimble. And a Zelda origin story? That made us older fans cream our pants with excitement. I was ready to know more about this crazy world's beginnings.

But cripes, dividing the world into three lazy pieces with a hub world made the game a bore. I had to Google to remember what the hell Eldin Volcano was. That place was boring, and so was 90 percent of that damn desert area. Faron Woods had more character, mostly because of nostalgia from the previous games. But then, at the end, they just flooded the damn thing because they wanted to shoehorn a dumb, 45-minute swimming mini game.

I feel like Nintendo slid by with the bare minimum in a Ocarina of Time-styled game. But it's either at the same level — or slightly worse — than Twilight Princess. In the grand scheme of things, they're still really good, but it's time for some new ideas.

P.S. Fuck this guy:

[pixel]

In terms of NX: I'm holding out judgement. I feel like it will be really brilliant or incredibly stupid.

If Nintendo is known for anything, it's pulling out huge surprises from their asses.

[melancholy]

I started playing Skyward Sword again on Dolphin, so I don't really need an HD version. I absolutely love it, even more than Wind Waker. The only part I dislike (other than the boss Pixel posted) is the sky, because flying around this empty central hub is tedious. But holy crap is this game gorgeous in 1080p.