Cool story, bro!

Nice show!

If Yoshi is coming late, i wouldn't be surprised if XCX is coming out in June in the US.

Lately, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga.
Also, Mighty Switch Force 2, MK8 (200cc) and Turtle Tale (boy, as i regret buying this...).

It goes deeper than that as well, it has massive reductions in opportunity costs: http://en.wikipedia....pportunity_cost

 

Before, Nintendos teams needed to be professional level experts of two completely different languages and coding styles to support two systems to Nintendos level of quality. That costs a LOT of time, money, and human resources.

 

Now they will only have to master a single style.

True!
I don't understand but i'll believe you.
I mean, i heard how hard it can be to port from one architecture to the other and how even Nintendo had troubles porting Wii games to 3DS and 3DS games to Wii U, so learning a language for an architecture takes time and it will help Nintendo have to learn only one language instead of two: the more experience you have the better you get at it.

My guess is that come January, at the Investor Meeting, Iwata might show if that's the road they will take or not.
If they feel that "oh, everything is going well now. No reason to panic anymore. It was just a matter of getting more games into the market, that's all", then, i fear the worse.
Crossing my fingers that they realise that they have bigger problems now and ahead.

What is A and B games in your opinion?

To put it simply, it's the games Nintendo makes vs almost everything else 3rd parties, Sony and MS make.

Nintendo has the kids/family/8 to 80 years old oriented games like Mario, MK, Smash, Zelda, Yooshi, Kirby, Animal Crossing, Pokemon. The others have the Halos, Gears of War, Destiny, Call of Duty, Uncharted, Forza, Gran Turismo, Killzone, God of War, Bloodborne, etc., etc.

The problem is that MS and Sony have the majority of their 1st party or exclusive library focused on those kind of games/genres. Nintendo does not.

And when in the past, being Nintendo was OK because there was demand for those games or 3rd parties did make games like those. Now they don't. They changed and the market changed. Only Nintendo didn't. And now you can see the result.

It does hurt Nintendo even more that kids can be just as happy with their smartphones or tablets playing those free or really cheap games. Why will parents bother so much buying a console and games when they can lend them their mobile devices and download a free game?

I think one of the most interesting things in gaming will be what route Nintendo decides to go for their next system. this gen (outside of the stellar quality of games for WiiU) has been a mess for Nintendo. Playstation brand is selling like crazy on basically the opposite view of what nintendo believes in. I wonder if they will take the same approach next time? I would love to see them shake things up a bit but... that we will see.

Apart from Sega, Nintendo has been the one who has made the most mistakes: no CDs for N64 made it lose a ton of support, specially in Japan; no DVDs or Internet connection for GC. Despite the higher price for XB, they managed to outsell GC; Wii U lacked software for the first semester 2 years straight, no account system, the VC is bare when compared to Wii's.

It's no longer a question of "will Nintendo go for the core gamers?", it's a necessity.
This generation proved that Nintendo can't support two main platforms at the same time. It was fine until the DS, when they brought a lot of small games or old games (GBA) and the bulk of the resources went to N64, GC and Wii.
And it's not just a matter of making games, it's about the marketing aswell. Iwata admitted that last year that they had to refrain from pushing Wii U more because they needed that money for pushing the 3DS.

If they go with 2 consoles aswell for next gen either they unify their game development or with the little amount of support home consoles have worldwide and handhelds have in the West, things are going to look even worse.

Unifying their production of games will, not only allow them to sell a single game to the whole Nintendo fanbase, but they will have resources to make games that they can't afford to make now. And that is actually the most important part of that strategy: to develop games that cater to the PS and MS fanbase on a constant basis, not just one or two per year - 'cause that won't help things change.

Its a good point, and plus, Nintendo abandoned any different game, like any racer beyond mario kart, they dont have any FPS, or anything out of their comfort zone.

That has always been Nintendo's problem on the home console market: they just didn't compete after the SNES.
N64 was probably the last console where they actually tried getting games that people liked and helped them a lot in the US: Nintendo Sports titles (even became a brand), Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, San Francisco Rush, Turok. Yet, they forgot about Europe and Japan tastes, basically.

I like Iwata, i really do, i think he's the man for the job, but at the same time it's mindblowing how blind - or willingly blind - Nintendo can be.
During the Wii days they saw that despite its success, they lacked the big titles except for CoD. No AC, no Dead Space, no GTA, no nothing. And that is something that you know it's going to be absent of your library for at least 2 years (minimum time to develop those games).

What did they do? They did absolutely nothing.
They lacked all the games and genres that made PS and XB a success amongst gamers and didn't do anything to try and build a userbase for those franchises to hop onto Nintendo's consoles and now they are hurting, and hurting badly.

I miss Turok. That was a great game. Nintendo is in a hard space right now. They can not afford not to support their own system, like they were doing. But at the same time they can't ignore more adult titles, like Turok. But if they start making those games -like they are starting to with games like Bayanetta - then that will give third parties more reason's not to bring their games over to the Wii U.

I only managed to play Turok 2 and i had a blast, especially the MP with my brothers. Good times!

No, they can't afford to really go after that market nor can they afford to just go with the Nintendo way of doing things like they are doing with Splatoon.
Splatoon is a good step but it's far from enough. They need a more "mature" 3rd person shooter to complement Splatoon and i don't think The Devil's Third is that game.

Actually, if Nintendo can make 3rd party like games successful on their consoles, with exclusives, then 3d parties will know that there is a market for their games on Nintendo's consoles.
Why do you think Activision and Disney keep bringing Skylanders and Disney Infinity? Because the market is there.

That's why i think Nintendo needs to unify their game development. That will allow them to make enough gamer per year and invest in new franchises in genres they don't make but that gamers love.
It's really the only solution for them.

I'm not sure that the next console will have backwards compatibility. Not only because there's still the risk of selling less than GC but also because in terms of retail games, the 2 libraries just don't compare.

A GC user would naturally carry a lot of GC games to the Wii, at the end of GC's life, but given that Wii U's support is so low, i don't think it would justify raising the costs of the HW.

Iwata already said that they plan to use an architecture similar to Wii U's. If that is possible or not with a x86 architecture, i have no idea.
But whatever architecture they decide to use, it won't matter for 3rd party relationships.
When Nintendo had a better architecture with the GC, in comparison with the PS2, it still didn't get them the best of the best 3rd party games.

Developers will always go where the market for their games is.
If Nintendo decides that they need more genres like racers, shooters, adventure games, etc. - all those games/genres that gamers love to pay - then gamers will come and that will show developers have a market for them to make money on.

The only thing that will bring back 3rd parties back is when Nintendo starts making - or bringing - exclusive games to their consoles that cater to the same crowd that 3rd party titles cater to.

In other words, Nintendo makes 90% type A games and 10% type B games;

3rd parties make 90% type B games and 10% type A games. Not a novelty to anyone, but the same goes for MS and Sony.

The numbers are just for show, but you get the point.
Unless Nintendo starts broadening the offering, like they did with the N64, they will never be an equal to MS or Sony. Unless another Wii happens.

Gamers want type B games, not type A, anymore.
There will always be a 20-30 million fanbase for that, but with Nintendo's mistakes and the dominance of the mobile market in their segment (kids and families), those numbers will lower for Nintendo. They need, as much as they don't want to, to go after the red ocean because the blue ocean in no longer available to them.
And either go strong or they will be stuck with GC/Wii U numbers.

We can blame 3d parties for ignoring Nintendo, and there might be right for some, but the consumer has spoken and made it clear, month after month, year after year, that they want those type of games and a console that offers them great value.
 

Given only the choice between those 2, I would say arm without a doubt.

I think we havent seen the end of that Nintendo ppc 750 line personally. Before Wii U I would be worried about it, but the custom job in espresso is actually impressive for what it is, and up to the task at hand (unlike 3ds's bottle necking cpu being remedied with new 3ds)

A smaller node, higher clock, more cores (less than 8 though for sure) and customizations like continuing to upgrade edram, more agressive OoO, and maybe maaaaaybe even some kind of vector floating point unit would be more than enough for Nintendo to be Nintendo next gen.

So, for people who barely understood what you just said - people like me  - in comparison to a PS4 or Xb 1, that would mean what? Small, medium or big difference?

Just out of curiosity, if Nintendo wanted to streamline their production and just optimize their games to run on a Wii U like handheld and that kinda console you mentioned, could that happen?

I really have no idea. I'm a zero at tech stuff.

I know that people think that the two new chips AMD (ARM and x86) is making, one at least, is for Nintendo. What would you say given Iwata's words?
He said this: "...it will become important for us to accurately take advantage of what we have done with the Wii U architecture. It of course does not mean that we are going to use exactly the same architecture as Wii U, but we are going to create a system that can absorb the Wii U architecture adequately."

Well, I was only talking about the ppc cpu, so a lot of that equation would be dependant on what GPU Nintendo decided to pair it with.

 

A wii u handheld could be tough, although the ppc 750 is a low power drawing processor for a plugged in system, it certainly isn't a sub-watt processor the likes of ARM products that go into mobile devices. It would depend on how low that power draw can get on that shrunken node per core, and at what clock speeds.

 

When Nintendo says architecture im not so sure they are talking about direct hardware architecture like using the same cpu processors for the handheld and consoles, but more a runtime architecture that can run the same code across both systems, which are stocked with similar api's and other run time libraries.

 

A unified development architecture, not necessarily the same hardware architecture.

 

This way, All next ds games could effortlessly run on wii next, easily upped in resolution and with sharper textures, better lighting, and better effects, and select wii next games would run on ds next systems with simple downscaling options. Obviously, the bigger, most impressive wii next games will be too much for a battery sipping portable, but big names that are simple enough cpu wise, like mario kart, party and smash, will be easy to have a portable version built to be downscale ready at the flip of a switch (Or the system flag of a boot). Even activating platform specific content for each game, all made by the same team during the same development cycle.

 

Making a game for ds next and wii next will be exactly the same code wise. Just one will be more powerful than another. No need for specialized wii u teams, and specialized 3ds teams, who excel on one platform but are inexperienced on the other. 

 

This would be a huge boost in resource effeciency, and greatly aid Nintendo in increasing the speed of content creation while mantaining quality. It will directly address game shortages Nintendo faces Whether or not 3rd parties decide to stop being Nintendo phobic.

 

To answer your Nintendos next console question, I think it will likely be a little more powerful than ps4/xbone, its next ds will likely be around as, or a little more powerful than the vita, although the resolution may not be as high as the vita's.

From what i understood, Iwata didn't mean they would the exact same architecture, just upgraded, but an architecture that allows them to use what they learn from Wii U and apply it to both the DS next an Wii U next. As in, how they could work with Wii U even if that means another type of architecture; same goals but different path.

Yeah, that's basically my idea of how next gen will pan out.
It's obvious that, even if 3rd parties release an equal version with all the extras on Wii U next, the game still won't sell a lot because the userbase just isn't on Nintendo's side and if we look at the japanese market, it's even worse: the handhelds will get the best support.
So, in Japan's case, having a system that "automatically" can play the same handheld games but with better graphics, it provides a great library for the home console.

"Even activating platform specific content for each game"
This could be a good incentive for people to buy both consoles.

Iwata was talking about one platform and we never really got any clarification on what that means. But if IBM isn't making CPU for gaming systems then you can forgot BC.

Here is the quote i was talking about:

"we are going to create a system that can absorb the Wii U architecture adequately. When this happens, home consoles and handheld devices will no longer be completely different, and they will become like brothers in a family of systems." - http://www.nintendo....40130qa/02.html

He wants to use the type of Wii U architecture and use it on both Handheld and Home Console.

He doesn't give away all that he has planeed but the sheds some light on A5.

You can find it here: http://www.nintendo....40130qa/02.html

That doesn't mean it will be the same architecture. It just means that he wants Wii U games to be playable. Apple did this when they switched to Intel and Nintedo could do the same.

I just provided a part of what he talked about. He goes on to say the same as you just did: it doesn't mean it will be the same tech.

Of course, he doesn't specify what it is, but given this rumor, all things point to Nintendo changing architecture. To what extent, is what remains to be seen.

Personally, i highly doubt the next console will have backwards compatibility.
If i'm not mistaked, only Wii had that and it was because it was basically a GC 2.0. It was easy and cheap to offer that.
Assuming that Nintendo wants to save money in parts to improve others, you can bet they won't offer that option. Most likely they will offer Wii U games via eShop - like they are doing with Wii games.

^ Maybe the New NES!?

IF NX is even the Wii U successor. Besides didn't Nintendo a few months ago speak of the future being similar to Wii U or they hinted it will have BC? It's still possible it will have BC as every PlayStation console until PS4 still plays PS1 discs.

Exactly, IF!

Iwata said the architecture would be similar but not the same. I don't understand anything about tech, but i what i read is that they liked how the architecture worked and wanted to keep that for the next consoles.

It's never impossible to have BC, i think. The real problem is the cost of having it and reasons to support that decision.
Whatever route Nintendo decides to take next gen will determine if at least the costs are low enough to keep the console at a reasonable price.

Yeah, people already assumed it was Nintendo.

Still, seeing as Nintendo announced NX, there's a part of that quote that is really relevant: "...and at least one will [be] beyond gaming,..."

The beyond gaming is something that, at the time, no one could easily pinpoint being Nintendo. After all, Nintendo's consoles have always been about gaming, period.

Now, after all that info that came from the Nintendo-DeNa conference, that "beyond gaming" seems to really, not just point at Nintendo, but also show what kind of direction Nintendo might be going in.

At least, i feel it's safe to assume that NX will be something really unique for Nintendo to even go beyond gaming.

What exists there beyond gaming: Blu-Ray player (for Nintendo it's a first), social features like sharing, could services (already confirmed by Iwata to be used by QoL and gaming devices), device interaction through account system, etc.

I really liked that beyond gaming part and i think NX will surprise us all!

They will ditch BC.

Wii had it because it was the similar to GC which made it cheaper, thus compensating the costs of having BC.

If NX is a different achitecture then BC won't come cheap. And for what, anyway? Less than 20M users; Sony and MS' fans complained but in the end they didn't care either.

They start development right after the current generation. Always.

I think it will be introduced E3 2016 and then released Holiday 2017.


You realize the main reason Wii U didn't do well was because of lack of good games? That is changing, and that means more Wii U will sell now.

After Sony and MS reveal and release happening in the same year, i doubt we'll go back to announce one year and release the next year.
Sony and MS's approach kept the hype from going away and i think Nintendo will want to do exactly the same.

Personally, the lack of good games is not Wii U's worst problem. Nintendo needs diversity and exclusivity.

Just look how ZombiU managed to beat by a mile, two CoD games put together. 2 CoD games! Call of Duty is not just another franchise.

That showed that exclusive titles marketed correctly can sell and that gamers are not going to buy Nintendo's consoles if all they have to offer of the genres they like, is just another port - specially if they are inferior ports.

Iwata already confirmed that early this year - or was it last year?...

Anyway, what strike me as odd was this quote: "While we're busy working on software for the Wii U, we have production lines that are working on ideas for what the next system might be."

I always thought there was only one group to think about the home console system and another to work on the handheld front.
He seems to imply that there are groups working on a single system.

Personally, i think late 2016/1Q of 2017 will be the time a new system arrives.

Something crossed my mind today after reading the Q&A.

We all know that the NX talk isn't new, that Nintendo already talked about its new consoles early 2014.
The question is, why did Nintendo, at the press conference with DeNA, said "dedicated gaming device" and not "dedicated gaming devices"?; Why singular and not in plural if everyone already expected that?
And they still used that expression in singular form during the lates Investor's meeting.

Iwata's reply to a NX question:

"Your question also included the "current notion of thinking about home consoles and handheld devices." When it comes to how dedicated game systems are being played, the situations have become rather different, especially between Japan and overseas. Since we are always thinking about how to create a new platform that will be accepted by as many people around the world as possible, we would like to offer to them "a dedicated video game platform with a brand new concept" by taking into consideration various factors, including the playing environments that differ by country. This is all that I can confirm today."

Remember how he also mentioned how he wanted to change how HW is sold to consumers?

Then, what if, Nintendo really is just making one platform that will come alive through different type of HW?
Iwata already mentioned that he would like to increase the form factors, how he sees both handheld and home consoles for next gen, as brother and sister.

This could very well mean that the HW will execute the brand new concept Nintendo has for its HW but Nintendo could also release variants of the same HW ala Steam Machines/mobile devices.

If this is true it actually goes in line with AMD's statement of a 2016 deal that goes beyond gaming.

More and more, i'm convinced that NX isn't this or that HW, but it's actually a way to play their games. And i wouldn't be surprised if we saw some deals to incorporate NX into stuff like TV, Blu-ray players, etc.

If they bring original content to mobile devices their handheld and home console could benefit from that.

Give a little exposure to your franchises and leave people wanting more.

Of course, there's also the risk of people just sticking with them and that's it.

It will all depend on what franchises and what type of games they make for mobile devices.

Different experiences will probably be the best solution.

To me, a third pillar could only be a tablet. It made sense: Nintendo specific mobile games still on Nintendo's HW.

But since no announcement was made, then it most likely isn't it.

What i think NX is.

It's both the handheld and home console where both play basically the same games/share the same library.

This is what i have been thinking for a long time. Yet, because of this conference i can't shake the feeling it's something more.

I don't know if it's HW related, OS related... I just feel that there's more to that "brand new concept" than just the controller being different.
And when Iwata said that this mobile development situation affected the HW development for next gen i just knew that there was something more.
I can think of a few things:

He's actually talking about sharing the same library between systems;

It's just OS related and there's interaction between the mobile side and gaming dedicated devices;

This new machine will interact with QoL to help modify the game according to your physical state , thus adapting it to you and making it a unique experience every time you play;

With the inclusion of PCs and mobile devices, NX will allow to connect to the Android store and STEAM. And whe i mean connect i really mean to use your handheld/home console to use those services and play all their games.

Wow...

The game is humongous!

If i buy this it will take me years to finish!