Expecations for the next Nintendo handheld console.

[kyrax12]

I don't think these are unreasonable for a 2017 device right?

1. Ram:- More ram. It would make it easier to have many application open at once and multitasking would become significantly more efficient. This leads to number 2.

2. Multitasking: Downloading while playing a game seems reasonable. Not having to suspend one software to open another also seems cool.

3. Resolution: This is one of the most important spec to improve. 240p is horrid. I am expecting at least QHD display in the next gen. Some AA also. 3D games need it kind of badly.

That is really all for now. I have to play more with the 2DS to see what needs to be improve.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I don't think there will be a new device even in 2017. With Nintendo's projected outlook for profitability being downgraded I think they will milk the 3ds/2ds a bit more to prop up the lack of wiiu sales.

 

[exar333]

Getting rid of 3D would be a great start...

 

[ghost recon88]

Getting rid of 3D would be a great start...

+1

I have a 3DS and turn the 3D off, looks just fine to me that way. The 3D on the 3DS was poorly done IMO.

 

[mmntech]

I actually like the 3D effect.

The rumoured DS Fusion is supposed to have dual 640p displays with capacitive touch screens. I'm not a huge fan of resistive touch and a stylus.

 

[poofyhairguy]

My expectation is no matter what it is, it will fail.

Parents are no longer going to be buying kids portable consoles as late as 2016. By then everyone will have a pile of older phones and tablets that they will give to their kids instead.

Making another portable console is a fools game.

If Nintendo was smart they would pull a Sony- licence your games to one tablet or phone maker. Cut a deal to put in some DRM chip so all Asus devices or whatever can be your next console.

Making the hardware yourself is a fool's errand.

 

[ImpulsE69]

My expectation is no matter what it is, it will fail.

Parents are no longer going to be buying kids portable consoles as late as 2016. By then everyone will have a pile of older phones and tablets that they will give to their kids instead.

Making another portable console is a fools game.

If Nintendo was smart they would pull a Sony- licence your games to one tablet or phone maker. Cut a deal to put in some DRM chip so all Asus devices or whatever can be your next console.

Making the hardware yourself is a fool's errand.

Sadly..you are probably right about this. I really hate playing (console) games on phones. I guess my actual portable days will be over at that point.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

love my 3ds. i think they need to rethink a number of things. online play is pretty horrible. for animal crossing you have to add someones friend code. they have to add you. you have open your gate and then they can come visit. wtf?

they need to tie digital purchases to an account and not the console.

UI on the 3ds/most nintendo systems is horrible. screens load way too slow.

multitasking would be nice. res is fine for games but it's pretty awful when you're trying to watch netflix.

More buttons would be nice.

They should have a subscription service. Pay a flat fee and you can play all the virtual console games you want. $10 for a 20 year old game is nutters.

 

[preslove]

My expectation is no matter what it is, it will fail.

Parents are no longer going to be buying kids portable consoles as late as 2016. By then everyone will have a pile of older phones and tablets that they will give to their kids instead.

Making another portable console is a fools game.

If Nintendo was smart they would pull a Sony- licence your games to one tablet or phone maker. Cut a deal to put in some DRM chip so all Asus devices or whatever can be your next console.

Making the hardware yourself is a fool's errand.

Honestly, I think you're wrong. Parents will want to just leave it at the old phone, but the kids will get pissed because the controls suck and pester them for a dedicated console with a d-pad. My gf's half-brother is 12 and he has an old iphone, iPad mini, and 3DS.

I doubt we'll see another DS soon, but I don't think it's over. As long as the price is kept low, kids are still going to want good controls.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I actually like the 3D effect.

The rumoured DS Fusion is supposed to have dual 640p displays with capacitive touch screens. I'm not a huge fan of resistive touch and a stylus.

I really like the 3D affect as well. More than I thought I would anyway.

Capacitive touchscreen would be a huge step forward though.

 

[exdeath]

With Nintendo's current track record it will be a 3 screen DS called the 3DS.

 

[ImpulsE69]

With Nintendo's current track record it will be a 3 screen DS called the 3DS Mii.

ftfy

I actually really like the 3D too. There are some times that it really does pop. I don't like the having to hold it in exactly a right angle which gets to be a pain in the more frantic gaming episodes..right in the middle of a boss fight and you lose focus sucks.

 

[mmntech]

love my 3ds. i think they need to rethink a number of things. online play is pretty horrible. for animal crossing you have to add someones friend code. they have to add you. you have open your gate and then they can come visit. wtf?

they need to tie digital purchases to an account and not the console.

UI on the 3ds/most nintendo systems is horrible. screens load way too slow.

multitasking would be nice. res is fine for games but it's pretty awful when you're trying to watch netflix.

More buttons would be nice.

They should have a subscription service. Pay a flat fee and you can play all the virtual console games you want. $10 for a 20 year old game is nutters.

Nintendo has basically been ignoring everything Sony and Microsoft have done on the online front over the last decade, to their detriment.

I sort of understand the friend codes. Nintendo works in a little bit of a different environment that Sony and MS. Since their products are targeted at a younger audience, they want to control who can communicate with who. Though there must be a better way to go about it.

As for the VC game prices, completely agree. They're actually $5-$6, which is more than the $3 Sega charges for their older games on iOS. In a lot of cases, you can get the original cartridge for less than that. They've also been very slow to put out new content for the VC on the 3DS. Then it's been all NES and Gameboy games. There were a few GBA games released as part of the ambassador program, and nothing for the SNES has come out AFAIK.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Honestly the catalog on the 3DS is really lacking. You would think the VC/digital distribution would help, but really it hasn't. I can't believe they've not released any SNES on it yet.

 

[desura]

Most important would be for it to sync up with the Wii u.

 

[zerocool84]

Definitely multitasking and a rez upgrade. Once you start playing you kinda forget about the low rez but it just bothers me sometimes. Whole playing Pokémon X, it'd look so awesome higher rez. I played the demo for Monster Hunter and it was literally hard to read some things because of the low rez and to see some of the faraway monsters.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Definitely multitasking and a rez upgrade. Once you start playing you kinda forget about the low rez but it just bothers me sometimes. Whole playing Pokémon X, it'd look so awesome higher rez. I played the demo for Monster Hunter and it was literally hard to read some things because of the low rez and to see some of the faraway monsters.

Playing Bravely Default in 720p or something would be quite amazing too. The art of the towns and characters would have that extra oomph.

 

[zerocool84]

Playing Bravely Default in 720p or something would be quite amazing too. The art of the towns and characters would have that extra oomph.

I was playing the demo for that too, it would definitely benefit from it. Those prerendered towns would look awesome.

 

[mmntech]

Definitely multitasking and a rez upgrade. Once you start playing you kinda forget about the low rez but it just bothers me sometimes. Whole playing Pokémon X, it'd look so awesome higher rez. I played the demo for Monster Hunter and it was literally hard to read some things because of the low rez and to see some of the faraway monsters.

It's lower than the PSP's, which was 480x272. It's 800x240, or realistically 400x240 with the 3D on.

I don't really notice the low rez so much, but I have the original 3DS. I would assume it's quite noticeable on the XL due to the lower PPI. Back when they were charging $250 for it, it wasn't worth it. Not with those specs.

 

[zerocool84]

It's lower than the PSP's, which was 480x272. It's 800x240, or realistically 400x240 with the 3D on.

I don't really notice the low rez so much, but I have the original 3DS. I would assume it's quite noticeable on the XL due to the lower PPI. Back when they were charging $250 for it, it wasn't worth it. Not with those specs.

I have the 2DS which is the same size screen as regular 3DS. Obviously most games you really won't notice it too much but with 3D games you definitely do.

 

[Rakehellion]

Just let it have no more than one screen, please.

 

[exar333]

I really like the form factor from the PSP/Vita, and if you combined this with (1) Nintendo's library of games (all older digital games, DS, 3DS) AND (2) allowing some cool ways to interact with their console, it would be a huge hit. I would definitely buy one if I could play Super Metroid on mobile or the latest RPG build for mobile. It doesn't need to be 'gimmicky' like Nintendo thinks all their handhelds/consoles require lately.

Make the screen nice, and the unit handy and it would be a hit.

 

[Zodiark1593]

It's lower than the PSP's, which was 480x272. It's 800x240, or realistically 400x240 with the 3D on.

I don't really notice the low rez so much, but I have the original 3DS. I would assume it's quite noticeable on the XL due to the lower PPI. Back when they were charging $250 for it, it wasn't worth it. Not with those specs.

At the time, the 3DS was actually pretty competitive with the iPhone 3GS on the GPU side of things, particularly with shading capabilities. Considering this is Nintendo we're talking about here, that's a pretty big jump, and 128 MB of RAM wasn't anything to scoff at either in a mobile device. However, looking at how fast mobile hardware moves, Nintendo (nor Sony for that matter) wasn't going to win any sort of graphics battle in the mid-long term no matter what hardware was used at the time of launch.

Things are starting to stabilize a little in the mobile realm it seems though (nothing out there still that can heavily outpace iPhone 5S hardware). 2015 or 2016 would probably be a good time for a new handheld console.

 

[mmntech]

At the time, the 3DS was actually pretty competitive with the iPhone 3GS on the GPU side of things, particularly with shading capabilities. Considering this is Nintendo we're talking about here, that's a pretty big jump, and 128 MB of RAM wasn't anything to scoff at either in a mobile device. However, looking at how fast mobile hardware moves, Nintendo (nor Sony for that matter) wasn't going to win any sort of graphics battle in the mid-long term no matter what hardware was used at the time of launch.

Things are starting to stabilize a little in the mobile realm it seems though (nothing out there still that can heavily outpace iPhone 5S hardware). 2015 or 2016 would probably be a good time for a new handheld console.

True, but nobody wanted to pay $250 for the thing when it was new. IIRC, it was the most expensive handheld Nintendo had ever launched at the time, by a pretty wide margin. Which is fine if you're a hardcore Nintendo fan but not when you're a parent looking to pick one up for your kid. That's why they cut the price so soon after launch.

I think I paid $220 for mine on sale back in the summer of 2011. Just happened to be when they launched the ambassador program, so I got a ton of free games with it. So that made it worth it.

I have both the Vita and 3DS. I actually bought the Vita right at launch because I was a big PSP fan. The Vita is just a better device in every single way. Better hardware, better in the hand, better system software, better online experience. Though it's Achilles' heel is still those damn expensive memory cards, not to mention the lacklustre quality of the games. My 3DS gets played the most by far. It has the better games hands down. Thus making it the all around better system.

 

[Arkaign]

I don't think a QHD screen is necessary, lol.

Here's a list :

5" Single screen, capacitive touch, 1280x720 is fine. 3D or no 3D, no matter.

Good speakers and controls. A higher-level GPU with 2GB of GDDR5 or maybe 4GB of DDR4 (2016?)

$149 starting price, with launch Zelda/Mario titles + one other major franchise. Have a massive VC library available from launch with great prices.

I feel if they keep it simple, keep it not too expensive, and have top-tier exclusives lined up for launch that they could really knock it out of the park. The achilles of the phone/tablets is the truly god-awful controls and library of games chock full of 99.9% shovelware, no matter how powerful they are.