now is the best time ever for Nintendo to be prototyping a new system

[futurefields]

since Microsoft and Sony decided to launch with relatively weak, non future proof, non gaming friendly architectures (1.6ghz netbook cpu cores) now is the best time for Nintendo to be testing new system designs, something with a higher clocked cpu especially. They could release summer 2015 and steal the show

 

[gorcorps]

non-gaming friendly architecture? All I've heard is that these consoles have been the easiest to develop and port for in quite a while. No cell CPUs or any of that garbage.

 

[smackababy]

non-gaming friendly architecture? All I've heard is that these consoles have been the easiest to develop and port for in quite a while. No cell CPUs or any of that garbage.

This is a futurefields thread. You can't expect it to not be trolling.

 

[gorcorps]

This is a futurefields thread. You can't expect it to not be trolling.

I guess I haven't been paying attention enough to the OP to have formed an opinion yet, but that makes sense :whiste:

 

[purbeast0]

I guess I haven't been paying attention enough to the OP to have formed an opinion yet, but that makes sense :whiste:

http://forums.anandtech.com/search.php?searchid=2136801

 

[ImpulsE69]

It will be a system that played GTAV and only GTAV. Everything else is SHITE!

 

[cyclohexane]

The op should call the CEO of Nintendo.

 

[Dumac]

The Wii U is here to stay. Deal with it.

Microsoft and Sony decided to launch with relatively weak, non future proof, non gaming friendly architectures

wut

 

[futurefields]

it's true, the cpu isn't ideal for running games because the performance is weak

the gpu on PS4 is ok, but let's talk in a couple years when you see how big the disparity becomes

 

[Lil Frier]

What's that got to do with the asinine "non gaming friendly architecture" comment? It's the same architecture found in the PC Master Race, except it's a lower-powered one.

 

[cmdrdredd]

What's that got to do with the asinine "non gaming friendly architecture" comment? It's the same architecture found in the PC Master Race, except it's a lower-powered one.

It's still cream of the crop as far as consoles go too. We haven't even begun to see what they will do with it. They are getting new SDKs out all the time.

 

[Sonikku]

it's true, the cpu isn't ideal for running games because the performance is weak

the gpu on PS4 is ok, but let's talk in a couple years when you see how big the disparity becomes

Already games all over the place are being reduced to 30fps.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Already games all over the place are being reduced to 30fps.

I don't see that a whole lot. I see a push for 1080p more though.

 

[Fulle]

Nintendo has released on about a 5 year cycle for their home consoles up to now, so I guess it would make sense to expect a new one around November 2017. I think Nintendo knows that if they didn't support the Wii U until at least Holiday 2016, they would lose consumer confidence in their brand.

 

[mmntech]

If a game is still at 30fps, it isn't a deal breaker to me. I mean you do notice when games are 60fps (smoother) but there's very few that really benefit from the higher rate. Mostly racing games or anything that's really fast paced. Sonic Generations for example is vastly superior on PC for that reason. All broadcast TV is 30fps.

I do however think 1080/60p is something we need to be striving for today.

As for Nintendo pushing out new hardware anytime soon, it would be a bad move. Sega tried this when they released the Dreamcast so soon after the Saturn came out. Upset a lot of their core fanbase, who felt they'd been cheated. Gamers aren't keen on the annual or biennial hardware releases you get with mobile devices. Nor will they be unless you could guarantee indefinite software compatibility and a $200 price tag.

 

[futurefields]

nobody says they will have to stop supporting Wii U

the SNES 2 will just be more powerful (than ps4 even) so multiplats will be viable on a Nintendo platform again

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Nintendos target market is preteens and children when PS4 and XBone compte for teens and up.

As such, Nintendo makes less powerful consoles that cost less. Since kids don't care about graphics and parents care about price.

 

[Lil Frier]

nobody says they will have to stop supporting Wii U

the SNES 2 will just be more powerful (than ps4 even) so multiplats will be viable on a Nintendo platform again

So, which downside would you prefer then?

--Nintendo releases a more-powerful console, claims to still support the Wii U, and the new hardware is wasted as a result. We see with the One and PS4, how support for the PS3 and 360 drags down development of the version on the better consoles.

--Nintendo releases a more-powerful console, claims to support the Wii U, but the Wii U gets pseudo-abandoned as Wii U versions of games on the new console are gutted of scale or features or visuals to make it run on the lesser console.

Nintendo can't handle 1 console well right now, so what makes you think that they could support 2?

 

[Sonikku]

Nintendos target market is preteens and children when PS4 and XBone compte for teens and up.

As such, Nintendo makes less powerful consoles that cost less. Since kids don't care about graphics and parents care about price.

This is a bad idea. Today's kids don't care about video games like we did. Our generation has been the one supporting the entire industry. The slice of the pie will only shrink for Nintendo. Besides, when you're a preteen do you want the product the big kids play? Or do you like it nice and family friendly?

 

[Dumac]

If a game is still at 30fps, it isn't a deal breaker to me. I mean you do notice when games are 60fps (smoother) but there's very few that really benefit from the higher rate. Mostly racing games or anything that's really fast paced. Sonic Generations for example is vastly superior on PC for that reason. All broadcast TV is 30fps.

I do however think 1080/60p is something we need to be striving for today.

As for Nintendo pushing out new hardware anytime soon, it would be a bad move. Sega tried this when they released the Dreamcast so soon after the Saturn came out. Upset a lot of their core fanbase, who felt they'd been cheated. Gamers aren't keen on the annual or biennial hardware releases you get with mobile devices. Nor will they be unless you could guarantee indefinite software compatibility and a $200 price tag.

Every game looks much better at 60fps.

 

[mmntech]

This is a bad idea. Today's kids don't care about video games like we did. Our generation has been the one supporting the entire industry. The slice of the pie will only shrink for Nintendo. Besides, when you're a preteen do you want the product the big kids play? Or do you like it nice and family friendly?

I think mobile games have really cannibalized Nintendo's sales, even though nobody wants to admit it. The casual gamers came for the Wii, but moved on to smartphones. Now they play things like Candy Crush and Clash of Clans.

When you look at sales figures comparing the Wii U to the GameCube, they're very similar. Which means Nintendo didn't build any brand loyalty with the Wii. I think part of that is software. Once the initial novelty of Wii Sports wore off, a lot of people just let their systems collect dust. Simply because those people don't want to play Mario or Zelda. Those games are either too complicated for them, or take up too much time.

Nintendo's problem isn't their hardware. Rather it's the entire way they operate. Namely how slow they are to adapt to industry trends (online especially) and their over focus on the Japanese market.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Nintendo still doesn't have a team dedicated to assisting western developers. When I heard the story about a developer asking a question and it had to go through a translator, then up a chain of command just for a simple question, I was shocked at the incompetence there.

 

[KentState]

So OP, you start out the thread with this ludicrous comment

since Microsoft and Sony decided to launch with relatively weak, non future proof, non gaming friendly architectures

and then you expect Nintendo who went with a slightly better previous gen architecture and poor development support to all of a sudden leap frog Sony and MS?

 

[futurefields]

nope not expecting anything

just saying the opening is there

 

[mmntech]

Nintendo still doesn't have a team dedicated to assisting western developers. When I heard the story about a developer asking a question and it had to go through a translator, then up a chain of command just for a simple question, I was shocked at the incompetence there.

That was the interview with Eurogamer that was done last January IIRC. It was a real eye opener about how Nintendo operates. They're still trying to operate the same way they did 25 years ago.

The best thing for Nintendo to do right now is spend their sweet Wii/DS money and start buying up foreign developers. Which is essentially what Sony did. The Japanese gaming scene is pretty unique, even within Asia. Japan is still pretty big on local multiplayer when the rest of the world moved to online ages ago. A lot of Japanese games don't always translate over that well. That's why demand for them crashed when more Western made games started appearing on consoles.

The focus should be on making games that appeal to Western, Chinese, and Korean gamers. Or, focus on developing markets like Brazil, India, and Russia. Japan isn't that important of a market anymore.