NX Discussion and Rumor Thread

[Dan]

I cannot wait for the NX! I'm going to freeze myself and wait for it.

 

[Lozjam]

So, NX is the 8th generation of Nintendo consoles.

Nintendo officially mentioned the NX on April 27th, of which the NX is coming out in March of 2017.

This is a thread of news, rumors, and discussion of Nintendo's NeXt system. So please! go at it!


@Vanessa28
I would like to request that you merge my previous thread onto this one. Furthermore, I think a sticky for this thread would be appropriate considering the magnitude of this topic.

 

[Mipha]

I don't really know much about the new system but it would be nice if it could play games from all of the previous systems as well as it's own and have a lot of virtual exclusive games.

 

[the8thark]

So, NX is the 8th generation of Nintendo consoles.

Nintendo officially mentioned the NX on April 27th, of which the NX is coming out in March of 2017.

This is a thread of news, rumors, and discussion of Nintendo's NeXt system. So please! go at it!


@Vanessa28
I would like to request that you merge my previous thread onto this one. Furthermore, I think a sticky for this thread would be appropriate considering the magnitude of this topic.

@Vanessa28
Can this topic also be merged in as well as is it about NX rumours also and has some very good discussion on it.

http://zeldadungeon.net/forum/threads/more-nx-rumours.56117/

 

[Vanessa28]

So, NX is the 8th generation of Nintendo consoles.

Nintendo officially mentioned the NX on April 27th, of which the NX is coming out in March of 2017.

This is a thread of news, rumors, and discussion of Nintendo's NeXt system. So please! go at it!


@Vanessa28
I would like to request that you merge my previous thread onto this one. Furthermore, I think a sticky for this thread would be appropriate considering the magnitude of this topic.

@Vanessa28
Can this topic also be merged in as well as is it about NX rumours also and has some very good discussion on it.

http://zeldadungeon.net/forum/threads/more-nx-rumours.56117/

You got what you wished for I hope I did it right Oldest posts always appear on top so don't get confused

 

[the8thark]

You got what you wished for I hope I did it right Oldest posts always appear on top so don't get confused

Thank you kindly @Vanessa28

Here is some more interesting NX info.

Nintendo Expects NX Sales, DLC, and Mobile Revenue to Make Up for Declining Wii U and 3DS Profits
Source: http://www.gamnesia.com/news/ninten...and-mobile-revenue-to-make-up-for-declining-w

Question: While the forecasted sales for the Wii U this fiscal year are extremely weak, NX contributions to profitability seem to be included appearing to be numbers showing that, "We have some confidence in the NX, which will start with a sprint." Do you believe that the new NX will be able to cover for the decline of the Wii U?

Kimishima: We have forecast Wii U sales of 800,000 units for this fiscal year, a decline from 2.4m units last fiscal year. In terms of what will cover for it, essentially, the NX and smart device businesses will be central, and also, the download content business is included. We are planning for a large part of the great decline in the sales of Wii U hardware being made up by NX sales.

This makes sense. Few people are going to buy a WiiU now because we have NX info now. As long as Nintendo can sell off their existing WiiU's in the inventory channels that'll be good. The ramp up for the NX has started. Even the Nintendo account books are feeling this.

Nintendo is Not Planning to Sell the Upcoming NX Console at a Loss
Source:http://www.gamnesia.com/news/nintendo-is-not-planning-to-sell-the-upcoming-nx-console-at-a-loss

Question: While NX details are not being announced today, I want to know about its effect on results for this fiscal year. Previous launches have not had enough titles and were therefore slow to start. Can you promise to have a proper lineup at launch? The Wii U was a net negative, so also in consideration to cost, please tell me how the first year of the NX will contribute to results.

Kimishima: As the concept and other details of NX will be announced another time, I will just answer the points of your question. As you said the software lineup will be built-up. Having a full software lineup when the hardware launches is one reason for the NX launch timing. Also, we must be in a state to release titles not just at launch, but continually afterwards. We are planning for it to be a platform that will be played for a long time. Next, about cost, we aren't thinking of the hardware being unprofitable. When the Wii U launched the exchange rate was that of a very strong yen, and so that we don't have that kind of a situation again, launching as a loss-leader won't be what makes up our business, so that's how we're progressing with NX development.

This is a very sound business plan. Loss leaders is never a sustainable business plan. I am glad Nintendo is moving away from that to make sure each NX sells at a profit. This does mean we don't know how much the NX will cost. There are only really two options here Nintendo have. Lower the total cost somehow to keep this affordable, or raise the cost. I don't think Nintendo will not put innovation into thew NX, that would be a shot in Nintendo's foot. I am uncertain how much the NX will cost. Anything too much on the wrong side of $500 will be a bitter pill to swallow and will turn people of buying the console. We shall see how Nintendo deals with this.

 

[Lozjam]

Due to looking at Nintendo's financial reports, it looks like NX may indeed use a cartridge based system.

http://m.ign.com/articles/2016/05/05/rumour-nintendo-nx-to-drop-discs-for-cartridges

The same company that makes 3DS cartridges, is gearing up for a mass sale of a new type of cartridge, 32 gig cartridges.

I think that this is a fantastic thing.

Using cartridges will:
Make the console a lot cheaper
Make games run faster
Make the console much quieter
Provide more of an identity to Nintendo


There are very little cons to this as well. It will not damage 3rd party support at all, like with the GameCube. As we can see, 3DS uses cartridges and it has some of the best third party support on the system. For those that cannot afford to put cartridges out as well, they can easily do a digital only release.

It just makes so much sense for this to happen. This is how Nintendo can make a powerful system without having an absurdly huge price tag. I'm all for this.

 

[CrimsonCavalier]

I was going to mention the cartridge thing. It seems like it's a really interesting idea. The concept being that optical drives just simply can't keep up with the CPUs of modern consoles. The costs are no longer prohibitive, so it makes sense from both a business standpoint as well as a gaming standpoint.

This actually makes even more sense if you think about what Kimishima said regarding selling at a loss. If the consoles are going to be making a profit from the start, having some sort of cartridge or SD card type media instead of optical discs would reduce the cost. Maybe that's part of where the savings come from.

I have to admit, the more that Kimishima talks, the more confident I start feeling about the NX. I'm still not sure how it's going to work in regards to taking back market share, but at least we know the minds behind the scenes are carefully considering their moves.

 

[Mipha]

Haha I've won a bet with my mom. She thought it wouldn't support cartitriges :/

Anyways, I think this is a great idea.

 

[the8thark]

Due to looking at Nintendo's financial reports, it looks like NX may indeed use a cartridge based system.

http://m.ign.com/articles/2016/05/05/rumour-nintendo-nx-to-drop-discs-for-cartridges

The same company that makes 3DS cartridges, is gearing up for a mass sale of a new type of cartridge, 32 gig cartridges.

I think that this is a fantastic thing.

Using cartridges will:
Make the console a lot cheaper
Make games run faster
Make the console much quieter
Provide more of an identity to Nintendo

Thanks tons @Lozjam for the info.

• Make the console a lot cheaper

I don't know. That depends on how much tech the NX has. Nintendo has said the NX will not be a loss leaser like the WiiU was initially. I think we will ahve to wait to see.

• Make games run faster

If you mean significantly reduce load times then sure. It's the slower optical read speeds that is the bottleneck to many modern games. This includes area and 3D models (reduce slow and close pop in).

• Make the console much quieter

I don't think so much. Most of the noise these days comes from internal HDD drives and cooling fans. Since the HDD is being phased out slowly, there's only the fans left. In saying that yes hard reads of the optical media does make a noise but these days I hardly notice it, expecially on the WiiU.

• Provide more of an identity to Nintendo

Agreed 100%. Nintendo cards were always a thing. Coming back to them would be a cool idea.

There are some other ways carts would be better than optical media too.

• Being able to write to the cart

This is a really good thing. This could mean with many games the save files could be on the cart and not on the NX's internal SSD. If your NX's internal drive kicks the bucket and needs a format, your physical game saves are not affected. Also DLC could be downloaded and saved to the cart too. As long as the carts are locked to only be read from and written to, from the NX it's all good.

• Cart physical size

I do not think we will be seeing NES/SNES/N64 sized carts here. These will probably be more inline with the size of current 3DS carts. This does mean the standard game boxes for the NX game carts could be a lot smaller as well. Smaller packaging is always a good thing.

• Disc scratching issues are not a thing with carts

Self explanitary point this. A very good point though.

• Nintendo could pull an Apple with no internal optical drive

Nintendo would have to sell an external optical drive to play the WiiU and (possibly Wii) discs. For a Mac people would buy the external optical drive. But for the NX? I really do not know. One thing however I am certain on though is if the NX does go the cart route, then the console after the NX will not be able to play discs at all. The NX will be it. There would have to be a way to install WiiU games to the NX (or emulate them). Nintendo enjoys keeping it's own 1st party library alive and people of all ages playing it. I can't see Nintendo abandoning their GC/Wii/WiiU library. I feel they will get the NES/SNES/N64/portable console treatment in the future also. They will appear on the eShop or there will be a way to play or install the discs somehow. Is this better than no Internal optical media drive? Right now, no, but this is short term pain for long term gain. This would also forgo the need for improved play style DLC like XCX needed.

• A possible future where the portable and TV Nintendo consoles use the same base cart

Surely the data on each will be totally different and can not be played on the other console. But from a manufacturing point of view being to make these carts in bulk for both consoles will save Nintendo a lot of money.

• This could be a 32GB ROM

This matters cause it's only readable. In other words just like optical media without all the flaws optical media has. Also this will ensure the data on the cart lasts longer as its only being read and not written too. In this case the NX will need some decent form of internal storage to put all the updates, save files and various things.

 

[the8thark]

Not sure if this is a repost or not.
http://www.techradar.com/us/news/gaming/nintendo-nx-release-date-news-and-rumors-1289401

 

[Viral Maze]

I'm not sold on this cartridge business... I'm going to wait and see but I can think of a few reasons why it may limit the NX more than anything else.

 

[Lozjam]

I'm not sold on this cartridge business... I'm going to wait and see but I can think of a few reasons why it may limit the NX more than anything else.

What would these reasons be?
Cartridges have far surpassed the capabilities of Blueray Disks. They run quite a bit faster and can hold nearly the same amount of data. It can also have the best emphasis on cross play between the NX and a handheld(that is, if they aren't the same thing).

 

[the8thark]

I'm not sold on this cartridge business... I'm going to wait and see but I can think of a few reasons why it may limit the NX more than anything else.

Please share your reasons. I'd be interested to know what they are.

What would these reasons be?
Cartridges have far surpassed the capabilities of Blueray Disks. They run quite a bit faster and can hold nearly the same amount of data. It can also have the best emphasis on cross play between the NX and a handheld(that is, if they aren't the same thing).

The one massive advantage to carts over blu-Rays is no payment of royalties to Sony. Apple (specifically Steve Jobs) said the Blu-Ray royalties was a "bag of hurt". It's the Blu-Ray royalties specifically being the reason why Apple products can not natively play Blu-Ray discs. Nintendo are most likely fully aware of the costs (ie royalties) to Sony, Nintendo would have to pay to license the use of Blu-Ray discs for their games. I do think it is a wise decision to avoid this bag of hurt and use a better technology (ie carts).

By carts we are assuming ROM carts and not flash carts.

 

[Mipha]

Have any images of the NX been released yet?