Nintendo NX to be released in 2016

[kupomogli]

I still think the NX might release this year or the first couple months next year, but unless it's the rumored hybrid, it's still too little too late to capture the mainstream market which already has 60 million already invested in the PS4 and Xbox One imo.

I honestly think the NX as a console is going to sell less than the Wii U did. Too many people were burnt on the Wii with it being such a fad, and then later on burnt on the Wii U with pretty much no third party support. I think they'll be reluctant to jump on the NX even if there are games that interest them because look what happened with the Wii U after launch. Between multiconsole owners and most Nintendo fans who don't purchcase anything outside of first party, third party publishers quickly dropped any and all support of the Wii U one after one.

I have a decent amount of expendable money and don't mind throwing it out on different games here and there. I bought a Wii U and about 10 games I was interested in and have been picking up the Wii and Wii U games since(never owned a Wii.) Even picking up games for both the Wii and the Wii U, I'm just baffled about how many games the system doesn't have. This is a system that's already four years into its life cycle and another entire generation behind it, and there's not a lot that actually impresses me on the console. I felt that with 10 games that I was immediately interested in, it was fine to pick it up and I'd for sure find a lot of other games, but I've barely doubled that amount. It's honestly the biggest waste of money I've ever spent on a console. The NX sure as hell isn't getting my support until the end of the systems life, and if it doesn't have a minimum of 50 games that really interest me at that point then I won't bother. The Wii U was definitely a grass is greener on the other side for me type of thing because I was disappointed with the PS4 release but the Wii U was nothing more than a mirage of an oasis in a wide open desert.

[Tanooki]

I hate to lean towards agreeing with that one statement in your piece, but I have to lean on the fact I think you may be onto them failing harder with NX than the WiiU, but I throw the caveat that it's them making yet another under powered stand alone console that isn't some Android (Shield TV) like device that could get a shit ton of stuff ported to it super cheap which would make it a no brainer for Android developers to consider it another way to make a few bucks.

I for one will NOT buy the NX if it is a stand alone console, they screwed me hard on the back end of the Wii's life and the WiiU is an unmitigated disaster as far as releases, even some of theirs blow which makes things even thinner, and I ended up selling it which sickened me, but only slightly less than holding onto it watching dust bunnies form. I had nothing to do and nothing but their wonky looking Starfox with forced touch play and Xenoblade which I knew I'd never get due to time problems (as I didn't get it on Wii but did on 3DS since it's portable.) See the pattern of reasoning, portable. If the NX is the hybrid pick your poison box as the hardware scales the shared media (like mid grade vs badass PC running the same game toned down) then I'll buy it because I feel I'd get the hours out of it and it would get the support.

Even if i did have the games I did on WiiU, I feel I didn't get my monies worth and I got taken by Nintendo to a point. The fact it came out with virtually no internal storage, a shit ton of bugs and horrid lag to navigate menus it took them 2 years to clean up which was pure lazy bullshit, that I won't forget right along with it collecting dust. I wasn't going to make myself buy a $60 game to see if I'd like it to show NIntendo I support them. That's what a NIntendo fanboy tool does, buys shit regardless to show there's an audience under the delusion it'll make more games magically appear from developers other than Nintendo or stuff they pay people off to release. I won't and can't afford to think that way, again more why the WiiU isn't next to my TV anymore. I'm not saying either the PS4 is all sunshine and bunnies, but at least it has games, variety, damn good now and coming first party games and they're #1 in third party support like NIntendo was a century (20th) ago. Also doesn't hurt having it play my blu-rays (damn them for no remote), a few dvds, and running Amazon Video, etc which WiiU damn well didn't. I don't need a swiss army knife box, but movies, come on...really?

[calthaer]

So...if the rumors are correct, and NX is a "platform," then they are effectively trying to re-create the success of Steam.

Good luck with that. Last numbers I saw indicated that Steam owns 25% of the entire PC gaming (http://www.gamersmint.com/valves-steam-service-the-success-story) market. Which, if other reported numbers / studies are true, and this market is twice the size of the console space (http://www.forbes.com/sites/marcochiappetta/2014/07/14/the-console-war-is-over-the-pc-already-won/#952c23d3b157), means that Steam owns a market equal to half the entire console gaming market.

I have not even played and / or finished many of the games I have for the original Wii, so there was no way I was going to get the Wii U. Ditto for the Nintendo DS lite I have, although the hinge on it snapped, leaving me less apt to go out and buy a 3DS which might have similar quality issues (my original NES is still going pretty strong). I just don't see the benefit. There are so many great games on the PC platform, and they are so cheap (important when I already have a ton of unfinished games and more limited time), that I can't imagine going back to gaming on any console.

I am sure some Nintendo games are great, but so are many other games as well. I can live without it.

[Tupin]

I've seen rumors that the "handheld" part of the NX comes out this year while the "console" part of it comes out in 2017. If it's really Nintendo having a go at a Steam-style service then they're going to have a bad time.

[Tanooki]

I don't think it's the Steam angle, not sure why that was thought up but I'm sure someone did.

Of all the stuff they've chosen to either debunk or be oddly quiet but actually indiscretely vocal on in those Japanese stock holder/business notes bits you just have to wonder.
- Killed the R&D divisions for console and handheld, merged into one to better develop into the future.
- They talked up making scaleable software with the potential of games working across platforms (which does sound both Steam and PSN cross play like.)
- They also wanted to nuke the 3DS and the WiiU around the same time while doing this mystery system(s) and their Quality of Life platform as well
- While denying stock Android, they didn't deny a flavor of it either when asked
- The DENA deal for both network and new games on a mobile front
- They're again NOT going to make an expensive equal tier hardware box to fight Sony and MS with
- Again they want affordability, all ages friendliness, and they want to try and gain more developer support

That really begs the question, what fits? Personally I know they can't afford to make another backwater machine that falls far behind. Wii taught them that. They found with WiiU people were impressed, but they blew it enough on their own along with day one third parties bailing on them, porting old crap adequately to ineptly usually very late (1+ year old stuff), or quitting with excuses a year later. The system could have very well been receiving the stuff the PS3/360 got as it can handle it, but it didn't.

Where's that leave you? They can't do another WiiU tier type box that kind of beats out the last gen and sits well with the one already half through to then look bad 2-3 years later. They can't do a backwater that's clearly old, both cases will get them no support. They're talking software that scales, merged their development divisions, got in bed with DENA for networking and game development, yet they want to still be affordable. The only thing I can see unless I'm just wrong and they're geniuses or certified morons doing the a wrong thing trifecta is effectively an NVIDIA SHIELD type device platform which isn't a Steam like service, but is a microconsole service that runs the same software across comparable platforms where you only have to develop a game once and it will play on anything on their version of some OS. For argument sake, let's say it's a modded Android OS like Amazon has on their platform. If you figure their new network platform and DENA doing their thing, it would almost make sense (also given their need to digitally release all their games strongly over even physical now) they'd be courting the hell out of any Android game maker who has an interest. Imagine eShop 2.0 that has free games, $1-5 games, 'premium' download $5-20 games (like Android/iOS SquareEnix/Bandai-Namco stuff), and then their downloads of physical media. Such physical media, almost surely on a high sized storage chip bigger than the 3DS but still as equally cost effective at the $40-50 range that woudl slot into a handheld (ie: shield tablet) or console (ie: shield tv console) device. You'd be able to own whatever is better for your lifestyle, not get excluded from any games, use it between either device, lose nothing doing so even if the handheld is a little less beefy, and can cross play or cross use your saves (like with Sony) like it was nothing special.

If Nintendo did something like that, and said FU console market and closed handheld market and dove into the microconsole market which does take physical stuff (like PS TV, a TV version of Vita), they could effectively be dominant again. And also if it were using a flavor of Android all those big game makers who used to make stuff would have a minimal effort involved to put their already developed cash cow games on yet another platform to make more cash. No funky development, no stupid issues with hard to code for hardware(WiiU), no backwater designs (Wii/WiiU), no out of date output (Wii), it would just fit. I think that could save them. They know smaller end stuff, they know handheld, and now they bought the knowing of bigger things to come and network sustainability through that DENA deal.

[WCP]

My biggest concern with whatever system they have is the fact that they just can't make games fast enough. With Nintendo you're always waiting around for games, and you have to hope that the one game they bring out each quarter is a game that you actually care about. They've been like this since the days of the N64. I got a N64 at launch, and let me tell you.... the first 10 months of that system it was a total waiting game for games to come out. It was wait, wait and wait some more. Sure, Nintendo would deliver some killer games here and there, but the wait in-between the games was super painful.

So regardless of what Nintendo is going to bring to the table, my biggest hope is that they have enough games to really give some variety right away. I'm talking about a new F-Zero, new Mario, the Zelda cross port and maybe a Metroid. They really need to come out guns blazing, but I just have a hard time seeing them actually do that. They always take too damn long, and have too few games. They make great games, no question, they have a magical quality about most Nintendo games that is pretty much Disney-like, but playing the waiting game really sucks. (early adopters of the N64 know exactly what I'm talking about...)

Also, they need to follow it up with a second wave of games. So, not only do they need to have a legit launch window lineup, but then they need a legit 2nd wave of games to follow. That's going to be the hardest part.

[Leo_A]

WCP, your entire post is why I've bought into the rumors of a merger between their hardware lines since the beginning. The advantages of being able to code a single game and sell it to all next-gen Nintendo hardware owners is just too great to pass in the situation that they're in.

I don't know the particulars on the NX such as if it's a handheld that docks when connected to a tv for extended functionality or will still incorporate independent console and handheld hardware that runs common software, but I'm confident that this will happen.

They can't continue to fight a two front war. They have to consolidate in some way if they're going to make this work in order to stabilize themselves and start growing for a future where hopefully they're again a home for 3rd party development and mainstream gamers that don't view Mario and Zelda as reasons enough to buy Nintendo hardware.

[Nz17]

What Nintendo really needs is EA and Ubisoft on board. Look at how much it helped with the Wii U. And those two companies' average games have such a high quality to them. Plus the public just loves both EA and Ubisoft as companies and enjoys having their Origin and U-Play services running on their machines. ;)