The Nintendo NX Thread

[Dos_Box]

Ok, I know we've had several threads all mentioning the NX in various degrees, but given it's rapidly approaching release date I think this subject now needs it's own dedicated thread.

I'll start us off with some more rumours someone who apparently has a well connected source in Nintendo: https://arcadegirl64.wordpress.com/2016/04/20/nxs-software-output/

 

Now, if even a portion of what she says has a basis in reality then some of these points need looking at:

 

 

 

 

1. In a single year, the NX will build a larger library of games than Wii U produced in three or four years
   
2. The big fundamental focal point (and overall goal) behind NX is to vastly increase the software output from Nintendo's first party teams and studios
   
3. To accomplish this, the entire process of how Nintendo develops and produces software has gone through radical changes
   
4. There is a new strategy that was put in place to create and release first party software at a faster rate
   
5. Multiple unannounced Wii U projects were moved over to NX
   
6. The NX could potentially see the highest output of first party software in the company's history
   
7. NX definitely won't suffer from three month droughts like Wii U did, at least not when it comes to first party software
   

 

 

By the looks of it then Nintendo looks to have all but abandoned third party titles (or more likely the games industry won't touch Nintendo with a barge-pole after the Wii and Wii-U debacle).

Also, to build such a large library of games from their own in-house teams I suspoect there will be either many ports of Wii U titles or backwards compatability with it's older sibling.

Oh, and the Wii U is effectively dead (not that you could have found many signs of life recently!) if they have shifted planned titles over to the NX.

With less than 2 months to E3 and Nintendos hopeful unveilling of the NX, we shall see soon enough.

[sted]

we dont know its close to release the expectation is that it will be announced at e3 and on sale Christmas time ish but it might not even be this year. Ive also heard dev kits are in the wild and 3rd parties are developing for it and like the system so atm its all vague rumors

[Duranis]

Based on the rumors I'm still not holding my breath that it will be any good. Unless they drastically change their development infrastructure I don't see how they can go from producing so much more software without it being complete junk. I expect to see a ton of quick minigame titles thrown out continuously.

 

Honestly even the "top" wii-u games were really nothing special in terms of production value and games development. Splatoony, very basic "shooting" style game with limited map. Mario maker, basically just a level editor. Mario Kart - pretty basic "racing" game. None of them were ground breaking or particularly complex and still they had a long development time. If Nintendo are planning on using the same resources to put out more games they are most likely going to be even less innovative and more copy/paste the fundamentals while re-skinning it and releasing as a "new" game.

[sted]

Based on the rumors I'm still not holding my breath that it will be any good. Unless they drastically change their development infrastructure I don't see how they can go from producing so much more software without it being complete junk. I expect to see a ton of quick minigame titles thrown out continuously.

 

Honestly even the "top" wii-u games were really nothing special in terms of production value and games development. Splatoony, very basic "shooting" style game with limited map. Mario maker, basically just a level editor. Mario Kart - pretty basic "racing" game. None of them were ground breaking or particularly complex and still they had a long development time. If Nintendo are planning on using the same resources to put out more games they are most likely going to be even less innovative and more copy/paste the fundamentals while re-skinning it and releasing as a "new" game.

 

but thats what people want or cod wouldnt sell as well as it does in teh end thats just a basic shooter and at least to me miles less fun than splatoon, mario kart is mario kart, mario maker i dont get but people seem to like. I would argue splatoon isnt a basic shooter either as the aim isnt to kill everyone its at least got a different objective and isnt trying to be hyper real or anything like that granted it could do with more single player and more maps but id still take it over cod every single time.

 

I think they have longer development times because they work on release unlike what seems like a vast majority of other AAA games take the division or batman on pc both have major issues at launch (or still) how did nobody at ubisoft see that standing in a doorway would stop players from effectively starting the game and thats without its current issues. When was the last time you saw a nintendo game with a game breaking bug?

[Dos_Box]

Based on the rumors I'm still not holding my breath that it will be any good. Unless they drastically change their development infrastructure I don't see how they can go from producing so much more software without it being complete junk. I expect to see a ton of quick minigame titles thrown out continuously.

 

Honestly even the "top" wii-u games were really nothing special in terms of production value and games development. Splatoony, very basic "shooting" style game with limited map. Mario maker, basically just a level editor. Mario Kart - pretty basic "racing" game. None of them were ground breaking or particularly complex and still they had a long development time. If Nintendo are planning on using the same resources to put out more games they are most likely going to be even less innovative and more copy/paste the fundamentals while re-skinning it and releasing as a "new" game.

 

I think one big problem Nintendo had with the Wii U and lack of third party support was that it made their own games stick out far more. Both Sony and Microsoft have long running games series but they also have a lot (a hell of a lot tbh) more quality third part titles to drown out the noise of these.

Whilst there were new Mario games for the Wii U they did tend to get looked on in a 'Oh look, another new Mario game, where's the other stuff!' and focus far more attention on these. When your in-house titles are restricted to titles which are pretty linier in their operation then it's easy to be critical. There is only so much you can do with a racing game and platformers, both 2d and 3d.

I'm tending to agree with the comments about the new NX games too. If not backwards compatible titles or remakes of the Wii U stock then any 'new' games can't be of the same level of quality and depth given the size of development teams that are required to produce such titles.

I'd love to be proven wrong but I can't see just how Nintendo can pull it off and deliver the kind of size and scope of titles gamers would want.

This also produces another problem. Would gamers (and it will be gamers) want to buy such a machine? It has been touched on in these forums about just who buys what console and for waht reason. The orginal Nintendo gamers from the 80's (mostly my generation I would think) are now either parents with kids at school or those after a system with more 'adult' orientated titles (no sniggering at the back there!). But given the prices of new systems and the financial commitment would parents buy a console that has both adult and childrens titles, multimedia facilities and lots of third party support ala PS 4 and Xbox One or look at a machine that has lots of predominetly 'family' freindly games but not much else, which is another reason the Wii U failed.

Nintendo best have something either very special up its sleeves or be prepared to cater for 'grown-ups' more.

 

 

*Oh, and I have nothing but praise for Spaltoon. My kids are hooked on it! I'd still prefer something that shouts 'headshot!' to play with though

[sted]

imo things the nx needs to be successful

blueray drive so you can use it to watch films and also means its 1 less box to buy (i see this as a reason wiiu/gamecube(dvd) failed)

 

3rd party support you cant do all the games yourself

 

dont call it wii tbh i suspect a lot of the wii-u fails were due to people thinking it was just a tablet controller for a wii

 

proper online accounts dont make me faff around if i replace a console upgrading my 3dsxl to a new 3ds xl was a bit of a ballache you cant just login to your account and download e-shop titles (you also as far as i can see cant install them on more than 1 console at a time which for some is a pain). Also cross buy ive bought say mario world enough on various systems im not coughing on again

 

power dosent need to be the fastest thing out there but a least cant be as gutless as the wii-u is comnpared to the ps4/xbone and with probable xbox 1.5/ps4.5 on the cards needs to be at the very least as powerful as a ps4

 

if its going to have a tablet controller again make proper use of it more often star fax 0 seems to be a good use lego city undercover was a great use of it, zelda windwaker was a good use but often its pointless

 

needs a properly populated virtual console without huge gape like wii-u one

 

drop the region locks

 

better e-shop game pricing yes mario kart may of been a £40 game new but by now most people who want it have it reduce prices after a while esp as the disk version is much cheaper

[localzuk]

I suspect the volume of first party games will include a bunch of very similar games, using the same engine etc... but with different level design. Eg. A bunch of new Pokemon games, Zelda games, Mario games etc...

 

Hopefully they'll introduce some new, unique IP in there though.

[zag]

Needs a good controller this time

[sted]

Needs a good controller this time

the wii u controller is a good controller just the screen is underused. its definately better than the always has been awful playstation controllers

[localzuk]

I want them to bring back the N64 controller. That was an amazing controller - the only console controller I've every really got on well with!

[sted]

I want them to bring back the N64 controller. That was an amazing controller - the only console controller I've every really got on well with!

noooooooooooooo that was a truly awful controller id rather have the xbox duke controller than that thing

[localzuk]

noooooooooooooo that was a truly awful controller id rather have the xbox duke controller than that thing

 

You must've been using it wrong...

[sted]

You must've been using it wrong...

diddnt use it much as never had an n64 but i remember hating the thing its was awkward and uncomfortable

[Dos_Box]

@sted - Totally agree on the online accounts thing. I don't know how one company could have got its online strategy so wrong!

For those of you who don't have any Nintendo kit and are curious, you would need multiple accounts just to either use a console, handheld devices online services or log into 'Club Nintendo' - now thankfully defunct. Not just one account to be used over all your devices or online offerings.

Oh, and as for getting rid of Club Nintendo where you could add points gained from purchases to use to 'buy' Nintendo merchendise; a bit like geeky air miles! The problem was they just shut this down taking peoples points with it. They did give 'some' notice but if there wasn't anything you wanted or were saving your points then you lost the lot!

They have now streamlined their online services but it took them far too long imo.

[CAM]

Mario Maker is Nintendo legitimising a gaming past-time that's been in high demand via emulators and applications like Lunar Magic. It's an incredibly good title that goes beyond just a level editor and spawned a new streaming community and competitions. Splatoon is also something new, it isn't just a first-person shooter but an FPS game where the primary goal isn't just shoot other players but attempt to cover the scenery with more paint than your opponent. Mario Kart is a decent game with it's own twists on the racing genre, if a bit over-done by now. Still the best title on the platform.

 

Nintendo need to play it safe with the NX as motion control is dying off and the tablet system for the Wii U really didn't work. But more importantly, they need a proper network as all major companies expect online gameplay, sales and features. Miiverse has good ideas with the artwork and stamps but it's slow, clunky and limited. They will need to make use of streaming, groups, DLC (sadly) and some sort of profile for a player to show off their gaming exploits. They need to produce a console and network that can be developed for on parity with other platforms. And the console needs to have the looks of something sleek, cool and a quality premium product. Not something that has been stolen from the Early Learning Centre.

 

More importantly, they need to attract third parties so they can host the Destinys and the GTAs of the gaming world that generate untold millions of players and sales. If they stick to first party again they will become marginalised and the future of the company will sit in IP licencing and the production of Pokémon trading cards, although they might lose that IP from Game Freak if they have no console to sell it on.

[Dos_Box]

Mario Maker is Nintendo legitimising a gaming past-time that's been in high demand via emulators and applications like Lunar Magic. It's an incredibly good title that goes beyond just a level editor and spawned a new streaming community and competitions. Splatoon is also something new, it isn't just a first-person shooter but an FPS game where the primary goal isn't just shoot other players but attempt to cover the scenery with more paint than your opponent. Mario Kart is a decent game with it's own twists on the racing genre, if a bit over-done by now. Still the best title on the platform.

 

Nintendo need to play it safe with the NX as motion control is dying off and the tablet system for the Wii U really didn't work. But more importantly, they need a proper network as all major companies expect online gameplay, sales and features. Miiverse has good ideas with the artwork and stamps but it's slow, clunky and limited. They will need to make use of streaming, groups, DLC (sadly) and some sort of profile for a player to show off their gaming exploits. They need to produce a console and network that can be developed for on parity with other platforms. And the console needs to have the looks of something sleek, cool and a quality premium product. Not something that has been stolen from the Early Learning Centre.

 

More importantly, they need to attract third parties so they can host the Destinys and the GTAs of the gaming world that generate untold millions of players and sales. If they stick to first party again they will become marginalised and the future of the company will sit in IP licencing and the production of Pokémon trading cards, although they might lose that IP from Game Freak if they have no console to sell it on.

 

I totally agree. What's more, and what no here (including myself) has touched on, is price.

How much will it cost? If it's too high they won't attact anyone with a Wii U looking to upgrade nor will they get lapsed Nintendo gamers back who bought into Sony/MS consoles.

Price (as always) will be a BIG part of the NX's success or failure.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Dos_Box

[Duranis]

I would argue splatoon isnt a basic shooter either as the aim isnt to kill everyone its at least got a different objective and isnt trying to be hyper real or anything like that granted it could do with more single player and more maps but id still take it over cod every single time.

 

Sorry I didn't mean basic as in concept or as a put down, Splatoon is a ton of fun and really different to a lot of FPS. However the actual game design and coding behind it is pretty basic. Look at a splatoon map compared to any other modern FPS game for example. Its a lot smaller, its very contained and there honestly is not much going on in them. The way the maps in splatoon are built I wouldn't be surprised if they had a level editor that they could just drag and drop sections in and get a working map. Even if it wasn't that easy there was a lot less work involved than compared to other FPS games.

 

Mario Kart is the same. Tons of fun, very little actual development needed. Courses are a little more complicated but again the style works well for a drag and drop style level editor to be used in production. The karts are all using the same physics model with just a handful of variables that are changed to make them different (top speed, acceleration, etc). Compare that you any other racing game which is simulating things like tyre wear, aerodynamics, suspension, weight, etc and it is really easy to code. Adding a new "character" in mariokart is basically copy paste an old one, swap the model/art assets and slightly change some of the variables around. Even in Super smash bro's a lot of the animations and moves are just copy pasted between characters.

 

That's the reason a lot of Nintendo games are a lot less bugged than other developers games. A typically AAA Nintendo game has a fraction of the code that another developers AAA title has and is much easier to fully bug test and fix. It makes games easier to make but it also means that they don't have a lot going on in them. I remember there being a fairly good mario level editor (i.e. mario maker) that worked in a web browser like 10 years ago (and honestly wasn't a whole lot different to mariomaker is now). When your game is on that level its easy to make it bug free. Mario maker isn't even bug free, we had issues with uploading, maps going missing and other things going wrong

 

All I'm saying is that most of Nintendos games are already created with as little work as possible and they still can't produce more than a handful in a year. I doubt very much that they are going to be producing enough to make a difference for the NX without going even more into games that are just copy/paste swap the art jobs, repeat for as many levels as necessary.

[localzuk]

They could go down the indie developer support route with it too - extend that Mario Maker vibe. Make something like Kodu for it, and get people making games, and publishing them via an online store. Integrate Twitch streaming and Youtube video upload (with editing tools) and they could make some significant inroads into the gaming world again.

 

However, AAA games are obviously where the big, bulk, income is. I'm not sure if they're going to be able to convince any big AAA studios to produce for it to be honest.

[sted]

They could go down the indie developer support route with it too - extend that Mario Maker vibe. Make something like Kodu for it, and get people making games, and publishing them via an online store. Integrate Twitch streaming and Youtube video upload (with editing tools) and they could make some significant inroads into the gaming world again.

 

However, AAA games are obviously where the big, bulk, income is. I'm not sure if they're going to be able to convince any big AAA studios to produce for it to be honest.

i cant see nintendo baking in any streaming options with their current stance on youtube vids featuring their games. which to me makes no sense as its effectively free adverts for them but thats a different issue

[localzuk]

i cant see nintendo baking in any streaming options with their current stance on youtube vids featuring their games. which to me makes no sense as its effectively free adverts for them but thats a different issue

 

It isn't really a different issue - its about Nintendo's culture as much as their hardware offerings. They could produce the most powerful console ever and release it for £100, but if they don't allow people to use it how they want, it'll still bomb.

 

Just look at MS's backpedaling about second hand games and the XBone.

[sted]

It isn't really a different issue - its about Nintendo's culture as much as their hardware offerings. They could produce the most powerful console ever and release it for £100, but if they don't allow people to use it how they want, it'll still bomb.

 

Just look at MS's backpedaling about second hand games and the XBone.

in hindsight i think that was i mistake. The way it was originally explained was poor but the idea was good and i wish they had stuck with it so you could buy a game in a shop if it was cheaper and have all the benefits of having the digital version.

[flyinghaggis]

Apart from the Wii U (which never really appealed to me) I've owned every console Nintendo has ever released since the NES. After the poor performance of the Wii U it's going to take something pretty spectacular to win back customers.

 

There are so many rumours bouncing around the web just now. Will it have a touchscreen controller which doubles as a standalone handheld console? Will there be any kind of VR support? I'm hoping they manage to build some kind of backward comparability into the NX or at least bring out 'updated' copies of the Wii U games as I'd quite like to play several of them. I'm guessing the console hardware and CPU architecture is likely to change from PowerPC to x86/ARM so this might make backward compatibility unlikely unfortunately. Some are suggesting ARM for the controller/handheld console and x86 for the main base unit which could mean 3DS comparability hopefully.

 

Given poor sales of hardware/software many retail outlets are no longer selling Nintendo hardware or software so it would presumably make sense for them to focus on their digital store. I've always felt like MS/Sony were intentionally holding back on digital sales to avoid alienating retailers but Nintendo probably has less to lose from that point of view.

 

I'm keen to see how the NX turns out and might be tempted back to the fold if it's any good......

Edited April 23, 2016 by flyinghaggis

[sonofsanta]

Nintendo announces March 2017 launch for Nintendo NX?and Zelda delay | Ars Technica

[sted]

Nintendo announces March 2017 launch for Nintendo NX?and Zelda delay | Ars Technica

im really starting to worry about zelda being delayed this long its going to have a hard time living up to expectations. Be nice if we got some idea about the hardware but i expect as they arnt announcing that at e3 either it will come in a direct towrds the back end of the year ( i wonder if tehy will try to slow sales for ps4/xb1 at xmas by revealing it in November)

 

also fire emblem mobile games could be interesting and i suppose if your testing the water better to use a wellish known ip rather than say mario and it does lend itself to a touch screen interface like on a phone

[Dos_Box]

Wow, a 2017 launch puts a bit of a clamp on things.

With Microsoft and Sony both rumoured to be releasing newer versions of the XBox One and PS4 there may be lots of the V1's of these consoles hitting the used market flooding it even more and if the NX spec and abilities (home media etc.) is either equal or less that the current gen of its competitors consoles then they may find the going tough.

Not helped by the rumours that Wii U production is getting wound down and planned games for the platform shifted over to the NX which won't be seeing the light of day for the best part of a year now.

That too may make people a little wary of how much Nintendo supports it's platforms and customers.