Topic: NX To Be Portable Console With Detachable Controllers, Docking Unit?

[Shaymin]

Nintendo still isn't confirming anything, but multiple sources point to the ultimate evolution of the Wii U.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rumor/43086/nx-to-be-portable-console-with-detachable-controllers-docking-unit

The NX codename may refer to a dockable portable console, according to multiple sources  via Eurogamer.

The main processing power of the unit will be contained in a standalone portable system. The unit will dock into a connector hooked up to the TV for home use, and local multiplayer is handled by detachable control units on the side. Games will run either digitally or in a cartridge that can store up to 32GB.

This form factor would run on Nvidia's Tegra X1 chip, a chip currently used in high end tablets such as Google's Pixel C convertible tablet. Due to such a major architecture change, there would be no backwards compatibility with Wii U or 3DS.

Nintendo has not commented on any of the above information.

[ejamer]

Meh.  Powerful portable hardware sounds cool.  It would take a lot to get me to invest in a new console right now though.  Killing all backwards compatibility was expected (at least, by me) but only makes this a clean cut-off point for me. 


Time to hit that backlog!

[Soren]

It's a handheld, not a console.

[Kairon]

Yeah, with the change in chip architecture and drastic change in form factor I was anticipating no backwards compatibility. Otherwise why the rumors around work being done on porting? Actually... that said... I wonder if there was any possibility for 3DS backwards compatibility...

I am totally jazzed by this if true(ish), it's been in line with a lot of stuff I've been feeling like this could be heading, a Portable-First design with a reverse-SuperGameboy to hook up to the TV. The detachable controllers though blow my mind! That's so... so... Advanced Video System? (The AVS was the precursor to the Famicom)

[Ian Sane]

There were other rumours that the docking station has it's own hardware that beefs up the NX when in console mode to bring up to par with other consoles.  Without that it's basically a more high tech 3DS with a TV out, like if the PS Vita and TV were one in the same.

My objection to this is that essentially Nintendo wouldn't be making consoles at all anymore.  We get a successor to the 3DS but not the Wii U.  Any problems with games showing up on every console but Nintendo would not be solved since multiplatform games don't include the 3DS.  And Nintendo themselves continues to be restricted by less hardware since I can't see this thing being a PS4/XB1 equivalent while still having the right size and battery life of a decent handheld.  Though I guess it must at least be Wii U level hardware for Zelda to be on both.

I fear the market will just see this as a 3DS successor and interpret it as Nintendo leaving the console market.  There will be virtually no Western third party support since only Japanese devs support handhelds.

[ejamer]

It's a handheld, not a console.

What's the difference when you can (and presumably will) play it on your TV?


The barriers between handheld and home console have been blurring for a while, and PSTV (despite bombing pretty hard because of some silly choices) proved to me that merging the two isn't an impossible task.


That said, I think Ian Sane's post has a lot of valid points. Developer support and public perception will be two big hurdles for Nintendo to overcome... although I'm not sure either is a new hurdle.

[nickmitch]

I'm a bit skeptical of how games would look when docked to the TV.  How much of a upgrade could be provided?  Will we be stuck at Wii U quality for the TV?  Or is the dock thing legit and providing a necessary spec bump?

[King of Twitch]

32GB cartridges! Never thought I'd see the day.

[broodwars]

So the NX is probably what everyone already guessed it would be a year ago. Truly, this "secret" was worth not bringing the console to E3.

[Soren]

What's the difference when you can (and presumably will) play it on your TV?

Because there is no discernible home console elements to this. The sources Eurogamer has point this to a handheld first and foremost with it running on a mobile chipset. As friend-of-the-site Syrenne points out in her twitter thread(I'm paraphrasing): you're either looking at a Vita-like 540p resolution on the handheld with an HD upscaler inside the dock, which means "great job! You've found a way to piss off devs even more!"(my words, not hers), or the handheld runs everything and can natively output 720p or 1080p and now you're looking at Pokemon Go levels of battery drain.


It's a compromise either way, and Nintendo's track record points to the former, meaning the console side gets gimped. And I'm supposed to believe this is the hardware that's going to run Breath of the Wild flawlessly?

[Phil]

What the hell is an NX?

[eathdemon]

if the wiiu version is running at 1080p, and the nx is running it at 720p, and less assume is as powerful as a wiiu for a second. the nx should run zelda flawlessly. 720,1080,1440... ech jump requires 2x the resources to do the same render, but that works in reverse as well.  if the nx is the same power, but a lower screen res is should run it better.

[NWR_insanolord]

As someone who'd prefer to play just about everything on a handheld, I could really get behind this idea.

[Ian Sane]

I wouldn't really know how to vote with my wallet on this.  As a new handheld, it sounds great!  I would gladly support a 3DS successor with beefier hardware and the ability to plug into a TV.  But as a Wii U successor and a new Nintendo console, well I don't think of it as a console at all.  So how do I tell Nintendo "yes, I like your new handheld" and "no I do not consider a dockable handheld with [I assume] no improved specs over the Wii U as an acceptable replacement for a proper console"?  Buying it can be seen as an endorsement of both and not buying it can be seen as a rejection of both.

[ejamer]

When has Nintendo every correctly interpreted people voting with their wallets in the past anyway?  (Ok, maybe with GBA Micro and Virtual Boy...)

[Oedo]

As has been the case with most NX rumours up to this point, I'm disinclined to believe a lot of this. Eurogamer certainly has more credibility than random "verified" GAF poster, but in some ways this reads like Eurogamer (or their sources) drawing conclusions based on the collection of previously reported NX rumours that they believe are the most plausible. It could well be true and in a general sense it definitely seems like the direction Nintendo might go in, but I'm still skeptical about many of the details.

If this does end up being an accurate approximation of what the NX is, I'd be fine with it. I do most of my gaming on handhelds as it is, so a powerful Nintendo portable sounds amazing to me. I don't know how much I'd use the "docking" feature in any meaningful capacity and it would be a shame if we weren't getting a new, true Nintendo home console, but if you asked me what piece of gaming hardware I wanted the most right now, a powerful Nintendo handheld console would top my list by a huge margin.

[ShyGuy]

So, are the NX controllers the rumored U shape, and will they attach to the portable like handle on each side?

[Shorty McNostril]

If there is any truth to these rumours then I just lost all interest in it.  I don't like handheld gaming and I have had nothing but mediocre experiences with the Tegra chips. 


Will this thing be any more powerful than the Wii U?  Or will the Wii U version of Breath of the Wild be the more capable of the two?  It's pretty much confirmed that the Wii U version is the one I'll be picking up and the days of my console ownership have come to an end. 


I might add that I'm not jumping up and down in outrage.  If that's their decision then that's fine.  I guess it does show that Nintendo have resigned themselves to the fact that they're never going to make any more headroom in the console space so they're slowly withdrawing from it to the handheld space where they are still dominant. Makes sense from a business perspective I guess.


Edit: obviously these are still rumours so treat the above diatribe accordingly.

[TimeSandwich]

To put it simply: I don't trust Emily Rogers' baseless intuition, which seems to be the one source all of these rumors link back to. I'll just wait for Nintendo to announce the NX when they want to.

My philosophy with Nintendo's secret projects stays the same: if random people on the internet can think of it, then it's not the concept that Nintendo is working on.

[pokepal148]

[Fatty The Hutt]

I don't really know what to make of this rumour. If true, sure, I'll buy it but it does mean that I will continue to miss out on some major "console games" because they once again won't be coming to a Nintendo platform. The one game that might get me to care enough to buy a PS4 or whatever would be the Red Dead Redemption sequel. I loved that game.

Nintendo has already messed with the lines between handheld and console in several ways. You can play all sorts of VC handheld games on your Wii U and all sorts of console NES and SNES titles on your handheld. You have two versions of games like smash bros and ports of 3ds games to Wii U like Resident Evil Revelaitons and Nano Assault and a bunch of other indie games like mighty switch force, mutant mudds, Ollie Ollie and Tipping Stars. These last two feature cross-buy. The landscape is, frankly, confusing and I'd be relieved if Nintendo just did away with all of that by giving us a true unified console that has a bunch of great games. I will no longer have to give a crap about whether it's a "console" or "handheld" experience because I'll just be playing great games wherever and whenever. I'd like that. Bring on Breath of the Wild (Hogs) and Splatoon 2 and Mario Kart and whatever other delightful Ninty efforts, big or small, and I'll hopefully be quite happy with that.

So, yeah, interesting.

[Adrock]

I doubt this is the entirety of what NX is.

[Bman87301]

There's no way NX won't be backwards compatible with Wii U. Nintendo needs a way to make money off those games they made that no one played. Maybe not compatible with Wii U discs, but definitely compatible with the software. Especially if it truly is a portable device like these reports claim because that means it should have a built-in screen and all the other features that would make Wii U games possible.

[MysticGohan]

Sorry, no passes for Eurogamer, especially when they use Emily Roger's as a source, This is basically a re posting of what emily said back in april. wither directly or indirectly, Her rumors or sources as she so often calls it tends to be wrong on so many levels.

Yes, I'm calling Emily Roger's out on this misinformation she keeps spreading.

She has a terrible track record, as does Eurogamer, they all seem to believe this is the NX console, but everything keeps pointing to a hand held, yet neither seem to call it just that.

Yet the information seems off and has so many inconsistencies.

Also the console NX will be an AMD x86 architecture, as AMD has announced they have won contracts, which we know are Scorpio and technically Neo , we know there's more that hasn't been announced.

They keep thinking it's the console, emily is misinformed. If anything it seems based on a handheld than the console itself. It's possible both systems could interact with one another.

But take anything with emily and eurogamer with a grain of salt.

[Agent-X-]

I see a couple of possibilities if this rumor is more right than wrong. The first is that Nintendo never confirmed or denied whether the NX is a console successor. They have left that door open. If this IS the next home console offering, then I would naturally expect it would surpass the Wii U in every way. It would also suggest that the other rumors placing the NX on par with or superior to the Xbox One might also be correct.


As for 3rd party support, nothing changes. It has always been about the number of units sold, and if the NX sells 50 million+ and offers a full home gaming experience then you can expect all the western dev support.


I will concede this, as I'm not one who really enjoys handheld gaming, I would love to play the RPGs for 3DS on a big screen. That alone will not sell me on an NX, but in addition to the console experience it would make for a home run.