A hybrid system will let Nintendo concentrate on supporting a single console as apposed to spreading themselves thing with 2.
This is where i feel the hybrid argument falls apart. Game development is highly profitable or should be highly profitable. Nintendo could have added development staff at any time, made more games and more money. They didnt add them because they dont want to flood the market with their games. They feel it waters down their brand. Nintendo never has wanted to be schedule filler. I dont know how cutting revenue producing opportunities will lead to more revenue.
Your argument makes no sense to me. How is streamlining all dev teams onto one development model where the Hybrid idea begins to fall apart? Nintendo hasn't added any staff for many reasons and one of those reasons are likely that it becomes cost prohibitive to have that many people working on a game that only expects so much in return. They also could have bought many studios to make games, but they can't enslave the labor to stay, so they may just end up buying names.
Truth is that Nintendo needs a steady stream of games and no one in the console space is either capable or willing to help fill in all those gaps for them. So if you took their handheld development and their console development and let them continue to create the exact same games they would have on their respective hardware, but release it all for 1 hardware, then all of a sudden we don't have a software drought anymore. Funny how that works.....
Handheld games are 3-4 times less resource intensive. You're likely to have fewer games on one hybrid console than the 3DS has right now.
Huh? less resource intensive = less games...? I'm not following you here either.
Notwithstanding it would probably bring fewer risks as Nintendo has indicated 750,000 copies sold is the 1080p magic profit # whereas 250,000 is the 3DS magic profit #. The handheld market in general is much less risky, which is why I don't see them trying to consolidate and take more risk to get a market they are struggling with now.
There is obviously a market for both types of games, and no one is arguing that there should only be 1 type of game developed. The problem is that for Nintendo, at the moment and in the current market, there is only room for 1 type of Hardware, and it's not the home console. The Hybrid idea (I proposed, that most here seem to agree with) lets the Handheld still be a handheld, it just also allows it to act as a home console when at home.
Yeah, maybe all games won't be 1080p when displayed on the TV, but they aren't right now either. Yeah, maybe all games won't be suitable for TV play... well, they aren't right now either. This is about bringing both experiences into one connected hardware experience, not turning the handheld into the home console. There is still room for Nintendo to release a dedicated home console that would replace the "TVbox" portion of the hybrid when/if the time is right, then the "TVbox" portion of the Hybrid can be moved to another TV in another room.
This would be about Nintendo actually expanding into an emerging market by using the strengths of their current market.
They'll save money on R&D, and producing 2 systems. Allowing them to concentrate on a single console, coupled with the vast amount of developers they have in house, they'll easy be able to fill out a release schedule without the help of 3rd parties.
Again, Nintendo has historically made lots of money on systems. R&D is revenue producing and 2 systems has been a boon to Nintendo in the past. 1 financial failure means to leave the market? A 1080p console will cause some third parties that support the 3DS to not support the hybrid. I still don't see how the key third parties (EA ActivisionUbi, etc) will suddenly feel the need to support a hybrid. That's always been the issue and it will continue to plague them.
Historically.... in the past...
Let's talk about the present. No one is asking Nintendo to make a permanent exit from the console game. The Hybrid idea is actually more of a Trojan Horse to the livingroom game than it is an exit from the market. And just because the system is capable of 1080p does not mean that all games have to support it. I don't even want to get into how many games on PS360 didn't even natively support 720 even though the systems are capable of 1080p.
and if anything, knowing Nintendo's marketshare for the handheld sector, more 3rd parties than are currently supporting the hardware will likely join in knowing that they can make the games they want to make and still reach an audience that match or surpass the PS4/XBO audience. So not only will we technically be able to get the Laytons and the quirky indie style handheld games that we are used to, but we will also get the real versions of the Assassins Creeds and Call of Duties and not the gimed handheld versions. We will also get the definitive versions of the Monster Hunters where you can pick up where you left off at home, becuase it's on the same system. no transfers needed. and maybe, just maybe we will FINALLY get that Pokekmon MMO that Nintendo should have had in eternal beta stage waiting for the moment when it is needed to make some waves.
I'm only speaking for myself here but I think the home console market has left Nintendo, or Nintendo has refused to change to it, however you want to see it. I don't think Nintendo will ever be spec to spec with the other 2 in any generation here on forward.
I get that line of thinking. I think the computing power isn't quite there to do what you want. Lets say for instance that Nintendo came out with a hybrid and it was successful. Its a short term solution. Theyll do well for one generation and then what will happen? Sonyand Microsoft will use the blueprint laid by Nintendo and come with their own hybrids. Based on past history, we can assume they come with better hardware and better policies to align with third parties. How do you see that ending if the PS5 XB2 were your competition in the hybrid market?
It is a short term solution that just may solve their longterm problem. The hybrid is only a stopgap if Nintendo needs it to be. But ultimately what it does is finally bring connectivity to the level Nintendo should have figured by this gen yet they only teased with the release of the Wii U. After Nintendo irons the kinks out of connectivity once and for all with a Hybrid, they can actually release the updated console to replace the "TVbox" (that seems to be the part you keep ignoring) and go back on a 2 front attack.
The Hybrid basically allows Nintendo to keep supporting the Wii U through supporting the Hybrid. Same games work on both machines, only technically you no longer need the Wii U if you have the Hybrid. The Wii U can be phased out naturally over it's normal lifespan while the Hybrid takes over keeping the Wii U software development alive. It's a successor to the 3DS and a rebranding/rerelease of the Wii U all in one.
To Ian about other media being potable and home based: You have to realize that those mediums havent been pushing processing power. They never spec up and they never were very resource intensive in the first place. As someone who edits with 1080p video, i grab as much power as i can get. A laptop can edit but it edits slower. Its just the reality of dealing with great graphics. I don't see the consumer benefit as I feel by paying a premium for shrinking the tech.
The Wii U is already a low powered small chip design for a reason. And I'm sure shrinking it down to portable size in a few years is not impossible. Might be expensive, but if it's successful, that won't matter in the long run. AMD/ATi might actually be excited about a Nintendo hardware again too, pushing limits on design and tech, unlike the last few systems....
Should Nintendo make a connector for the Wii U that plays 3Ds games? Absolutely. The Game boy player on the GameCube got me into handheld gaming and obviously the Wii U has enough power to do that.
Who's to say that it wouldn't work in opposite? Get those dozens of millions of handheld gamers to start playing games on the TV? could get lots of handheld only gamers back into TV gaming too.
I just think the benefits from shrinking aren't there. Lets say you have a hybrid for $200 . You probably could build a comparable home console for $100 and a decent handheld for $100. So you'll pay for both anyway in a hybrid. Notwithstanding a family of 4 owning 4 hybrids vs. 4 handhelds; the price discrepancy gets ridiculous.
The price isn't really the issue if the demand is there.
A PS4 ($399), a Vita ($250) & 2 more DS4's ($60x2) gets pretty pricey too, and only allows you connectivity on the 1 TV and only 1 person with a handheld screen. (=$770)
2 Hybrids ($250/$299x2) & 2 wiimotes ($40x2 - assuming you don't own any) allows you connectivity on 2 TV's and 2 players have their own personal screen. (=$580/$680)
I could see the appeal for a $300(/$350) handheld that also came with a Roku like box for the TV.
Parents would love for each kid to be able to watch Netflix in their own room or just be able to shuffle around the smart devices to other unconnected TV's in the house. I think there is a market to cater to in there. Nintendo running at the same market as Sony/MS but from a different angle.
I think it makes too much sense to not consider. Not that I think Nintendo would actually do it, but they seem to be flirting with the idea in the slow roundabout way Nintendo like to do things.
Topic: Something Something Wii U Successor Somethng (Read 66810 times)
