Topic: NX smartphone SKU?

[BiteThePillow]

I realize there is a NX speculation thread, but it is very broad, and I wanted to bring up a more specific topic. With the way smartphones are sort of crowding out handheld gaming, I wonder if Nintendo is considering adding in smartphone technology to its NX portable. (I assume that NX is going to have a home console and a portable).


I think it's not too far fetched to imagine a lighter, thinner New 3DS with a capacitive touch LCD on the back of the clamshell. It would function as a phone when closed and a game system when opened. This might be released alongside a normal, phone-less SKU, kind of like Nintendo did with the Gamecube and the Panasonic Q.


You might say that this has been done before with Xperia Play and NGage, but those had horrible designs, implementation, marketing, etc. The Vita has 3G, but it's worthless. Sony was not willing to take enough risks with it either the Play or the Vita. If there was a Vita with Android that doubled as a smartphone, that would be my phone.

One major weakness in this strategy is that people like to "refresh" their smartphones periodically. Newer sleeker models are constantly being released, whether it's Android, iPhone, or Windows. If Nintendo sold a smartphone SKU alongside of the base SKU, they could continue to market the base model SKU, largely unchanged for years, while still making periodic re-releases of the smartphone models (with better battery life, features, etc.) The smartphone capabilities would get better over time to keep up with the Joneses, but it would always maintain that "NX3DS" base model capability.


Maybe a partnership with Samsung, LG, or some other big Android phone manufacturer would help bridge this gap that's growing between dedicated gaming handhelds and smart devices. Maybe even partnering with Apple is not out of the question. Obviously Microsoft is a no.


I would buy something like this, especially if it was backward compatible with 3DS and eShop. It would cut two of my devices down to one, but I wouldn't have to sacrifice any functionality - which is a big deal. I hate not having mechanical controls for my games. What are your thoughts?

[BranDonk Kong]

Ain't gonna happen, unless Nintendo severely wants their new console to be worthless 18 months after launch. Cell phones are temporary things.

[MrPhishfood]

I dislike capacitive touch screens for gaming, the lack of accuracy is a sore point. They may be accurate 99% of the time with the way software predicts what you actually meant to touch but that 1% when it doesn't work is incredibly irritating.


If they were able to make a capacitive AND resistive touch where the software can decide what to use then that would be for the best.

[BiteThePillow]

Ain't gonna happen, unless Nintendo severely wants their new console to be worthless 18 months after launch. Cell phones are temporary things.

But if the thing was dual-purpose, the cell phone bits could be upgraded every year or 18 months or whatever. The game console hardware in the device would essentially remain the same for the life of the console generation. Next generation, release a new model with updated gaming capabilities. Obviously people are picky about their phones, so if people prefer some other phone over the NX, then they would still have the option to buy the non-smartphone NX model to play games on.

I dislike capacitive touch screens for gaming, the lack of accuracy is a sore point. They may be accurate 99% of the time with the way software predicts what you actually meant to touch but that 1% when it doesn't work is incredibly irritating.


If they were able to make a capacitive AND resistive touch where the software can decide what to use then that would be for the best.

I feel the same way. I really hate to use phones for gaming. But this device would be the best of both worlds. Close the NX and the outer screen is capacitive and laid out like a modern smart phone. Then to play 3DS or NX games, open the screen and you'd have your 3D top screen and your resistive bottom touch screen that works with a stylus. The cheaper, non-phone NX would simply omit the capacitive outer screen and all the hardware that is specific to the smartphone NX. Yet it would still play all the same NX games and be backward compatible with 3DS.

[Wah]

New and ALREADY MAKING GREAT POSTS YOU PEOPLE SHOULD LEARN FROM HIM! good job man.

[ThePerm]

sounds like a bad idea to me. Maybe Nintendo should just make a more powerful console? Wii u is the great new idea, it just doesn't have enough power.

[Dasmos]

If ThePerm thinks it's a bad idea, that means it's a really bad idea!

[lolmonade]

I don't trust that Nintendo has the capability, even with the partnership of a phone manufacturer, to make a NX phone that'd overtake my comfort level of the ios user interface. 
 
Considering how much they struggled with making Wii U's start-up & load screens quick, I'd have greater concerns over them doing a smartphone because that's something I expect to be quick & snappy in responding to my inputs.
 
I'd be more comfortable buying a phone from one of the aformentioned manufacturers that had controller inputs and an exclusive NX app that synced the phone with the console while in "game" mode.  But again, I don't have faith in Nintendo executing an idea like that well enough for me to make a 2+ year investment with my phone.