Nintendo announces new dedicated gaming hardware and a partnership with a Japanese e-commerce goliath.
Nintendo is currently developing a new dedicated gaming platform tentatively called the NX. Satoru Iwata revealed the existence of the new hardware at a recent investor meeting that announced a business and capital alliance between Nintendo and mobile/e-commerce company DeNA. While few details about the next generation of gaming hardware are sparse, the two companies are currently working together on creating a membership service for current generation Nintendo hardware (Nintendo 3DS and Wii U), the NX, smartphones, tablets and PCs, the service is being targeted to launch in the Fall of 2015. The NX has been dubbed as a “new hardware system with a brand-new concept” which will make full use of the membership service as a core element of the system. Nintendo plans to reveal more about the console next year.
The new partnership with DeNA does mean that any and all Nintendo IP could be used on non-dedicated gaming hardware, i.e., through smart devices on a global scale. However, Iwata stated, “We have no intention at all to port existing game titles for dedicated game platforms to smart devices because if we cannot provide our consumers with the best possible play experiences, it would just ruin the value of Nintendo’s IP.”
Speaking more about their game development plan, Iwata went on to say, “We will continue doing our best to develop dedicated game titles for our dedicated game hardware platforms just as we have been doing. For smart devices, even in the case where we utilize the same IP, we will create completely new game software that will perfectly match the play styles of smart devices.”
Nintendo and DeNA have agreed to enter into a capital alliance. The alliance will have Nintendo acquire 10% of DeNA's treasury shares, 15,081,00 of them worth around 22 billion yen. At the same time, DeNA will acquire 1,759,400 shares, 1.24% of Nintendo's outstanding stock, valued at around 22 billion yen.
No real surprises, but this is brilliant. This will get Nintendo IP to proliferate, but not diminish. You want the full Nintendo experience that you're being teased? Go buy that hardware.
The announcement and vague "you'll see next year" on the NX is completely on schedule. On a personal note, I seriously hope the "Fusion" thing is what NX is.
"new hardware system"
YAY!!!
"with a brand-new concept"
D'OH!!!
Sorry but "brand-new concept" makes me think "dumb gimmick controller". IE: Wii 3, fails the same as Wii U, etc. I don't trust Nintendo's ideas these days. I would honestly want them to say they're making something conventional. I really just want a normal console with Nintendo games on it like the ones Nintendo made prior to the Wii. A glorified PS4 with Nintendo first party games would be awesome. Anyway the important thing is that Nintendo is replacing the Wii U (or so I assume unless the NX is some weird Virtual Boy thing) and that's the right move.
It kind of sounds like Nintendo will be doing a universal account system across all platforms. GOOD!
Don't care about the smartphone stuff though I know their stockholders were pushing for it. I'm glad Nintendo's intention is to not ruin the value of their IP. I want "real" Nintendo games, not smartphone bullshit. That's at least one thing Iwata and I see eye to eye on.
I see plenty of kids on Miiverse, so the notion that "kids don't play Nintendo games" is false. Also, a majority of people playing video games are teenagers and adults, and they're the main demographic of PlayStation, Xbox and Steam. Nintendo needs to reach out to everyone, not just kids OR adults.
And I'm really sick of people calling the Wii U Gamepad a gimmick. It's just an oversized normal controller with a touchscreen, like a large handheld. If touchscreens are gimmicks then what does that make the DS, Vita, and smartphones/tablets?
I still don't understand why everyone wants Nintendo to have just ONE console, instead of one portable and one home.
I mean, sure, it would mean we're spending less money, because we're just buying 1 Nintendo device, as opposed to 2.
And it would SEEM like we're getting more games for said unified console, because all of Ninendo's development resources would be focused on one platform instead of being divided between supporting two.
But wouldn't that just be the same status quo as now? Sure, the Wii U doesn't have a lot of games this year. Neither does 3DS. But with a unified console, we'd still just have the same amount of games. Hell, maybe even less. Some years we get 2 Zelda games in 1 year (Wind Waker HD and Link Between Worlds, for example). That would NEVER happen on a unified console.
I see plenty of kids on Miiverse, so the notion that "kids don't play Nintendo games" is false. Also, a majority of people playing video games are teenagers and adults, and they're the main demographic of PlayStation, Xbox and Steam. Nintendo needs to reach out to everyone, not just kids OR adults.
Yeah, my daughter's 9 and her platform of choice is her 3DS. She has her own Iphone, she has her own Ipad, but her top choice tends to be the 3DS. Granted, she's my daughter, and when she walks into my office and sees my shelves and shelves of Nintendo games and systems, and when she sees my copy of Nintendo Force arrive in the mail every month, there's bound to be some artificial bias there.
But man, I checked her activity log the other day, and she's put 140 hours into Animal Crossing, 30 hours into Tomodachi Life, 10 hours into Disney's Magical World (not as big a hit), and 50 hours into Style Saavy. It's almost embarassing for me, because I originally bought Animal Crossing for myself, I'm the mayor of our freakin town, but she schools me on that game constantly. I've never even been to the island!
And I'm really sick of people calling the Wii U Gamepad a gimmick. It's just an oversized normal controller with a touchscreen, like a large handheld. If touchscreens are gimmicks then what does that make the DS, Vita, and smartphones/tablets?Gimmicks
I still don't understand why everyone wants Nintendo to have just ONE console, instead of one portable and one home.
I mean, sure, it would mean we're spending less money, because we're just buying 1 Nintendo device, as opposed to 2.
And it would SEEM like we're getting more games for said unified console, because all of Ninendo's development resources would be focused on one platform instead of being divided between supporting two.
But wouldn't that just be the same status quo as now? Sure, the Wii U doesn't have a lot of games this year. Neither does 3DS. But with a unified console, we'd still just have the same amount of games. Hell, maybe even less. Some years we get 2 Zelda games in 1 year (Wind Waker HD and Link Between Worlds, for example). That would NEVER happen on a unified console.
I still don't understand why everyone wants Nintendo to have just ONE console, instead of one portable and one home.
If touchscreens are gimmicks then what does that make the DS, Vita, and smartphones/tablets?
I use gimmick in the sense that the controller is the selling feature, like with the Wii. With the Wii and Wii U it's a trade-off. You the consumer miss out on any of the benefits the competition's superior hardware provides but instead get the benefits of unique controller features. Controller vs. specs.
I don't want that. The videogame market during the Wii U's lifetime has not wanted that. If the NX is the same thing it will fail. Nintendo makes the best first party games of anyone. The only real difference between Sony and MS is their first party exclusives. Ironically that's a scenario where Nintendo would do really well with and yet for some idiotic reason they completely avoid that. Nope, it's Nintendo's goofy controller and their first party games vs. Sony and Microsoft's first party games and 99% of all other console videogames being made. It's always Nintendo vs. everyone else and no company does well in that comparison. The whole strategy is stupid and really arrogant. Make something normal, try to get the third parties back, and then it's Mario and Zelda vs. Uncharted and Halo. That's a way more favourable comparison.
Nintendo is never getting consistent third party support ever again. We all should have accepted a long time ago.
Not an excuse to not try. The only time since the N64 I feel Nintendo didn't completely sabotage third party support with idiotic hardware restrictions was the Gamecube and oddly enough the third party started to actually improve that gen (and they still partially sabotaged it with their idiotic rejection of online gaming). Nintendo makes no legitimate effort to attract third party support so they never do. And I don't mean buying support, I mean just simply offering a platform where third parties don't have to jump through hoops or compromise their games or make exclusives because multi-platform releases are technologically impossible. Nintendo does not make any legitimate effort to improve the situation. Hopeless? Bullshit. That's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Let them make a real effort, watch it fail, and then we can talk about it being hopeless.Nintendo has tried many things. They didn't work, at least not enough to be sustainable. One thing it hasn't tried is continually throwing money at third parties which again, is a terrible business model. It sets a bad precedent, and I don't blame Nintendo for balking at it. The easy answer to the support problem is that Nintendo is going to have to play the same game as Sony and Microsoft except the game is rigged.
Nintendo has made quick mobile-style games before. Brain Age, Yoshi Touch N Go, the minigames in Super Mario 64 DS, all those would be perfect on mobile devices.
That's not what's going to happen though. Nintendo will make their next piece of hardware with Nintendo in mind and every element of their business (with the exception of QoL, maybe) will interact with each other. If 3rd parties aren't going to work on Nintendo games because Japanese devs are switching to mobile and Western devs are apathetic then they're leveraging mobile and QoL to help offset the loss of profits from 3rd parties.
If you want to paint a doomsday scenario around this then you can say Nintendo is bracing for a sea change in core game development in a different way than Sony or Microsoft. Those 2 want to be the all everything in your living room because their video game division can't be just 100% about games either.
The health of Nintendo's core game business is better served by establishing a healthy, profitable mobile and QoL division rather than by moneyhatting third party software support (and by that I mean catering much of their hardware development to third parties that already have trouble developing for 2 consoles, much less 3).
The health of Nintendo's core game business is better served by establishing a healthy, profitable mobile and QoL division rather than by moneyhatting third party software support (and by that I mean catering much of their hardware development to third parties that already have trouble developing for 2 consoles, much less 3).
Yes, because Nintendo will just remain profitable forever and ever with like six games released a year because they have no third party support. I think the Wii U firmly establishes that having terrible third party support will affect their bottom line.
People don't want game systems with no games.
If "no third party support" is such a sound business model then they might as well just stick with the Wii U.
People don't buy Nintendo consoles to play third party games.
That's silly. Of course Nintendo should try and improve their relationship with 3rd parties. What they shouldn't do is hand over the keys to their next hardware design and pray they think it's good enough for them to come back.
Not an excuse to not try. The only time since the N64 I feel Nintendo didn't completely sabotage third party support with idiotic hardware restrictions was the Gamecube
God how can you be so damn think, Game Cube was probably even more restrictive to what 3rd parties were doing than Wii was. Not being able to play DVD's, forget the movies for a moment, that alone made developers have to intentionally make cuts to their games especially in the latter years. There were games that couldn't be done on Game Cube because the content would not fit on a tiny disc and the market was not accepting multidisc games any more. PS2 supposedly won all those "casuals" by playing DVD movies, to some degree I think that is true but you cannot attribute playing DVD movies to PS2 success and then not mention it as one MAJOR reason why Game Cube failed. Weather it mattered to YOU or ME or anyone here, there is overwhelming evidence that many people were in fact turned off by that major featuring lacking from the GameCube so much that despite having far fewer, and often inferior games, the Xbox managed to beat Nintendo in nearly every turn.
Game Cube lacked proper online something Dreamcast was doing at the time. There are COUNTLESS examples where a game on PS2/Xbox had online and as a result was either not released on Game Cube or had the online removed making it an inferior purchase. The Game Cube was NOT developer friendly. IF Game Cube had been exactly as released same games, same price point, same connectivity and the only difference was proper online and full DVD support including movie play back and STILL bombed then yes you might have an argument but Game Cube was butchered compared to its competition and the BIG AAA games that were pushing sales of the other two were mostly lacking on Game Cube as a result. Hell it was missing many of the major sports games right off the bat. Game Cube is one of my all time favorite machines and despite ME loving it for the games, there is now way to deny that those major flaws had an impact on sales. Unless you live in a bubble where Nintendo can do no wrong, which you claim is not the case yet you continue to pretend Game Cube was ACTUALLY on par with its competition when it was not at all.
Graphically sure but specs are more than graphics and at a time when online and multi media cut scenes were all the rage NOT having the ability to play 60% or more of the hits of the day certainly held it back.