Nintendo NX -> Nintendo Switch (Switchcraft)

Nintendo's next console is codenamed the NX.  Which is one way to prevent disappointment when the new console has a worse name than the codename, I suppose (think Revolution/Wii).

It's in the handheld forum because that would fit the pattern.  Last console was the Wii U, after all.  Nintendo Life are keen on a hybrid console (bleurk, who'd want something like that?), but I'm not convinced.

So, what do you want from it?  The power of the Vita combined with Nintendo IPs?  Four screens?  A non-pathetic battery life?  Incorporation of Mr. Iwata's Pull My Finger™?  Or just more JRPGs and puzzle games, like we had on the DS?

Discuss!

I do wonder if it might be a home console instead of a handheld. The Wii U is obviously underperforming, so they might be looking to get a new console rolling. Way too early to speculate, I suppose.

I'm definitely reckoning it's a handheld. It has been a long time since the OG and the n3DS was always a half way house. With no specifics I reckon it's definitely a handheld to not piss off those that just upgraded (plus it was a mobile conference).

I put my money on something completely new, not to replace but to compliment their current system. nPad please with proper controls please.

The 3DS is middle-aged now in gaming terms.  It's been out for more than three years, and given that the NX will probably be seen first at not-E3 2016, then released over the ensuing festive period, that pushes it up to nearly five.  Furthermore, it's released most of the stalwarts: Mario, Zelda, Pokémon, Yoshi, Kirby, Mario Kart and other spin-offs.  Unless they plan to dig deep into other franchises (of which there are still plenty: Donkey Kong, Metroid, Starfox, S&P, Rhythm Heaven, F-Zero (gods forbid)), they've pretty much exhausted this gen.

I don't think that it being a replacement for the 3DS is too far-fetched at all.  However, I'm happy to move the thread to a more appropriate place if people think I should.

As the 3DS is nearly 4 years any day now, I can only think it's the replacement for the 3DS as that even with the N3DS out is getting old in gaming terms that it nearly time to replace it. But how there talking with times more to be shown in 2016 and if this is a new system makes me think a proper conference at E3 2016 but doe it then come out holiday 2016 like how the PS4 & ONE were shown then came out the same year. Or will this be very much Nintendo something and we won't see to 2017 if early could still be a handheld but if it's late 2017 that makes the Wii U 5 years old and the perfect time to replace that with a hybrid or how Nintendo Life put it NX = Nintendo Cross Platform.

@OS it could but if 2016 that NX comes out, 3DS is 5 years old & Wii U would be 4. So would Nintendo release a third pillar then maybe have to release two systems in 2017 & 2018 right after each other to replace the 3DS & Wii U. I just can't see Nintendo doing that.

@Balla maybe in general best suited seeing we don't know if it's a handheld, console or hybrid.

On the actual thing like I said I want a hybrid and I can't see best of what a VITA can do now which is run a PS3 like Borderlands 2 okay not great but can still run it and that's running on 3+ year old tech what could a new systems in 2017 do.

The Borderlands 2 port is terrible and can only support 2 players. That is a terrible thing to compare it to... I still maintain that handhelds should stay seperate from home consoles. I don't want a half arsed, middle of the road mix.

I said it wasn't great but it's almost running on 3+ year old handheld tech that's my point and you can also see what games are now coming to smartphones etc which aren't dedicated gaming systems.

So I'm saying what could you do with tech now or 2017 for a dedicated hybrid also it's Nintendo I very much it would be half arsed.

Well I'm in the Hybrid camp along with Nintendo Life it seems, I know drunka also brought up in the last podcast about a hybrid would be a good idea but we didn't go into it.

Jay thinks possible new console, Old thinks possible third pillar aka nPad and Andy & Balla think Handheld. So basically none of can agree on what Nintendo should do but like I said in the mobile thread Nintendo have been in business for 100's of years and they know what there doing be it any of those.

Um, chaps... can we please not turn this into "handhelds or hybrids"? We've discussed this precisely a bajillion times in the past and reached no conclusion, other than that Mas really wants a hybrid and most of the rest of us disagree.

And so that this isn't purely a "don't discuss this argle bargle blargh" post, can we please have a decent battery on this console? Please? I know that we also want extra power, and the New 3DS shows that we should be expecting at least the grunt of the Wii in there, but I'd love to be able to play this on a flight without a plug socket.

What are you considering a decent battery? I find the n3DS has a pretty reasonable, though I do find myself making sure I'm by a plug if I'm planning on a proper session on MH. I definitely get a good 5-6 hours out of it though + streetpass time, which does me pretty well.

I was trying to end it with my last post Balla but you did ask what we thought the NX was and what we want and that's a hybrid for me if people disagree they disagree. I won't and don't disagree with what anyone else wants maybe I did to OS about his nPad idea but only thought on that was could be to many systems to soon from Nintendo.

Any want a single screened system with at least a 1080p screen maybe even better like how smartphones such as one of the LG's has 4k screen, slightly bigger then a VITA but slightly smaller then a Wii U gamepad. The screen has multi touch along with the system having same button line up as the Wii U's Pro Contoller, built in NFC for amiibo, also comes with a HDMI wireless adapter to plug into a TV to continue gaming at home. I like to see the power along the lines of the Wii U maybe slightly more in 2017 but at least has to be running at 1080p 60fps on a TV screen.

I don't have a problem with anyone who wants to disagree with anything I say. After all, we are all plucking the same thing out of our butts, as none of us know anything. We are all in Conjecture Land, a merry place where anything is possible.

I am still not convinced about a proper hybrid, as it would have to be so far behind home console power as to be too underpowered for what the market wants. I can only see where devices talk to each other, perhaps interact with each other, but they can't play the same game in most cases.

The GameBoy Advance was in that way a hybrid at the time, as you could play the games on your television and continue them when you were out. However, you were playing a SNES console in a Gamecube era. The PSP could play games on your television in the same way, but you were playing very watered down PS2 games, but better than PS1 ones. If you look at the Vita, then you are looking at very borderline HD games, not even PS3 level, let alone PS4, that just wouldn't cut it when you wanted something at the very least PS4 quality and capability.

So I wouldn't buy into the hybrid solution as such, but I wouldn't discount it, as I wouldn't know.

The 3DS replacement is probably the most likely option, just based on timing. I just prefer to think that Nintendo is looking to break new ground for them, and do something new, like they did when they went with the DS. A dedicated nPad, with all the grunt of an iPad, but not having to share the power, could come up with some amazing games, as long as it has proper buttons and would be something different. I don't see that as the hybrid though, just a partner to the smaller handheld.

Well the VITA does share a lot of games with the PS3. And my hybrid would be more of a handheld then a console. Nintendo market is handheld you just have to look at all there systems the gameboy almost out three generations of home consoles.

Sorry my hybrid wouldn't need to be PS4 levels but at least Wii U or slightly above that, so something like a Zelda U could run on it perfectly fine and Nintendo know how to get the most out of there system's as well.

But thinking on the nPad what if it's a stand alone mobile device to play Nintendo's mobile games. So I own a smartphone but don't own a tablet as I've got no need for one but I would sooner play a game on a tablet then a phone. So if they were to bring out a cheap way to play there mobile games and it just played there mobile games that could be a good idea.

Come on Mas, Balla has asked to keep Hybrid discussions elsewhere... Plus comparing to the Vita is a stupid idea, it's an indie console that thought it could handle PS3 games but has proven a bit of a poor imitation, with ports that only just work that also don't suit a handheld.

Balla asked what we thought NX could be and what we want.  So what your saying Andy is I'm not allowed to have my own thoughts on the subject and that I should fall in line with you & Balla that it's the next handheld.

As that what is sounds like your saying Andy. And if that's how it is were not to have our own opinions on things especially on something we don't really know anything about then I don't see the point of me being here.

No Mas, I'm saying that there is already a thread with in depth discussion on the matter and that there is no use retreading the same grounds. There's nothing wrong with saying that's what you think it is, but I don't think we need to delve that deeply and turn this into the hybrid console discussion thread. It sounds to me like you're treating it as a design your own console thread with phrases like "my hybrid wouldn't need to be".

Truth be told I don't know or care I'll still get it anyway

andyman949 wrote:

No Mas, I'm saying that there is already a thread with in depth discussion on the matter and that there is no use retreading the same grounds. There's nothing wrong with saying that's what you think it is, but I don't think we need to delve that deeply and turn this into the hybrid console discussion thread. It sounds to me like you're treating it as a design your own console thread with phrases like "my hybrid wouldn't need to be".

To me Balla was asking what OUR Hopes & Dreams our from the NX me that's hybrid, Oldschool his nPad idea.  I said what I wanted it's you guys that keep bringing up hybrid after I said what I think about it.  I let it go with my post about it and how we have different thoughts on what it could be but then you like to bring it up again not me.

I've got nothing against you saying you want a hybrid, Mas - like you say, that's what the thread asks for.  It's just the discussion after that, which I feel we've all seen before to no avail.

andyman949 wrote:

What are you considering a decent battery? I find the n3DS has a pretty reasonable, though I do find myself making sure I'm by a plug if I'm planning on a proper session on MH. I definitely get a good 5-6 hours out of it though + streetpass time, which does me pretty well.

You probably have the volume off though. With volume, 3D, and Streetpass, I get 3-4h, I reckon. Speaking of which, I'd want 3D to make the jump to the NX, since I've really enjoyed it - but I think that's one feature Nintendo might scrap.

Agree but if Andy can reply to you about battery length and you can then in turn reply then I can't see why I can't reply to Oldschool about a Hybrid or the nPad idea.

I'm not saying you can't - just that it's been done to death.  The nPad's fine.

My post above was a plea, not an order.

It's gonna be a Nintendo online service to link all the games they're about to start releasing on mobiles and other consoles.

Sounded more like a order Balla to me and we have talked about nPad a lot as well in the past.

@Drunka you are right the plan is from the board's they are doing what sounds like a new award systems were all of Nintendo stuff links together. And it shows one smartphone, tablet and pc with the side having the Wii U, 3DS & NX. So could old school be right about a third tier.

Balladeer wrote:

Um, chaps... can we please not turn this into "handhelds or hybrids"?

I don't generally give orders at all.  If I do, they won't contain "please".  Anyway, let's end it there, because this is doing precisely what I hoped wouldn't happen.

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I know that there's an online link system that they've talked about, which I guess will probably be nice?  I mean, if we can transfer purchased games from one unit to another without a major struggle, that'll settle a major problem that many have had (and which I had when my original 3DS went missing).  But I didn't think that was the NX - rather, something separate that DeNA are setting up.  Here's the diagram Mas was referring to:



Suggesting that the NX is both separate, and another console-type thing ('cause it's under the other two).  Whether its positioning (and the intermediate shade of blue!) implies a third pillar, I'm dubious - (a) because it was done before to no success (remember the DS?), and (b) because of the point of the gaming cycle we're in.  I really do think that it'll be a 3DS follow-up.

That new membership system sounds an awful lot like a Nintendo-oriented games platform like Steam, which I'd be all for. Course, I could be totally misinterpreting that diagram.