How It Could Change the World if Nintendo Had the Most Powerful Console

Punished Miku said:
They can get a few if it's a series that's incredibly important in Japan, like Dragon Quest, Monster Hunter. Not a ton more than that. And they only have that relevance in Japan because it's handheld. And they're not even exclusive for long. I can't really think of anything on Switch that's a big 3rd party exclusive.
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Dragon Quest and Monster Hunter are the biggest ones they pay for. But they do a lot of deals with smaller franchises too like SMT, Disgaea, No More Heroes etc. or most recently with Raincode and Manic Mechanics.

They don't spend nearly as much as Sony, but they do pay regularly to get exclusives from third parties.
 
kiphalfton said:
Let's not pretend like the switch is any different. It's been 6 years since it came out, and outside ports/remasters there hasn't been a whole heck of a lot.
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It's very different from the GameCube. Nintendo publishes a Switch game almost every month and the clear majority are new.
 
The world? this is a bold statement and too good for a piece of plastic, I doubt this is not insider and just a commoner asking arbitrary question for personal reasons, idk, a 3rd console marketed for its power, unlike Sony and MS, you could at least name 10 exclusives that will be made according to this philosophy, that doesn't necessarily mean less creative, it's just a different take from that aspect, different from what we saw on pc , Xbox and Playstation.
 
the_master said:
No.
Look at the Wii numbers and the ds numbers. Wiiu and 3ds did not do that well
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Sure, but you're also talking about a mobile gaming device (the DS) that came out 3 years before the first iPhone. Times have changed.

The fact that the Switch has sold almost as many units as the DS - which cost $200 less - is mighty impressive.
 
Celcius said:
"But Celcius, people would miss handheld gaming."

I recently created THIS thread here on NeoGaf to see how most people use their Switch and as of now only 31% of Switch users use their Switch exclusively in handheld mode. Most gamers (Nintendo buyers or otherwise) just aren't playing handheld most of the time these days and if their next console doesn't have portable functionality then they would certainly adapt, just like when Sony killed off the Vita. I've never docked my Switch (I'm in the 31%) but if the next Nintendo system gets rid of handheld functionality then it wouldn't be a big deal to me for example. I think most people on the go just do stuff on their phones these days.
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The Gamecube 2 thing gives the joke away, but on the off chance you're serious, you know a voluntary Neogaf poll is not representative of the market at large for a variety of reasons, right? Just look how well we did at predicting the Switch's sales after its unveil. Meanwhile, Nintendo's own statistics which measures user data shows that docked vs undocked play is about even. You don't throw such a popular feature away for no reason.

But even if people played docked most of the time that wouldn't mean they didn't value the ability to go mobile when required. Just look at the sales of the OLED Switch, which offers no functional upgrade over the base Switch for docked play.

An uber-powerful Nintendo console would certainly be wild to see (especially since they'd be guaranteed to do something weird with the controller), but there's very little indication that it would even come close to the Switch's success.
 
At a $450 to $500, the performance wouldn't be significantly different from a PS5 or Series X.

You'd just have three consoles that are all basically the same with a different label slapped on each box.
 
SHA said:
The world? this is a bold statement and too good for a piece of plastic, I doubt this is not insider and just a commoner asking arbitrary question for personal reasons, idk, a 3rd console marketed for its power, unlike Sony and MS, you could at least name 10 exclusives that will be made according to this philosophy, that doesn't necessarily mean less creative, it's just a different take from that aspect, different from what we saw on pc , Xbox and Playstation.
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Well not the entire world but just the world of console gaming lol

Walter Matthau said:
At a $450 to $500, the performance wouldn't be significantly different from a PS5 or Series X.

You'd just have three consoles that are all basically the same with a different label slapped on each box.
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You know how FF16 runs at 720p or 1080p on PS5?
Imagine if the next Nintendo System was more powerful than PS5 but also could do DLSS. Performance mode or graphics mode? How about both! No one seems to know if FF16 uses ray tracing for the shadows/lighting but nvidia hardware would have a clear advantage there as well.
More power + better ray tracing performance + DLSS could make a real difference there.

And now imagine if that performance was available for Nintendo's high sellers like Splatoon or Kirby.
 
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Baby Pout GIF
 
Celcius said:
Huh? The Gamecube was very well liked back in the day (I had one).
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No. No, it wasn't. Revisionist history tries to paint it as a success, just like the Dreamcast. Both were colossal failures. GameCube went long periods of time with nothing of note.

Even its best game, Windwaker, was not recieved well initially.
 
i think they abandoned that "plan" for good a long time ago in order to survive and not end up like sega...unfortunately or fortunately for some others when giant companies like sony and microsoft decided to enter video game business things have changed forever
 
People are smoking some good shit today. You have a better chance of winning the PowerBall lotto if you think nintendo has any chance of going this route. Gaming has become such high stakes. Nintendo is 1 bomba system away from turning into sega. They will continue to stick to their lane.
 
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Until people get sick of their tentpole franchises, not going to happen ever. Think of the poor profit margins and shareholders.
Their exclusive games and offering something different to Microsoft and Sony is what makes them so strong for customers and smaller developers.
 
Lol nintendo wouldn't even know what to do with a powerful system. Their online infrastructure is so pathetic, so unless they also somehow miraculous upgrade ninendo online to psn/live lvl of quality the power won't mean shit and people will abandon it.
 
Beechos said:
Lol nintendo wouldn't even know what to do with a powerful system. Their online infrastructure is so pathetic, so unless they also somehow miraculous upgrade ninendo online to psn/live lvl of quality the power won't mean shit and people will abandon it.
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Maybe a hot take but I'd rather Nintendo keep their online basic and only charge $20 a year than go the MS / Sony route and charge their prices.
 
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Good way to burn the company into the ground.

Their handheld business was always bigger than their console business.

High price would decimate their family audience.

I don't see them easily getting PS5/XSX gamers/developers either.
 
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Deerock71 said:
Seems TotK changed shit and didn't need the most powerful hardware. It seems some will never learn this lesson.
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You wouldn't say that at all if you played totk emulated at 4k, it basically a completely different game. If anything the game proves why we still need better hardware.
 
Jesus Christ this delusion GAF's been having with high-end Nintendo hardware lately. Like how does anyone look at the Switch's overwhelming success and go ' oh they're doing it all wrong!"?

Here's a quick question: does such a system become your go to for 3rd parties? Would you stop buying all 3rd party games on PS5/XBox/PC and go all in on the Nintendo? Or would you be sticking to the systems you already have?

Because that's what happened with Wii U. CoD BO2 and AC3 launching at the same time as the other platforms but the Wii U versions bombed because no one was gonna buy a new console just to play games when they already had a system for it.

But on Switch, portability is a selling point for 3rd parties. People are double dipping on games they've bought in the past just because they're portable now. The hybrid has improved Nintendo's 3rd party relationships in a way not seen in decades.
 
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I think Nintendo will be just fine. People buy Nintendo for their kids, give in to Nintendo's gimmicks, or if they want to play Mario, Zelda, or Donkey Kong. But look at Zelda on the Switch. It's an incredible accomplishment compared to current gen games. How many AAA games on PS/Xbox can draw an environment with all that grass, have an insane draw distance, all while maintaining 30fps. And with Ai helping reduce the workload on the GPU, we're at the point where having better specs isnt quite worth the cost.
 
THE DUCK said:
You wouldn't say that at all if you played totk emulated at 4k, it basically a completely different game. If anything the game proves why we still need better hardware.
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I'm perfectly content to play it on the hardware it was made for. And it's the same game; there is absolutely 0% more you can do on the emulated game in 4K that couldn't be done on the lowly Switch.
 
Deerock71 said:
I'm perfectly content to play it on the hardware it was made for. And it's the same game; there is absolutely 0% more you can do on the emulated game in 4K that couldn't be done on the lowly Switch.
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Not true at all, you can go from not so great graphics to excellent graphics that elevate Nintendo's excellent work to a higher level.
If your going to sit there and say graphics don't matter at all, your just wrong.

Can you make a great game with weak graphics? Yep. Can you make an even better game with better hardware? Of course. Especially a 3d adventure game like this.

So while you may be "content", many others want more. And Nintendo should want to deliver an elevated product that's more contemporary as well.
 
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One thing is true...Nintendo won't make another console that feels cheap and low tech like the WiiU and its gamepad.

Best bet we get ps4 pro specs with DLSS2.0, RT and a powered dock with a few Blue Ocean gimmicks thrown in which will be hit and miss.
 
Marvel14 said:
One thing is true...Nintendo won't make another console that feels cheap and low tech like the WiiU and its gamepad.
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Well they don't even make consoles any more do they? ;)

They could do another flop though. Gaming business is hit and miss. And never know when a competitor could try to enter the market.
 
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kiphalfton said:
People need to stop using "it increases development time" as an excuse. It's not like it didn't take 6 years between breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom. And there's still no sequel to mario odyssey.

Also let's not pretend like good "underlying systems" (i.e. gameplay) and good graphics are mutually exclusive.
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It would've taken even longer if they had to worry about not getting complaints for not looking next gen enough on powerful hardware.

There is a reason why most AAA(A) releases are deep as a puddle and have linear maps and game progression. Making every part of the game have insane fidelity takes time, adding physics so objects actually exist within the game world without breaking anything takes time too, having motion capture on characters and voice recordings for all conversations with perfect lip sync etc, that takes time as well.
 
I'd love that, without any silly nonsensical mistakes this time like they did with N64's carts, GC's minidvd and Wii U's tablet.
 
Marvel14 said:
This is comedy tier shitposting.
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Puh-lease.

Nintendo's output on the Switch, especially given how well it's sold, has been abysmal.

The person I quoted was whining about the Gamecube supposedly taking 6-12 months between major releases, and if anything sounds like they were confusing the Switch with the Gamecube. Gamecube's output was great.

Captain Toad said:
No. No, it wasn't. Revisionist history tries to paint it as a success, just like the Dreamcast. Both were colossal failures. GameCube went long periods of time with nothing of note.

Even its best game, Windwaker, was not recieved well initially.
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The irony is you're the "revisionist" who is trying to paint the Gamecube as something less than what it is.

There's a reason why so many of Gamecube's games were ported/remastered (RE0, RE-Remake, RE4, LoZ Twilight Princess, LoZ Windwaker, etc.). In case you want to act obtuse, because they're great games.
 
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Nintendo were essentially rebooted in 2015 between their new super studio in Tokyo, their internal development restructuring, their combination of resources to combine their handheld and console divisions and assets and of course the death of Mr Iwata. On a side note the fact Iwata set all of these wheels in motion while working such long hours and so diligently to plot out his long term vision for the company to not only survive but thrive while he was receiving cancer treatment and knew he was dying is testament to how truly special the guy was in a world where everyone is suddenly a legend and the best person ever when they die. He was a true legend and I did not agree with his vision of Nintendo at all from 2005-2012. RIP.

Anyway the hybrid hardware design and concept is here to stay for the foreseeable future because of the above, the combination of the financial losses of the first 24 months of 3DS, the disastrous Wii U hardware and those software sales and the absolutely incredible success of Switch hardware and software sales. I initially predicted 80 million Switch sales in its lifetime and was laughed at online but it's even blown me away with it's success). This is why they signed a two decade long deal with Nvidia who could offer WiiU performance or better in 2015 in a handheld form factor with Tegra while also offering a tech roadmap which included real time ray tracing and more importantly ridiculously good upscaling with DLSS so they could again stay a generation behind Sony and MS in terms of cutting edge console tech.

I want more than anything to have even the choice of a dedicated home console but Nintendo see it as if they're already offering people that with their hybrid solution especially when Switch 2 launches in 2024 and we are getting 1440p or more in docked mode versus at times sub 720p with the current Switch.

Above all of that though in terms of them never going near the hardware arms race again is one very important point that I don't see talked about enough… Nintendo do not want to even dip their toes into the absolutely frightening prospect of $200 million game development which is where they would be going if they suddenly released a PS5 powered home console. Yes their visuals are stylised but the asset numbers, quality, detail and time it takes to create them is where those crazy budgets come from and would create further software gaps in their release schedules which is something they're going to have to face with Switch 2 because they don't have all the WiiU ports to plug three gaps per year.

If Switch 2 is a Steam Deck in performance with DLSS, an SSD and the ability to use ray tracing then that will be more than enough for developers and 99% of their audience.

Remember they made something like Tears of the Kingdom on a development target of a sub 0.2teraflop GPU, a phone CPU on par with 2012 iPhones, a slow storage solution and 3gigs of the most horrifically slow memory ever used in a videogame console in relative terms to it's other components.

Switch 2 will at worst case scenario (meaning tracking how low they can at max drop it's clock speeds before they're getting diminishing returns on saving battery life and heat) be a 10x leap over Switch in terms of CPU performance and a 6-8 leap over Switch in terms of GPU performance. Much more, much faster ram and an SSD. RT and especially DLSS will be the icing on the cake.

People are not prepared for the level of visuals Nintendo and their partners will create with those level of specs when you see the miracles they pulled of with Switch hardware!
 
Your other thread had roughly 50% using the handheld mode. You said 30% exclusively, but another 20% use both handheld and docked.

Lets forget that Nintendo wants to capture that handheld market and forget that despite being a weaker console they've sold over 125 million units of the Switch.

Lets assume Nintendo is dumb enough not to keep this gravy train rolling and they invest in a console that would be a step up from the Series X and PS5.

This ultra powerful console releases in 2024 at $500. Can it capture the Xbox or Playstation userbase who already have what they would deem a "good enough" console? Will 1st party Nintendo developers be able to release extremely high fidelity games when what they're accustomed to is artstyle over graphics? A 2 or 3D Mario doesn't need a beefy console, just try getting Gamefreak to make a high fidelity Pokemon game, Zelda could use upgraded hardware, but not "The most powerful console there is". And what guarantee is there that 3rd party developers will even port games to this system? The console has to sell first to garner that support. Nintendo's online infrastructure doesn't suddenly get better overnight, so you won't see a swath of online communities jump to this console (especially without cross progression). Then there's the rumored PS5 pro coming 2025, perhaps it would be comparable to the power of this hypothetical Nintendo powerhouse console. So even if Nintendo outclassed the Series X and PS5 for a comparable price, the pro models would compete. All this financial risk to have "the most powerful console" that would certainly lose that title in 2028/2029 when the PS6 and Nextbox come out.

It won't happen and if it does it will be a huge mistake on Nintendo's part.
 
kiphalfton said:
The irony is you're the "revisionist" who is trying to paint the Gamecube as something less than what it is.
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The GameCube sold 22 million lifetime sales. It was outsold by the original Xbox. Its direct competitor, PS2, out sold it more than 7 to 1.

I still have my GameCube and I loved several games on it, but you're kidding yourself if you believe it wasn't a complete failure.

GameCube's failure is the reason Nintendo switched course and started chasing gimmicks over power and looking for a market seperate than PlayStation's and Xbox's.
 
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Beechos said:
People are smoking some good shit today. You have a better chance of winning the PowerBall lotto if you think nintendo has any chance of going this route. Gaming has become such high stakes. Nintendo is 1 bomba system away from turning into sega. They will continue to stick to their lane.
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Nintendo is the last of the big three that this would happen to. No one has games on the level of Mario Kart, Zelda, or Smash bros.
Forget smoking, you've been sniffing some good shit if you think Sega's comparable.
 
Nintendo already had the most powerful console with the Gamecube, and PlayStation still dominated because they had better, bigger and more diverse 3rd party games support than Nintendo. That huge catalog that covers many tastes is one of the main assets that keep Sony as the consoles market leader, followed by their exclusives lineup. I mean, nowadays isn't that important to be the most powerful console because in terms of performance the high end consoles are pretty similar and you only spot performance differences between them in Digital Foundry and similar videos.

Nintendo now has almost a monopoly with handhelds and had a huge success with Switch, so it's fair to assume they'll double down in this area because it would be way starter than to try to directly compete against Sony. I think will keep focusing on their portable/hybrid focus, meaning that their next console won't be high end tech wise. Something that Nintendo should do instead would be to release an addon to load physical games from all their previous consoles and handhelds in your Switch 2, and also to allow you download and play there all the digital games you already bought in all their previous consoles and handhelds, plus integrate them in the Switch 2 store to bump its catalog., because the main asset of Nintendo is the nostalgia.
 
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Celcius said:
Well not the entire world but just the world of console gaming lol


You know how FF16 runs at 720p or 1080p on PS5?
Imagine if the next Nintendo System was more powerful than PS5 but also could do DLSS. Performance mode or graphics mode? How about both! No one seems to know if FF16 uses ray tracing for the shadows/lighting but nvidia hardware would have a clear advantage there as well.
More power + better ray tracing performance + DLSS could make a real difference there.

And now imagine if that performance was available for Nintendo's high sellers like Splatoon or Kirby.
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Get your head out of fantasy land.

And frankly, if you want that, out close to it in a somewhat portable package, it already exists in the form of handheld gaming PCs.

You can even play Switch games on them at higher settings if you want.

N.B. Nintendo ninjas: I'm not advocating software piracy. Please spare my family. 🙇‍♂️
 
Celcius said:
"But Celcius, people would miss handheld gaming."

I recently created THIS thread here on NeoGaf to see how most people use their Switch and as of now only 31% of Switch users use their Switch exclusively in handheld mode. Most gamers (Nintendo buyers or otherwise) just aren't playing handheld most of the time these days and if their next console doesn't have portable functionality then they would certainly adapt, just like when Sony killed off the Vita. I've never docked my Switch (I'm in the 31%) but if the next Nintendo system gets rid of handheld functionality then it wouldn't be a big deal to me for example. I think most people on the go just do stuff on their phones these days.
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The Switch being handheld is a large reason why it was such a hit. It's sold like 10x as much as the WiiU.

Either way Nintendo needs to keep producing handhelds since they've been dominating that space for over 30 years.
 
I think they already changed the world by not caring about having the most powerful console.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
Dr. Wilkinson said:
800px-Nintendo_GameCube_console.png


I love how your argument is basically what Nintendo tried with the GameCube, and other than Wii U it was their worst-selling console ever.

And you even mention the GameCube directly as if it is some game console gold standard. Dude, a lot of us lived through the GameCube era. It was awful, as a Nintendo fan. 6-12 months between big games, horrible software droughts, and lots of third-party ports getting canceled after being initially promised. *GameCube was not a popular system when it was in the market.*
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That was due to the mini dvd. It was the secodn most powerful during that gen
 
TLZ said:
I'd love that, without any silly nonsensical mistakes this time like they did with N64's carts, GC's minidvd and Wii U's tablet.
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I don't think mini-DVDs of 1.5GBs was really an issue, as the Xbox 360 used DVDs of 6.8GBs. Well it must been depend on the kind of game that doesn't work with disc swapping.

There are games on Gamecube with 2 discs: https://gamicus.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_multi-disc_GameCube_games

There are games on Xbox 360 with 4 discs like Lost Odyssey, LA Noire(Complete Edition). However very few ones.
 
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