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[StevieP]

There's no point in keeping pace tech wise. 3rd parties won't support it regardless of power as they'll assume their games won't sell(and frankly don't want the hassle of supporting an additional machine), core gamers won't buy it because they know 3rd parties won't support it. Power is largely a non-issue.

If Nintendo released a machine twice as powerful as the PS4 or Xbone next week..Bethesda still won't support it, EA still won't support it, Take Two still won't support it, Konami still won't support it, Square still won't support it.

Correct. And selling it at or near cost would alienate even more people than the Wii u has. They need to aim low not high, despite hat hardcore gamers dream of.

 

[Daingurse]

I once saw someone propose the idea of a Nintendo Steam Box (low end on the specs) which could additionally play exclusive Nintendo/Wii U games. Sounds neat, though I wonder if that's even possible.

Honestly would be a good way of solving the third-party situation. Because I think that has become irrevocably fucked.

 

[RedSwirl]

Y'know, I actually hope PS4 does really well in Japan if for no other reason than to signal to Nintendo that it's current strategy is not the only hope for the Japanese console market.

A lot of Nintendo's hardware decisions have been driven by providing an inoffensive, low-cost, low-wattage machine specifically tuned for the Japanese market. The PS4 is more or less an American console being launched in Japan under a Japanese brand name. If it does well, I hope it sends a signal that Nintendo doesn't have to design for its home market first and overseas market second. I wonder what will happen if western games actually start becoming big hits in Japan more and more often. What's odd to me is that Iwata knows most of Nintendo's money comes from outside Japan, but the company doesn't act like it.

Am I the only one who pays attention to the eShop?

They do toy with new/different ideas on the 3DS eShop all the time, its just people never seem to notice them.

This. Experimenting with smaller games on the eShop is exactly what Nintendo has been doing for the last couple years. Those games just haven't been publicized enough. Pushmo and Crashmo in particular have been some of my favorite 3DS games overall. Those games, HarmoKnight, and Rolling Western technically are new IPs from Nintendo. I think bite-sized digital games are a great fit for Nintendo because they resemble the format of the games Nintendo made in its golden era. They're also potentially great vehicles for the ideas around which Nintendo likes to build entire games. Actually I think this applies to a ton of Japanese developers, but unfortunately digital isn't as popular in Japan (outside mobile, maybe mobile is changing that), so everything on consoles and handhelds over there get's restricted to what they can get away with on a retail disc. Anyway, Nintendo probably needs to start doing this on the Wii U, and maybe encourage other Japanese developers to as well. Why couldn't there be a Wii U version of Strider?

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

Correct. And selling it at or near cost would alienate even more people than the Wii u has. They need to aim low not high, despite hat hardcore gamers dream of.

I think there's a minimum level of 3rd party support that keeping pace (Gamecube) would ensure that is exponentially more promising than what they have now.

I mean, Batman is gone. Batman.

The Steam Machines show that as long as you don't care about aesthetics, you can fit a lot of power under the hood for a modest price. Would Nintendo give up their design philosophy for pure hardware power? Probably not. But there has to be a middle ground. An Xbox One level hardware released in 2017 is not the answer, PCs will be nearly 10x as powerful at that point.

 

[Endo Punk]

WiiU desperately needs an image change similar to what Sony did with PS3 in 2009. They need to drop the "U" and call it a Wii 2 or New Wii, something to show it's a successor and not an add on.

They have some stellar games coming out this year and it would be a shame if they don't sell because Nintendo handicapped the system preventing it to reach mass or core market.

 

[Josh7289]

There's nothing they can do. They can't compete directly with Sony and Microsoft. That's why they're creating a new QOL business.

 

[Scum]

Y'know, I actually hope PS4 does really well in Japan if for no other reason than to signal to Nintendo that it's current strategy is the only hope for the Japanese console market.

A lot of Nintendo's hardware decisions have been driven by providing an inoffensive, low-cost, low-wattage machine specifically tuned for the Japanese market. The PS4 is more or less an American console being launched in Japan under a Japanese brand name. If it does well, I hope it sends a signal that Nintendo doesn't have to design for its home market first and overseas market second. I wonder what will happen if western games actually start becoming big hits in Japan more and more often. What's odd to me is that Iwata knows most of Nintendo's money comes from outside Japan, but the company doesn't act like it.



This. Experimenting with smaller games on the eShop is exactly what Nintendo has been doing for the last couple years. Those games just haven't been publicized enough. Pushmo and Crashmo in particular have been some of my favorite 3DS games overall. Those games, HarmoKnight, and Rolling Western technically are new IPs from Nintendo. I think bite-sized digital games are a great fit for Nintendo because they resemble the format of the games Nintendo made in its golden era. They're also potentially great vehicles for the ideas around which Nintendo likes to build entire games. Actually I think this applies to a ton of Japanese developers, but unfortunately digital isn't as popular in Japan (outside mobile, maybe mobile is changing that), so everything on consoles and handhelds over there get's restricted to what they can get away with on a retail disc. Anyway, Nintendo probably needs to start doing this on the Wii U, and maybe encourage other Japanese developers to as well. Why couldn't there be a Wii U version of Strider?

I wonder if what you mention here will be an even bigger thing if NoA had a prominent figure head? NCL need to think and act on a global scale and I reckon if NoA & NoE had the powers to look after their respective regions, most of what you mentioned will be a top notch thing for Nintendo.

 

[semiconscious]

the massive success of the wii seems to have completely derailed them...

they'll continue to do what they do, & weather out this gen. all their eggs are divided between their 2 baskets, & they're pretty much stuck. if they can't see the necessity of releasing all their titles on a single, hand-held/console hybrid next time around, that will possibly be the point of no return for them. because, tech-wise, they're in no way prepared anymore to deliver both an upgraded handheld, & a console that could go toe-to-toe with sony & ms. never mind develop enough games for both...

 

[Rex_Harrison]

I heard it only costs Apple $150 to make an iPhone. $250 on a home console 2-3 years from now that is just as powerful as an X1 is not possible? Then how do these console manufacturers cut their prices 2 years into a console cycle?

Anyways lets say they price this at $600, Phones are $800, but are subsidized down to 200/300 with a contract. What if Nintendo did the same thing but not only do you get a Nintendo Phone but a home console that plays the same games and apps available on Android but also their legacy software plus all the new games they make?

It's just my 2 cents. This is what I would want, because as cool as the vita remote play is, it still requires an internet connection. But imagine being able to start game at home, goto work, continue the same game during break, then go home and continue on. All withou internet and having all games work because developers just have to make one version of the game., and no porting is requiered. A man can dream can't he? Lol.

A Nintendo Phone ? Are you shitting me ? Didn't Sony make a "Playstation phone " ? How'd that work out ?

If Nintendo thinks the console market is tough, they wouldn't stand a chance in the phone market. There are waaaay too many choices, everything from Premium phones to dirt cheap phones is completely saturated.

This is why CEO's make ungodly amounts of money. Because they usually don't make decisions like the ones found in this thread.

The Wii U was DOA, terrible name ( most people probably thought it was a peripheral for the original Wii ), terrible marketing, terrible decisions (why didn't they make a true "next gen" console ?) The Wii U should've destroyed the PS360, it came out 6 fucking years later!!!! Instead it just appeared to be catching up to the current gen, which didn't excite anybody.

 

[Ansatz]

Holy shit. This is exactly the kind of toxic mentality that has 3rd party developers and gamers alike running away in droves.

3rd parties are dead to me. I want Okami, Timesplitters and Castlevania SotN, not the next hollywood game.

 

[Riposte]

The Nintendo-Steam box sounds exciting, but I'd like to know how viable the idea actually is, at least in the near future. Is it possible for a company to make their own OS/UI that interacts with steam in way they see fit and to have it play games exclusive to their brand?

Could you make a machine that plays both steam PC games that also can play Wii U games without emulation?

3rd parties are dead to me. I want Okami, Timesplitters and Castlevania SotN, not the next hollywood game.

You are really, really narrow-minded on the matter of third party games. "Hollywood games" make up a small percentage of all the games being released on all the platforms (from all countries). EDIT: Here is just one very small, but very important example: Monster Hunter 4 looks to be a 3DS exclusive title.

 

[StevieP]

I think there's a minimum level of 3rd party support that keeping pace (Gamecube) would ensure that is exponentially more promising than what they have now.

I mean, Batman is gone. Batman.

The Steam Machines show that as long as you don't care about aesthetics, you can fit a lot of power under the hood for a modest price. Would Nintendo give up their design philosophy for pure hardware power? Probably not. But there has to be a middle ground. An Xbox One level hardware released in 2017 is not the answer, PCs will be nearly 10x as powerful at that point.

They're not getting 360 ports now with minimum effort at a million or two bucks a pop. There's no point in sinking the company for the maybe possibly maybe possibilities that they might get a couple token ports post launch. They're certainly not going to get a PC downport of batman like ps4/xb1 because that would likely cost a lot more than a couple million.

 

[Fox Mulder]

if i were nintendo i'd sit on my hands this gen and just make some adequate expansions and preparations for the next round. launching earlier with outdated hardware should not be the avenue to go down again. the next nintendo console needs to keep pace with the other systems on the market to allow third parties to consider it a viable option again.

can they really wait 5-6 years to launch with the next sony and MS consoles though? They already waited too long to follow up the wii, and the wiiu is a dud. How long until even the mighty nintendo becomes irrelevant due to a diminished presence?

 

[kirby_fox]

Expand and create new Western studios to focus on new or old unused IP that fans want. Sell these games cheaper than your AAA structure $60 we see for all games.

Create a new marketing department that strives on talking to third parties and creating relations with them moving forward.

With Western studios creating your 18-40 yr old mature titles under a name that isn't Nintendo, you bank roll exclusives to sequels for Wii U of third party games. Shenmue 3, RE4-2, Okami 2 and more.

Your next system you let it be compatible with the controllers as options. You go least expensive and most powerful. You use marketing to make Nintendo "cool" again in the eyes of kids and adults alike. A third party makes it on PC? As easy as hitting a button to port it over.

You drop all your ROMs onto your store and never start over from scratch again with proper accounts. Pay for third party ROMs if you have to, get every NES/SNES/N64 game on the system. Get other systems on that system- all of SEGA games? On there. 3DO? Done. Third party games that didn't hit Nintendo? There.

Fuck doing things your own way or looking into doing things this way or that. Give the people what they want first, then you can invest in everything else they don't even know they want.

 

[Daingurse]

The Nintendo-Steam box sounds exciting, but I'd like to know how viable the idea actually is, at least in the near future. Is it possible for a company to make their own OS/UI that interacts with steam in way they see fit and to have it play games exclusive to their brand?

Could you make a machine that plays both steam PC games that also can play Wii U games without emulation?

If Nintendo went with a Steam OS compatible console, that's all that would be required. Compatibility, don't even need to ship it with Steam in the box. If Nintendo built a console with that kind of functionality in-mind, as an actual focus of the overall design . . . I'd have to give them a bow.

Frankly, I don't know what Nintendo is gonna try next. I just hope they learn the correct lessons from the Wii-U.

 

[plasmawave]

The quality of softwares don't matter because of franchise fatigue.
When it comes to the new IPs, nintendo isn't pushing hard enough of them.

 

[Gleethor]

I like the idea of them selling 4 different pieces of hardware next time. Like a lower end handheld ($130), a higher end handheld ($200), a lower end console ($250) and a higher end console ($350-$400) all using the same architecture and shared game library (scaled for graphical power).

 

[Punjabi_Hitman]

A Nintendo Phone ? Are you shitting me ? Didn't Sony make a "Playstation phone " ? How'd that work out ?

If Nintendo thinks the console market is tough, they wouldn't stand a chance in the phone market. There are waaaay too many choices, everything from Premium phones to dirt cheap phones is completely saturated.

This is why CEO's make ungodly amounts of money. Because they usually don't make decisions like the ones found in this thread.

The Wii U was DOA, terrible name ( most people probably thought it was a peripheral for the original Wii ), terrible marketing, terrible decisions (why didn't they make a true "next gen" console ?) The Wii U should've destroyed the PS360, it came out 6 fucking years later!!!! Instead it just appeared to be catching up to the current gen, which didn't excite anybody.

Im talking about a 3DS that's also a phone that is an extension of the home console. So you can play console games on it as well. An all-in-one package.

 

[RayMaker]

If Nintendo did not make dumb decisions they would have a hit.

Every gen they have done something to hamper there efforts.

One day if there stubbornness continues it will result in there demise.

Like this gen if they used the money on tech instead a wiipad and just chucked in a slightly enhanced wii motion plus. Sucked up to and worked with 3rd partys, I think they would be doing pretty well now.

I think this day and age a game console has to be up to be competitive with tech in order to be successful. Unless its doing something radically different which ppl will either buy into or not

 

[semiconscious]

can they really wait 5-6 years to launch with the next sony and MS consoles though? They already waited too long to follow up the wii, and the wiiu is a dud. How long until even the mighty nintendo becomes irrelevant due to a diminished presence?

we'll see. but, as i said above, i'm not really sure they have a choice at this point to do other than that. if they did, they'd be seriously screwing their current fan base / source of income, which'd do who knows how much damage to them in the next go-round...

they can't afford to isolate what support they currently have. it could end up leaving them nowhere...

I like the idea of them selling 4 different pieces of hardware next time. Like a lower end handheld ($130), a higher end handheld ($200), a lower end console ($250) and a higher end console ($350-$400) all using the same architecture and shared game library (scaled for graphical power).

i'd say 4 is 2 too many. but, yes, the part i've bolded is dead on...

 

[soulassssns]

They'll just keep doing what they're doing. Making games.

This for sure.

 

[Rex_Harrison]

I like the idea of them selling 4 different pieces of hardware next time. Like a lower end handheld ($130), a higher end handheld ($200), a lower end console ($250) and a higher end console ($350-$400) all using the same architecture and shared game library (scaled for graphical power).

More overhead ? Umm ok

Jesus, this is a bad idea.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

They're not getting 360 ports now with minimum effort at a million or two bucks a pop. There's no point in sinking the company for the maybe possibly maybe possibilities that they might get a couple token ports post launch. They're certainly not going to get a PC downport of batman like ps4/xb1 because that would likely cost a lot more than a couple million.

In a world where Western development is increasingly important, releasing hardware not even in the same ballpark as modern PC architecture is a surefire way of guaranteeing long software droughts. That's not going to change in the next 4 years, if anything, it will get worse.

3rd parties are dead to me. I want Okami, Timesplitters and Castlevania SotN, not the next hollywood game.

So you want games like Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, The Witness, Far Cry Blood Dragon, Strider, Dust, Mark of the Ninja, and Outland? I hate to break this to you...

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

If Nintendo went with a Steam OS compatible console, that's all that would be required. Compatibility, don't even need to ship it with Steam in the box. If Nintendo built a console with that kind of functionality in-mind, as an actual focus of the overall design . . . I'd have to give them a bow.

Frankly, I don't know what Nintendo is gonna try next. I just hope they learn the correct lessons from the Wii-U.

The fundamental problem with a Steam powered cosnoel is that 3rd party revenue would go to Valve, either exclusively or through some kind of revenue share. In principle, it would only be one step above going 3rd party, even if they were profitable with the hardware.

 

[KoopaTheCasual]

In a world where Western development is increasingly important, releasing hardware not even in the same ballpark as modern PC architecture is a surefire way of guaranteeing long software droughts. That's not going to change in the next 4 years, if anything, it will get worse.



So you want games like Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, The Witness, Far Cry Blood Dragon, Strider, Dust, Mark of the Ninja, and Outland? I hate to break this to you...

Not to mention games like Monster Hunter, Wonderful 101, Sonic Lost World, Bayonetta 2, and Child of Light wouldn't even exist without these third party studios that he seems to hate.

What a ridiculous and myopic outlook on the industry at large.

 

[TheAngryMonkey]

It's really a shame because I've really been enjoying this console. I have a ton of games for it (for me anyway). Honestly I'm tired of hearing people say it doesn't have games because the stuff Nintendo has put out alone has been great. I have a feeling this is doing to dry up by the end of the year though.

I hope Nintendo uses the rest of Wii U's life to continue to improve their online system and start getting some feature parity with PS4 and Xbox. I have a feeling though that they'll continue to chase smaller games and try to win back the tablet audience though.

 

[Joeki11a]

Where does it go?

Simple release a new console next year

that is more powerful than Xbox one and ps

 

[BurnOutBrighter]

Where does it go?

Simple release a new console next year

that is more powerful than Xbox one and ps

Cool, and how do they get third parties back?

 

[GhostWriter24]

They effectively fucked themselves out of this generation by releasing an underpowered console and failing to meet the needs of 3rd parties a la Wii. The only difference with the former is that the motion fad caught on whereas their alternative strategy, gaming with a tablet, has failed miserably.

They should stick with the portable market, release a few more big guns for Wii U to help satisfy their loyal fans, then throw in the towel. Sony and Microsoft are leagues ahead in terms of online infrastructure, too, and Nintendo's is well, pathetic.

 

[Riposte]

The fundamental problem with a Steam powered cosnoel is that 3rd party revenue would go to Valve, either exclusively or through some kind of revenue share. In principle, it would only be one step above going 3rd party, even if they were profitable with the hardware.

That's probably a deal breaker. I wonder if revenue share would really be possible though.

 

[plasmawave]

Cool, and how do they get third parties back?

Build it and they will come.

 

[Daingurse]

The fundamental problem with a Steam powered cosnoel is that 3rd party revenue would go to Valve, either exclusively or through some kind of revenue share. In principle, it would only be one step above going 3rd party, even if they were profitable with the hardware.

If Nintendo can't get profit from it, then yeah, there would be an issue lol. That's reason enough, for this kind of console--great as it would be--to never exist.

 

[StevieP]

They effectively fucked themselves out of this generation by releasing an underpowered console and failing to meet the needs of 3rd parties a la Wii. The only difference with the former is that the motion fad caught on whereas their alternative strategy, gaming with a tablet, has failed miserably.

They should stick with the portable market, release a few more big guns for Wii U to help satisfy their loyal fans, then throw in the towel. Sony and Microsoft are leagues ahead in terms of online infrastructure, too, and Nintendo's is well, pathetic.

Haha yes yes a 100 million selling fad. Never seem that one before on GAF.

Build it and they will come.

No, actually, they won't. It would be a pointless money sink

 

[Cess007]

3rd parties are dead to me. I want Okami, Timesplitters and Castlevania SotN, not the next hollywood game.

Funny that you mention those games, considering they're are all from 3rd parties.

 

[darkwing]

Where does it go?

Simple release a new console next year

that is more powerful than Xbox one and ps

They can easily do it, they have a huge warchest

 

[BigBadShamoo]

I'm not sure where they would go either besides releasing something better eventually. But yeah Nintendo is doing a lot better this gen atleast IMO. Yeah they still have friend codes but from what I can see. It's definitely a lot better then the Wii Haven't actually gotten a chance to play online using the Wii U yet but I'm sure it's gotten better just due to advancements in technology and coding and stuff like that. Here's to hoping they create brawl with GC controller support. I do wanna try the Wii U brawl with that Wii U pro controller tho that controller looks pretty cool.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

For all the money Nintendo has I find it strange they cannot at least match what the likes of Sony offers in terms of hardware and online. Where does all this money go? They have enough cash to invest in proper infrastructures to deal with development of games and getting with the times but they don't.

Personally I think they spend too much time on trying to be different which has resulted in the Wii U and it's current state.

 

[LocalE]

This has always been the most hilariously perplexing part about the WiiU GamePad. Nintendo actually managed to find a way to compete exclusively with themselves and their more successful product for recreational game time.

Hey no, little Timmy, put down that 3DS. You want to play with the power of a full HD console game... at 854 x 480 resolution. No you can't have access to a 1080p TV. Wait where are we going with this.

Yeah, I don't know where you're going with that because the Wii U can output HD visuals to a tv.

 

[Dunlop]

Personally I think they spend too much time on trying to be different which has resulted in the Wii U and it's current state.

I'll throw in arrogance, they just took it for granted that their staple first party games will sell like gangbusters.

Sadly I've gotten to the point where the WiiU here will probably just become a shitty Netflix box for the kids. Nobody has touched it in months

 

[Svafnir]

I play virtual console games more than anything else... If only Nintendo released more of them -.-

 

[GhostWriter24]

Haha yes yes a 100 million selling fad. Never seem that one before on GAF.

Try to shoehorn motion into game these days and see how well it does. The world has moved on.

 

[Ansatz]

Funny that you mention those games, considering they're are all from 3rd parties.

The point was to highlight that I want 3rd party games of this type, not the kind that are released/announced on PS4.

o you want games like Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, The Witness, Far Cry Blood Dragon, Strider, Dust, Mark of the Ninja, and Outland? I hate to break this to you...

Yup, that's why my platform of choice is Steam. Games there are cheap and future proof.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

I'll throw in arrogance, they just took it for granted that their staple first party games will sell like gangbusters.

Sadly I've gotten to the point where the WiiU here will probably just become a shitty Netflix box for the kids. Nobody has touched it in months

It's a shame, they have talented first party to say the least but so many things hinder them, many issues caused by themselves.

I would like them to get back to the SNES days in terms of strategy and dump this "we have our own generation going on". If you look at the PS4 and it's current sales and strategy, it's not so different from the SNES, games, price, leap over the previous generation etc.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Wii U is just following the same trend that previous Nintendo consoles (prior to the Wii) were - i.e., declining sales in the console market. Big drop from SNES to N64 and then GC.

Wii U is just seeing a return to that trend.

I'm sure Nintendo still believes they can reverse the trend in both console and handheld gaming, but the writing really is on the wall. 3DS is seeing huge drop-offs this year, and Wii U is basically still born.

Nintendo needs to act pretty quickly, and I think their time in hardware is basically over. They need to seriously consider going third party and splitting their software teams into mobile vs. console, releasing games targeted to iOS/Android and PS4/XB1/PC.

Their properties would sell massively if they were applied to platforms that are flourishing.

 

[onipex]

Where they are going from here is the Nintendo OS and QOL platforms. For Wii U they are going to wait until Mario Kart hits to try and spark some life into it. Unless its going to be the best Mario Kart ever followed up by a strong lineup of games I don't have much hope.

 

[ComputerMKII]

Copy Valve/EA and make Steamtendo. All the Nintendo library available on PC, exclusively on Nintendo's online platform.

 

[Papacheeks]

Double Post, Sorry.

 

[R0ckman]

I don't want to be in the Nintendo bubble. Nintendo only fans scare me.

 

[Papacheeks]

Haha yes yes a 100 million selling fad. Never seem that one before on GAF.

But it was a fad? Like other poster's please show me in this time right now where motion gaming is?

It's completely dead in the water, hence why Kinect is not the answer for the xbox.

Please go take a trip back to memory lane and see where Nintendo sold as many units for a "Home Console"as the Wii?

N64 never sold as well as the Wii, Gamecube never did either.

Wii was a fast cash grab that was forgotten after Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Go look at how hard their sales declined in the "Home Console" area, after everyone got their fill flailing a controller in the air.

The future is in Connectivity and interactivity with the actual gamer's not the console. Hence why Youtube, and Twitch streaming is growing so fast.

Sharing your favorite moments that you would once have in a Mario,Punch-out,Smash Bros, can be shared in an instance.

People can enjoy the same experience together, without being in the same space, or in the same game.

This is what Nintendo neglects, along with 3rd party, and New IP's. They have great games, but no way to share it outside of their Nintendo bubble.

 

[Metallix87]

But it was a fad? Like other poster's please show me in this time right now where motion gaming is?

Everywhere? Motion gaming is alive and well on all non-Sony platforms. As I've said in the past, motion gaming is here to stay, but it will be a long while until developers figure out the best ways to utilize the tech on their big budget games.