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What we know so far about the Nintendo NX with sources

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LewieP

Member
dont want to be harsh but western third party support will never be a solid form point for a Nintendo console anymore, neither home nor portable.

Even if they got the right hardware, software, input mechanism, online services and business practices in place (factors that have been barriers to this kind of publisher support for most Nintendo consoles since the SNES to varying degrees), they would still need to demonstrate evidence of a userbase that will actually reliably spend money on these kind of games before the likes of EA, Activision, Ubisoft give Nintendo platforms consistent and comprehensive support on a par with what they give Xbox and Playstation.

I don't think this is really feasible in the immediate future, but they can perhaps get all their ducks in a row to be in a better position to achieve that in the long term.
 
Back on topic, is it safe to assume that the NX will not have an upgraded version of Latte for its GPU? The older r700 design in the Wii U's GPU would be an issue with running UE4 efficiently, correct?
 
R

Rösti

Unconfirmed Member
This isn't much, but I noticed that a listing of Pokémon GO Plus appeared recently (wasn't there when I checked less than two weeks ago) on the Telecoms Licensing System of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. We got some info about the early dev kits (CAT-DEV) for Wii U (and the GamePad) from there back in 2012. So far I haven't seen any indications about NX dev kit information becoming public on that site, but maybe that could change soon? Pokémon GO is scheduled for release this year.

This is just very basic info about Pokémon GO Plus from that site:

Equipment Description / SRD/LPD Usage: BLUETOOTH / BLUETOOTH
Brand/Trade Name: NINTENDO
Model Name/No.: POKEMON GO PLUS
Frequency Band: 2.4000 - 2.4835 GHz
Radiated Power / Field Strength: <= 100 mW (e.i.r.p.)
Supplier: MAXSOFT PTE. LTD.
Can be searched here: https://eservice.ida.gov.sg/tls/listEquipment.action

Supplier of CAT-DEV was Proxus Communications PTE. Ltd. Maxsoft PTE. Ltd. is the official distributor of Nintendo products in Singapore , Malaysia , Indonesia , Philippines and Thailand. Details on Proxus are very few, so I don't know anything about their current relation to Nintendo.

From FCC I have seen nothing related to NX.
 

bachikarn

Member
What if there is absolutely no intention of any sort of shared library?

Maybe the consolidated development teams just means "Here's Mario Kart 9 for NX handheld and Mario Kart 9 for console!"

Just like smash bros, but it would be significantly easier to develop both titles simultaneously.

Iwata mentioned creating common tools for both the console and handheld divisions. I think a lot of people took that as confirmation for a shared library, but it could simply mean it allows Nintendo not to be forced into having teams that are focused on handheld or console. Instead teams can aid in development for either. So it would be a way for them to be more efficient with development.

However, since it seems all these leaks and rumors refer to the NX as both a console and a handheld, I think it's fairly safe to say it will be a platform with a shared library.
 

maxcriden

Member
Cocaine is one hell of a drug. Virtual buttons is just not gonna happen with them. No need to even entertain the thought. ^^

You seem pretty sure of this, my friend, but I'm skeptical despite generally being opposed to the idea. That patent pointed so strongly at Nintendo at the least considering the application of virtual buttons on a future contoller or handheld. You don't take any stock in that as potentially indicative of what they'd like to release? With haptic feedback maybe they could make virtual buttons work better.
 

Pokemaniac

Member
Iwata mentioned creating common tools for both the console and handheld divisions. I think a lot of people took that as confirmation for a shared library, but it could simply mean it allows Nintendo not to be forced into having teams that are focused on handheld or console. Instead teams can aid in development for either. So it would be a way for them to be more efficient with development.

However, since it seems all these leaks and rumors refer to the NX as both a console and a handheld, I think it's fairly safe to say it will be a platform with a shared library.

He was a lot more explicit than that. He literally said that he wanted Nintendo's software ecosystem to become like Android or iOS.
 

Malus

Member
Iwata mentioned creating common tools for both the console and handheld divisions. I think a lot of people took that as confirmation for a shared library, but it could simply mean it allows Nintendo not to be forced into having teams that are focused on handheld or console. Instead teams can aid in development for either. So it would be a way for them to be more efficient with development.

However, since it seems all these leaks and rumors refer to the NX as both a console and a handheld, I think it's fairly safe to say it will be a platform with a shared library.

I don't think unifying the teams would go very far towards solving their software drought problems like Iwata mentioned unless we were getting a shared library.

Not very exciting that's for sure.

I'm having fun :3
 

Hermii

Member
You seem pretty sure of this, my friend, but I'm skeptical despite generally being opposed to the idea. That patent pointed so strongly at Nintendo at the least considering the application of virtual buttons on a future contoller or handheld. You don't take any stock in that as potentially indicative of what they'd like to release? With haptic feedback maybe they could make virtual buttons work better.
The relevant part of that patent was using a freeform display in a handheld. That's it.
 

Hilarion

Member
Personally, I'd be more than satisfied with an NX that gets Capcom+SE+Namco-Bandai+SEGA+Koei-Temco+Platinum on board, and given that all of them have been on-board for the 3DS and Capcom, Namco-Bandai, SEGA, Platinum, and Koei-Temco have been on board for the WiiU, I'm sure I'll get it. A situation where they can design games playable on both a handheld and a console will be absolutely thrilling to them. Especially with the Vita's impending death, all those Japanese handheld games need to be moving to something, and a Nintendo handheld that's UE4 compatible and will basically be the entire dedicated handheld market will get some gems...look at the great stuff still coming out for Vita now after the system is long dead outside of Japan.

I'm very confident I'll be very pleased with the NX's library, which is one of the reasons I'm excited about this. I probably won't ever get the NX Console if the library really is mostly available on both platforms, but I see no reason to. If the NX basically fuses titles that would come out on the 3DS + titles that would come out on the Vita, that would be about 99% of games I have any desire to play.
 

TheMoon

Member
You seem pretty sure of this, my friend, but I'm skeptical despite generally being opposed to the idea. That patent pointed so strongly at Nintendo at the least considering the application of virtual buttons on a future contoller or handheld. You don't take any stock in that as potentially indicative of what they'd like to release? With haptic feedback maybe they could make virtual buttons work better.

They've had a pretty firm stance on the tactile feel of a button press being essential for many of their games. You'll never play a Nintendo-made Mario platformer without proper buttons, for example. :)
 

Roo

Member
I just hope they have a 3D Mario ready for launch.

I don't care if it's a 3D World, Galaxy or 64 sequel just make sure it is at launch.
 

10k

Banned
I just hope they have a 3D Mario ready for launch.

I don't care if it's a 3D World, Galaxy or 64 sequel just make sure it is at launch.
It will be. The EPD 1 finished 3D world in November 2013 and the standard three year dev cycle is three years. You'll get 3D Mario with NX launch along with a Zelda port and smash. It'll be an epic launch but this is Nintendo's last stand in the hardware market and they need to come out swinging and consistently deliver.
 

TheMoon

Member
It will be. The EPD 1 finished 3D world in November 2013 and the standard three year dev cycle is three years. You'll get 3D Mario with NX launch along with a Zelda port and smash. It'll be an epic launch but this is Nintendo's last stand in the hardware market and they need to come out swinging and consistently deliver.

Before we get confused: 3D Mario is EPD Tokyo (and the last three were made by EAD Tokyo Group 2, not Group 1).
 

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
I am so used to the "Sony and MS went to McDonalds and bought their CPU's in a recurring Happy Meal mega order" spiel that your post made me chuckle somehow :).
People (particularly on game message boards) will bastardize any subject to 'I don't understand the decisioning in this, ergo people making those decisions are idiots.' C'est la vie.

Beautiful! I hope they remove those metal layers soon and post pictures.
 

Thraktor

Member
Yeah, I was really thinking about the on-chip SRAM. Even if Nintendo don't go with a split pool this time, I figure they may want at least a small amount to play around with and/or to use for 3DS BC. There has to be SRAM which is denser than the 32 MB on the Xbone SoC, and I think MS even has 10 MB or so of denser stuff on there between the Jaguar cores.

Don't know if you saw this, but here's the 3DS SoC for reference:

Well that's pretty much just an SRAM die with a bit of processing attached!

I suppose the natural thing to do would be to implement it as an L3 cache shared between CPU and GPU and then allow it to be locked for use in BC mode. One handy thing about SRAM is that it scales extremely well with manufacturing node reductions, so if they went with 14nm (big if) then 10MB would take up very little space at all. At the kind of performance we'd expect from the NX handheld a 10MB L3 cache would substantially reduce main memory pressure, so they may be able to get away with a single pool without breaking the bank on high-speed RAM.
 

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
Yeah, I was really thinking about the on-chip SRAM. Even if Nintendo don't go with a split pool this time, I figure they may want at least a small amount to play around with and/or to use for 3DS BC. There has to be SRAM which is denser than the 32 MB on the Xbone SoC, and I think MS even has 10 MB or so of denser stuff on there between the Jaguar cores.

Well that's pretty much just an SRAM die with a bit of processing attached!

I suppose the natural thing to do would be to implement it as an L3 cache shared between CPU and GPU and then allow it to be locked for use in BC mode. One handy thing about SRAM is that it scales extremely well with manufacturing node reductions, so if they went with 14nm (big if) then 10MB would take up very little space at all. At the kind of performance we'd expect from the NX handheld a 10MB L3 cache would substantially reduce main memory pressure, so they may be able to get away with a single pool without breaking the bank on high-speed RAM.
A hefty SRAM pool is always handy. Didn't apple's most recent A* design have a massive SRAM pool for eviction cache + GPU cache combo?
 

McHuj

Member
A9 does have a 4MB L3, but for the A9x they dropped the L3 since it already has a very high bandwidth (51 GB/sec) according to anandtech
 
Skimmed the last 3 pages, didn't see this posted. Sorry if I missed it:

http://gonintendo.com/stories/252090-rumor-more-nx-dev-kit-talk-unity-unreal-engine-4-support-inclu

It's a continuation of the GoNintendo rumor posted a week or so ago about select third party partners:

- the game this company is working on runs on Unreal Engine 4
- NX Dev Kits are in limited supply and a larger number of developers wanting Dev Kits will get an SDK to prep their titles
- Unity and Unreal Engine 4 will both be ready in time for when developers outside of key partners are able to purchase dev-kits
 
Personally, I'd be more than satisfied with an NX that gets Capcom+SE+Namco-Bandai+SEGA+Koei-Temco+Platinum on board, and given that all of them have been on-board for the 3DS and Capcom, Namco-Bandai, SEGA, Platinum, and Koei-Temco have been on board for the WiiU, I'm sure I'll get it. A situation where they can design games playable on

At this point, Nintendo is Platinum's most consistent publisher, followed by Activision. If Nintendo keeps hiring them or picking up their projects for publication, they're on board.
 

EhoaVash

Member
Lol 100 pages of nothing well maybe something but really nothing. Speculation is fun though, here's too 100 more pages of nothing about Nintendo's next underpowered handheld ._.
 

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
A9 does have a 4MB L3, but for the A9x they dropped the L3 since it already has a very high bandwidth (51 GB/sec) according to anandtech
I suspect A9x is a bit of an odd bird, though - they did not have much choice but to provide those GB/s to RAM for the GPU. Once they sustained the monstrous GPU from main RAM, the necessity for the SRAM pool dropped significantly.
 

Yonafunu

Member
Skimmed the last 3 pages, didn't see this posted. Sorry if I missed it:

http://gonintendo.com/stories/252090-rumor-more-nx-dev-kit-talk-unity-unreal-engine-4-support-inclu

It's a continuation of the GoNintendo rumor posted a week or so ago about select third party partners:

pretty much a copy-paste of this:

I am sharing this with you guys as a rumor, but I happen to know that this info is true/correct:
http://www.nintengen.com/2016/02/nintendo-nx-insider-dev-kit-engine.html


  • Unnamed Developer says their game is running on Unreal Engine 4 and looks very impressive graphically.
  • The Developer said that Dev Kits are limited supply and a larger number of developers wanting Dev Kits will get an SDK so they can prep their titles for release on NX.
  • The Developer’s Nintendo Account Manager stated that Unity and Unreal Engine 4 will both be ready in time for when developers outside of key partners are able to purchase dev-kits of their own.
  • The Developer states that since their game is running on Unreal Engine 4 already, this is very promising news and are happy that Nintendo has at least taken the initiative in this regard of engine support out of the gate.
  • The Developer seems to think that they have a good chance of getting an actual dev kit and not just an SDK.
The developer went on to inform that he actually did not break any NDA that he was under by telling this information. The release date of the Dev Kits for all developers remains under NDA and the specs of the Dev Kit are still hidden
 
EAD Tokyo (now combined into EPD) is pretty competent and fast. It will have been around 3 years since their last title by the rough estimate of the NX's launch so they could very well have something by then.
RETRO's last title was also around 3 years ago, I wouldn't expect it at launch but launch window. Maybe we will see it at e3.
I'm hoping for a new Galaxy. I theorized that they were going to spin off (heh) the galaxy series into a Rosalina sub series to continue making Galaxy games but forwarding the Mario franchise. She got a ton of attention lately so we'll see.
At this point, Nintendo is Platinum's most consistent publisher, followed by Activision. If Nintendo keeps hiring them or picking up their projects for publication, they're on board.
Not directly related to the thread, but I'd love if Nintendo always had 1-2 PG collaborations in the works.
That's been the case since Wii U launched and if they're going to carry on something from this generation it's that.
 
D

Deleted member 465307

Unconfirmed Member
Not directly related to the thread, but I'd love if Nintendo always had 1-2 PG collaborations in the works.
That's been the case since Wii U launched and if they're going to carry on something from this generation it's that.

To be honest, my biggest worry regarding the Star Fox Zero development woes rumors is that it will hurt Platinum and Nintendo's relationship on NX.
 
Ah, okay. I had seen Trev's post. Didn't realize how similar (identical) they were.

Gaf > Internet > Gaf indeed.
Well, Trev is the creator for the orginal story, and he posted the news at his(?) gaming site Nintengen.com, and gave us the summary and link at neogaf.

To be honest, my biggest worry regarding the Star Fox Zero development woes rumors is that it will hurt Platinum and Nintendo's relationship on NX.
From what we were told, Platinum is just working on the graphics. The issue with Starfox is control/gameplay related, so I don't think we need to worry about that.
 

Hiltz

Member
Well, Trev is the creator for the orginal story, and he posted the news at his(?) gaming site Nintengen.com, and gave us the summary and link at neogaf.


From what we were told, Platinum is just working on the graphics. The issue with Starfox is control/gameplay related, so I don't think we need to worry about that.

That is true. However, I think some people will need to be reminded of this when the game is released because one will expect some people to misunderstand Platinum's role in development for this particular title.

As far as Platinum goes, Nintendo really needs to publish an action game that has mainstream consumer appeal. Making more games like The Wonderful 101 would be a mistake, and while Nintendo was praised for saving Bayonetta 2, Wii U owners clearly didn't show it any real support when it came to actually buying it. This was despite its pretty good marketing effort and high review scores. Xbox One's upcoming Scalebound game is something Nintendo perhaps needs to have something like on its platform.
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
Has he been to a e3 in the past? I do think NX will get some form of Pokemon a lot sooner than the 3DS did
Especially if there really is no BC. A port would be very necessary if that's the case
They may just wait for Gen 7 to be released in 2017 (which, if my guess is on-point, may already be in development for the NX Platform). Game Freak hasn't been usually as ahead of the curve when it comes to adopting new hardware, so I'd be shocked if Pokémon Z wasn't a 3DS-exclusive.
 
They may just wait for Gen 7 to be released in 2017 (which, if my guess is on-point, may already be in development for the NX Platform). Game Freak hasn't been usually as ahead of the curve when it comes to adopting new hardware, so I'd be shocked if Pokémon Z wasn't a 3DS-exclusive.
Even if it's just a port of the 3DS game, if there's no BC I'd imagine they'll do something.
I'm not sure why they'd take a year off just to release a normal 3DS game.
NX exclusive is not too likely, of course, unless Nintendo appeased them by letting them release Pokemon Go or something.
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
That could be big given Pokemon avoid E3 more or less. They don't really need it.

Probably some 20th anniversary special game or just tribute to the history of the series.
Pokémon still gets the usual trailer during Digital Events for whatever new game is coming out. Maybe they'll do a segment about Pokémon Z (again, likely on the 3DS).
 
They may just wait for Gen 7 to be released in 2017 (which, if my guess is on-point, may already be in development for the NX Platform). Game Freak hasn't been usually as ahead of the curve when it comes to adopting new hardware, so I'd be shocked if Pokémon Z wasn't a 3DS-exclusive.

I doubt Game Freak would skip the 20th anniversary year, especially since they didn't release anything last year
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
I doubt Game Freak would skip the 20th anniversary year, especially since they didn't release anything last year
Who said that they would skip the 20th Anniversary? There's the likely release of Pokémon Z this year (teased like crazy & is likely 3DS-bound, probably to serve as the swan song of the system).
 

Thraktor

Member
I suspect A9x is a bit of an odd bird, though - they did not have much choice but to provide those GB/s to RAM for the GPU. Once they sustained the monstrous GPU from main RAM, the necessity for the SRAM pool dropped significantly.

For what it's worth the 4MB L3 on the A9 (Samsung 14LPE version) takes up about 5.6mm², so you'd be looking at a little over 14mm² for 10MB (depending on whether they're going with high density or high speed SRAM, cache logic implementation, etc). Compared to how much die space they dedicated to SRAM on the 3DS SoC it's not all that much, but still a non-trivial extra expense on an immature node.
 

Pokemaniac

Member
Even if it's just a port of the 3DS game, if there's no BC I'd imagine they'll do something.
I'm not sure why they'd take a year off just to release a normal 3DS game.
NX exclusive is not too likely, of course, unless Nintendo appeased them by letting them release Pokemon Go or something.

It's pretty common for Game Freak to skip a year during a generation. Despite what the western launch dates might have you believe, Pokemon really has never been fully annual.
 
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