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What we know so far about the Nintendo NX with sources

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E

ElTorro

I wanted to dominate the living room. Then I took an ESRAM in the knee.
Eddie Nash said:
It is. As an owner of the original 3DS bought day 1, I guarantee it's pretty confortable. I never had a problem with it. I still don't.
Click to expand...

My issue with the ergonomics of the various 3DS versions is the low position of the d-pad. That's not an issue on the 2DS.
 
E

Eradicate

Member
Thraktor said:
At 14nm there shouldn't be any problem in providing good perf/W (particularly as they can use the Polaris architecture), but cost may be a problem for a late 2016 release.

I would actually guess that Nintendo would go for quite a big jump in performance over the 3DS, because the smaller the gap between the handheld and console the easier it is to cross-develop games for both pieces of hardware. In the ideal case the performance difference should be roughly proportional to the resolution difference (i.e. the console being 4x more powerful than the handheld for 1080p and 540p respectively), but I don't expect they would manage that unless they go with a 14nm handheld SoC and/or a severely underpowered home console. The closer they can get to it the better, though, so a relatively powerful handheld with a low-res screen is the way to go.



Well, Qualcomm makes the Adreno mobile GPUs, which are capable enough, and a number of vendors would be able to offer PowerVR graphics (as used in iPhone/iPad), which probably offers the top performance in a mobile/handheld power envelope. There's also ARM's own Mali GPUs, which are quite widely used, and then Nvidia, who are obviously graphics focussed with the Tegra (although having dropped the Tegra 3 from the 3DS, Nintendo might be wary of partnering with Nvidia again). Lots of options there which could reach the sort of performance levels Nintendo wants.

The advantage of AMD is that, as I described above, they could provide a handheld chip which uses the same GPU architecture as the home console, simplifying cross-development between the two pieces of hardware. The disadvantage is that they don't have any experience offering this architecture at the kind of ultra-low power envelopes that Adreno/PowerVR/Mali are designed for, so it's hard to say if they'd be able to provide suitable performance within the thermal limits of a handheld.
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For Thraktor and others, you all impress me with your knowledge and ideas in trying to piece together what might be inside this thing. Just to add to the discussion, though it may be something already discussed here:

Regarding the semi-custom win that will contribute to Q3 revenue, AMD has been pretty quiet about the specifics. It seems very likely it is the Nintendo console, for a few reasons. It does make sense for Nintendo, since being closer to the other consoles would make it easier to port to it. Since Nintendo creates a large proportion of the games for its platform, it would not have to worry so much about its most attractive titles being moved to the PS4 or Xbox One. Also, considering the timing, it makes perfect sense, as it would it feed into the holiday sales cycle. It is also slightly after AMD's newest GPU architecture will be out. This asks quite a few questions though.

If we assume it is Nintendo, we have to piece together what this processor would be. Nothing quite works perfectly. Would Nintendo want a 28nm processor based on AMD's older GCN architecture? If so, would it also be using Jaguar/Puma or Carrizo? That really would not be ideal, since the cost reductions on 28nm would not be very good at this point; the process being quite mature. But, it is safer and probably cheaper short term than moving to 14nm, which will almost certainly have lower yields. However, 14nm would offer better performance/watt, and be much more likely to offer substantial cost savings in the future.

If it is 14nm, which processor would it be? AMD has shown no intention of moving Jaguar/Puma or the Bulldozer line to 14nm, so that would leave Zen, or an ARM derivative. Neither seems that likely, as ARM would not enable the cross-platform ease x86 would, and so far AMD only has produced A57-based silicon, which is not a particularly successful architecture. Zen is very unlikely. It would pre-date the general release of the processor, and would involve tying a GPU to it, which will not be in the PC market until 2017.

Although not ideal, given Nintendo's generally conservative hardware strategy (with respect to CPU/GPUs), it seems most likely this will be a 28nm part, based on a very similar architecture to the PS4 and Xbox One. This assumes this is the semi-custom win AMD has been talking about, which is not certain.
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From http://seekingalpha.com/article/3841146-amds-cpu-semi-custom-technology-roadmap-relates-investors

Nothing but guesses, but again, just more information for the discussion from outside of here. The whole read is pretty interesting for what the outlook and roadmap of AMD could be. I just wanted to share.
 
LordOfChaos

LordOfChaos

Member
Hero of Legend said:
What would've 3DS been like had it used Tegra 3 and why was it dropped?
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iirc it was Tegra 2, which was markedly weaker than the 3, that was dropped from the 3DS prototypes

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-3ds-techspec-exploration-blog-entry


Not sure if Nintendos final solution was better or just Nintendoer. Allegedly related to power draw and cost though. So, possibly the Tegra 2 would have still been more powerful.

It really does amaze me that the 3DS is still chugging along on a low clocked ARM11 and PICA200. Even the New 3DS adds to the same basic architecture (did we ever find out with 100% certainty if it was a double clocked dual or same clocked quad, or somethign with a different architecture on the new added cores?)
 
T

Trevelyan9999

Banned
Can someone explain to me why many are "kind of" believing what these analyst's are guessing? Aren't we all "analyst's" here?

Also Nintendo would NDA anyone who is leaking release dates or products from them.....at least that's what I would assume since the "NDA is strong with this one"
 
blu

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
Eradicate said:
From http://seekingalpha.com/article/3841146-amds-cpu-semi-custom-technology-roadmap-relates-investors

Nothing but guesses, but again, just more information for the discussion from outside of here. The whole read is pretty interesting for what the outlook and roadmap of AMD could be. I just wanted to share.
Click to expand...
'..Neither seems that likely, as ARM would not enable the cross-platform ease x86 would, and so far AMD only has produced A57-based silicon, which is not a particularly successful architecture..'

A57 might not be the most successful ARMv8 out there (e.g. the way A53 dominates the market), but it is orders of magnitude more successful than AMD's Jaguar/Puma lineup. Outside of the console market, AMD does not have many design wins for the Jaguars/Pumas. Traditionally-strong APU markets like netbooks and notebooks have been shifting away from the cats (to my disappointment, as those were the best small-productivity-device APUs out there).

As for the fabled cross-platform ease x86 could bring, that'd be valid if nintendo went Puma (read: preserved the uarch). If nintendo went Excavator, as some suggest, quite a few assumptions in the code would need to be revised (e.g. int/fp ops ratio, resource contention issues in SMP code, etc), to the point that it could actually be easier (read: to preserve the original performance) to port to A57.
 
J

jmizzal

Member
Bots are better than you said:
Hm, it appears a little strange when the 3DS has a rather solid line-up for 2016 in the west.
For Japan, i see a handheld first approach as the better way, especially now with DQ XI missing 2016.

Hope this doesn't mean a split launch with months of time apart.
Click to expand...

I hope they go handheld in Japan Fall 2016, Console in the west Fall 2016 and Console in the spring 2017 for Japan and Handheld Spring 2017 in the west
 
S

Sulik2

Member
Trevelyan9999 said:
Can someone explain to me why many are "kind of" believing what these analyst's are guessing? Aren't we all "analyst's" here?

Also Nintendo would NDA anyone who is leaking release dates or products from them.....at least that's what I would assume since the "NDA is strong with this one"
Click to expand...

There is a new platform coming this year. There are people with full knowledge of the NX and production is probably about to start which means more people will know about it. At that point you start getting leaks, regardless of the NDA. Analysts do sometimes have sources and can make more accurate predictions then we can. Take everything with a grain of salt, but this close to a platform announcement you do start to get some accurate rumblings on the rumor mill.
 
K

KidGalactus

Member
ChaosXVI said:
Well despite what this article says, I'm really not expecting the NX portable to launch without the console alongside it. The whole gimmick (as far as we know at this point) is that the two work in tandem. You can play the same games on one as you can on the other. But if you don't have your system's main selling point available until 6 months after launch...that's a big problem.

I feel confident that both will still launch this year, at the same time, and the only reason it wouldn't happen is due to production problems.
Click to expand...


We don't actually know this. It's just a popular piece of speculation
 
A

AlStrong

Member
Eradicate said:
From http://seekingalpha.com/article/3841146-amds-cpu-semi-custom-technology-roadmap-relates-investors
If it is 14nm, which processor would it be? AMD has shown no intention of moving Jaguar/Puma or the Bulldozer line to 14nm
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

I am fairly certain a lot of the work involved in porting Jaguar to 14nm would have already been paid for by MS and Sony. Doesn't mean much for making conclusions, but I think it's folly to dismiss it outright because of AMD's desktop/mobile plans vs what work would be expected for the other two consoles.
 
R

Rösti

Unconfirmed Member
Normal office presence still not resumed. The working day ought to have started. Unlikely to hear anything until next week though.

I guess I could share something else though (not directly NX related). This isn't NDA bound, but try to not spread it too much:

notification4februaryifsjr.png
Click to expand...

Two days after Nintendo's Third Quarter Earnings Release for FY 2015, one day after the briefing. mmh...
 
N

Neoxon

Junior Member
Rösti;193553546 said:
Normal office presence still not resumed. The working day ought to have started. Unlikely to hear anything until next week though.

I guess I could share something else though (not directly NX related). This isn't NDA bound, but try to not spread it too much:



Two days after Nintendo's Third Quarter Earnings Release for FY 2015, one day after the briefing. mmh...
Click to expand...
So maybe we'll get some kind of news next week?
 
A

AdanVC

Member
Rösti;193553546 said:
Normal office presence still not resumed. The working day ought to have started. Unlikely to hear anything until next week though.

I guess I could share something else though (not directly NX related). This isn't NDA bound, but try to not spread it too much:



Two days after Nintendo's Third Quarter Earnings Release for FY 2015, one day after the briefing. mmh...
Click to expand...

IT'S
NOT
HAPPENING!1

All the info is appreciated, Rosti. Thanks! :)
 
F

frankie_baby

Member
LordOfChaos said:
It really does amaze me that the 3DS is still chugging along on a low clocked ARM11 and PICA200. Even the New 3DS adds to the same basic architecture (did we ever find out with 100% certainty if it was a double clocked dual or same clocked quad, or somethign with a different architecture on the new added cores?)
Click to expand...


Better than either of those, it is in fact triple clocked quad
 
blu

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
usmanusb said:
Having a53 cores are the best possibilities for nx handheld?
Click to expand...
Not the best, just the most logical. They could go with A72 for all we know.

But A53 have industry-leading performance/watt. Their standing in the mobile industry is not accidental.
 
T

Turrican3

Member
Rösti;193553546 said:
Two days after Nintendo's Third Quarter Earnings Release for FY 2015, one day after the briefing. mmh...
Click to expand...
Stealth/earlier than expected MyNintendo/NintendoAccount western launch?

Haven't they announced it was going to be March 2016 or am I misremembering?
 
G

GhostTrick

Banned
blu said:
Not the best, just the most logical. They could go with A72 for all we know.

But A53 have industry-leading performance/watt. Their standing in the mobile industry is not accidental.
Click to expand...



They could go for Cortex A
5
7 too hehehe.
Even though at this point, I think it would be a good idea to license that Kirin950 chipset... or the upcoming Helio X20 from Mediatek. A72 CPU and 128gflops Mali t880mp4.
 
R

Rodin

Member
500MHZ for the GPU ain't gonna happen. 2CU at 400MHZ if we're lucky (102.4gflops, which is plenty for 540p with Wii U-ish graphics). I'm worried it will be less, in line with the iPhone 5S 76gflops
 
G

GhostTrick

Banned
Rodin said:
500MHZ for the GPU ain't gonna happen. 2CU at 400MHZ if we're lucky (102.4gflops, which is plenty for 540p with Wii U-ish graphics). I'm worried it will be less, in line with the iPhone 5S 76gflops
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My bare minimum is 64gflops at 540p.

Vita was 28gflops at 540p.
 
B

BY2K

Membero Americo
Rösti;193553546 said:
Normal office presence still not resumed. The working day ought to have started. Unlikely to hear anything until next week though.

I guess I could share something else though (not directly NX related). This isn't NDA bound, but try to not spread it too much:



Two days after Nintendo's Third Quarter Earnings Release for FY 2015, one day after the briefing. mmh...
Click to expand...

I can't see the image, what is it?
 
D

DrROBschiz

Member
AdanVC said:
And he is a pretty reliable guy so... Megaton!!??
Click to expand...

Port is a megaton?

I mean it is for ME cause Im crazy about smash lol

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, are fighting video games developed by Sora Ltd. and Bandai Namco Games, with assistance from tri-Crescendo, and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U game consoles. Wikipedia
Initial release date: September 13, 2014
Publisher: Nintendo
Series: Super Smash Bros.
Genres: Fighting game
Developers: Bandai Namco Entertainment, Sora Ltd.
Platforms: Wii U, Nintendo 3DS
 
K

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
Finally some juicy leaks. SSB for NX, interesting. I don't think there was enough time to be a totally new one, so maybe a remaster?
 
J

James Scott

Banned
DrROBschiz said:
Expect a lot of WiiU ports

Which I am cool with

Fresh start, new life for great games that didnt get enough attention
Click to expand...
Yep, I imagine a lot of Wii U titles will be made to work on the handheld and the console. Especially games like DKCTF. Maybe not Mario Kart and Splatoon since those are more likely sequels
 
N

Neoxon

Junior Member
BY2K said:
Of course not.

It's gonna be a port of Smash 4 with all the DLC.

+ Ice Climbers as version exclusive.
Click to expand...
We don't know how far along the Ice Climbers were on the Wii U before Sakurai pulled the plug. And even then, I'm not sure if they would change Smash 4 without Sakurai.
 
K

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
First leak being a remaster doesn't make me too hyped though. As a Wii U owner I hope they have some solid new games for NX launch, besides remasters and Zelda.
 
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