Same reason people are buying PS4s over Apple TVs or Radeon 390s instead of 370s. There's always people who will pay more to get more. You would be running the "lower-tier" version of NX games. They might want to play the version with 1080p graphics and 60 FPS.
I think part of the idea for NX (at least how I figure): it doesn't matter which hardware device a consumer buys. They just need to make the sale and get them to start buying games.
Firstly, I am in total agreement with your second statement. But let me jump back into the first one. I concur that there will always be people who pay more to get more. But, as it stands right now, Nintendo's handhelds are more popular than their consoles, and the opposite is true for Sony. Ergo, if Vita was more popular than PS4 and its TV peripheral offered the same games as PS4, at a graphics difference only moderately noticeable to the lay consumer, I do think PS4 sales would be much worse. Therefore, I don't think an HDMI out NX portable product will be anything but a way for many more casual lay consumer to opt for that product rather than bother with a console, when Nintendo consoles have little appeal to most console gamers to begin with.
Come on, this dick measuring graphics talk is silly. The Wii U sales don't have much to do with power. Slightly better graphics than PS4 will not give the NX automatic success. Why did the 3DS thrash the Vita? Why did the Gamecube fail? Etc etc
I completely agree. Nintendo's successes have not been built on Playing with Power in a long time. Not XB's last gen, based on popular online infrastructure and mass marketing
of online shooters at a lower price point than its stumbling competitor, either, nor Sony's this current gen based on improved word of mouth by the end of the prior gen in regards to software as well as...again...ironically enough...a stumbling competitor. (FWIW, I think XB1 and PS4 graphics are probably considered very comparable by the lay consumer.)
From Iwata's comments, the initial impression I got was that Nintendo felt that Westerners preferred consoles and Japanese people preferred handhelds, but with rising expectations Nintendo could never support both, and thus would make two devices where scaling content across both of them was possible and relatively painless in an effort to try and satisfy both audiences.
However, I'm not sure what the actually practical implementation ended up being since Iwata likely made these comments when a lot of things about the system(s) were still up in the air given how long ago it was.
It could be like the iPhone/iPad/Apple TV, but just as easily like the Vita/PS3 instead.
Your initial expectation for the NX platform is in line with my own. At this point I'm of the mind that most games will be cross-platform and perhaps a select few may be console only...but similar to N3DS, the extent to high we see console-only games could rely heavily on how well the first few of those sell. That is to say, if Xenoblade 3D had sold better, I suspect we would have seen many more N3DS games. With that said, I think a Vita/PS3 situation would be a serious mistak a constitute the kind of half measure we see now between 3DS and Wii U. Except I suppose it would be a bit worse than the Vita/PS3 situation, because when your handheld is more popular than your console, even fewer resources can be reasonably devoted to those console experiences, and of the NX console is a bust Nintendo loses significant mindshare for future consoles.
(Not to get all Nintendoomed on y'all. I just think if they launch both and the console bombs, it's going to be a more limited product with less focus devoted to it, especially in a situation where most games are not cross-play.)
I wonder how much the Wii U could have been without the tablet controller.
Pricing is a big thing for Nintendo. It's a problem for both handheld and console. 150 handheld would make an extremely affordable device as would 250 for home console. I'm thinking DS/Wii era.
I don't think Nintendo will use expensive technology this time around.
I hope for the same. And not in a stingy way, really, either. I just think anything much more expensive than that is going to represent all the more uphill of a battle for Nintendo.
Why would Nintendo even want to limit thier games to console after all this effort?
I don't see why they would, either, especially since 3DS already offers console-like experiences. It's not like the GBA and prior days where the focus was on handheld games being more compact experiences.