dartmonkey

Modest Tech: The NX Generation (Nintendo Switch)

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I mean I like it when it's there, but it just increases the cost of a console for very little gain. Most people who are looking to buy a console don't do it with the explicit desire for backward compatibility. Note I say MOST!!!

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It makes total sense for Nintendo to do a weird hybrid thing. In fact, that's what I had hoped the Wii U would be in the first place: a handheld/console/tablet thingy. If I recall, I was crossing my fingers that it's be a full tablet that you could use as either. I like it when things are clean. Unfortunately, the Wii U turned out the opposite of that: a tablet AND a regular console box, making the thing convoluted rather than elegant.

 

It's so strange to me that it's already been 4,5 years since the WIi U came out. Feel like 2. I feel like the 'next gen' of PS4 and XB1 have just begun, while the truth is we're nearing the halfway point. In this case, the halfway point is also the launching point of the follow-up generation, at least in terms of hype. Am I getting old, that the world feels like it's spinning faster than before?

 

I'm very interested to see what Nintendo can bring. Even if it's weird and not quite what I want, it'll be interesting.

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I'd love a hybrid handleld/home console. I just don't know if it's going to happen, everyone says that's what it's going to be, but with no evidence whatsoever. 

 

I also agree, if it's backwards compatible with WiiU games, and I can just plug in my WiiU's external HDD to just play those games, I'll definitely grab it on release (if it's a reasonable price).

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Personally the hybrid that can play Wii U games would be a dream. The Wii U is the only platform I feel like I'm missing out on by not having it. I don't have a TV anyway, just a PC monitor, so having the portable option would make this easier and means I can just play on the couch.

I don't know how realistic it is, but I think it's an attractive prospect.

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I understand why consoles don't have backward compatibility anymore. I think it's the correct decision, if I ignore my personal desires and think about it from a business perspective. But the cut-and-dry reality for me is, if this console has backward compatibility I will probably get it. Maybe even day 1 purch. And if it doesn't, I may never.

 

I have as many boxes under my television as I wish to have, and each has at least one piece of software that still gets regular play and would be sorely missed. So, considering there's no shortage of PC games that interest me and that I can play on my TV with streaming, it looks like I'm sitting out this console generation for the foreseeable future. And I'm OK with that.

 

The other side of this is that I really like Nintendo, and I want them to continue to produce bigger-than-handheld games. I hope that, a year or two after the release of the NX, there's enough cool shit for it that I'm forced to re-assess what I said in this post.

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Don't count on Wii U backwards compatibility, because rumours are that Splatoon, Mario Maker and Super Smash Bros. are being ported to the NX.

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If backwards compatiblity was off the cards, those NX editions could really do with a discount for existing owners. At least 50% off if the Wii U version is registered to your acc or you posted to the in-game Miiverse or something. Most Wii Users (!) are just going to stop playing Splatoon if the defunct version isn't very cheaply upgradable.

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Wii Users (!)

 

Holy shit!! :tup: :tup: :tup:

 

Yeah, I hope those ports are discounted (OR MAYBE EVEN FREE?!) for existing owners.

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So there was some news on this in the recent past that it might be cartridge loading?  Does that make any sense? I don't know how large of SD-card, or SD-card-like technology can get to be cost effective for such a plan... I mean games are just getting larger and larger with every iteration, and last time I bought a small 128 USB it was at least $50. considering current costs of games, I feel like this could have some implications:  either moving to a solid-state storage system will make for dropping prices in those raw materials, and/or our games are going to get more expensive at release? any thoughts?

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I don't know if Nintendo games are really blu-ray filling monstrosities like a lot of PS4/XB1 games. You can get 32gb SD cards for around $12 on the cheap end, and probably cheaper if you are manufacturing them yourself.

 

If the NX turns out to really be a fully portable system with some sort of dock or base station, then you can't really do disks because of the power usage of spinning a disk all the time as well as bump protection.

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If NX is a PS4ish power-wise, I hope it's super slim & dinky. I've got so much shit under the TV. I turned down a PS4 because I can't justify 5 consoles in my Besta. 2 Bluray cases-worth of console plus Wii U backwards compatiblity would be just dandy.

Edit. Though the lack of optical discs would nix backwards compatibility unless there was some download/transfer solution...

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Well apparently there was just a 256GB micro SD card brought to market. again, we have no clue what the storage capacity demands would be like for NX games, but if the plan is for a cartridge market, and solid state prices still dropping, this actually may turn out alright?

 

Also, if they're able to get it into the form factor of DS/3DS cartridges, you could have tons of back-catalog to draw from for the system... likelihood of that can't be too high though....maybe?

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Rumours rumours rumours! It seems carts will be the medium and, if so, they've GOT to make it (3)DS back compatible. As an extra selling point to parents, that would be a MONSTER.

Probably not with 3D screens, but certainly some single screen 2DS style solution. Imagine if the screen could have controller blades docked into the side in either landscape OR portrait mode, for 2 screen DS games, or anything that devs want to put out in that orientation (*cough/hint* Downwell, and mobile apps)...

Shit guys. It's just clicked. NX IS a phone.

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I think after making the WiiU backwards compatible and seeing how that affected the sales (it didn't) and how the PS4 has zero back compatibility and how that affected its sales (it didn't), it makes no sense whatsoever to add BC to new consoles. No one really cares about it.

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The PS4 not being backwards compatible kept me from buying it, but I understand what you're saying.

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It's more that noone cares enough, rather than that noone cares. Also because ports work pretty well, except for frustrating people who already bought the game.

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Yeah, i guess I'm in the mindset that I would like to skip a generation, and then still play all those games for the console i skipped. That's probably the last thing those companies want to do, but I'd by a console day one if I knew I had that backlog of games I could dig right into, otherwise I'm waiting a year at the minimum.

 

Back on subject, are all Wii-U games are required to be able to played on just the gamepad? If so, I suppose those could be made backwards compatible, at least for digital copies.

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Indeed, no one cares enough. I'd love everything to be back compatible, and after selling my PS3, I've told myself I'm not selling old consoles any more. The WiiU having BC with Wii is perfect.

 

Well the NX seems to have Zelda at launch, then a Mario and Pokémon (!!) game 6 months down the line. I hope the initial launch games are more than just BotW though, since that's going on my WiiU.

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No, there are plenty of games that can't be played with just the gamepad.

 

Splatoon for one!

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So NX is basically confirmed to use ARM architecture right? So that rules out Wii/Wii U backwards compatibility, but since the 3DS uses ARM, perhaps that is still a possibility. Given that NX is more or less going to be a portable device (based on Eurogamer rumour/reports), I think this is still somewhat likely. At the very least it'll make it easy to port/upscale 3DS titles to maybe fill out the launch window.

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I've been digging up all the info on the Wii U and NX there is. It's a funny thing - I had up until this point viewed the Wii U as the stepping stone to the NX. The NX, in many ways, fulfills the promise of having a console that is also portable. But, viewed through the lens of backwards compatibility, I now see the two in a different light.

 

All things point to the NX as being a fresh start for Nintendo. Though (3)DS backwards compatibility might be feasible in terms of operating system, the output will be broken in some ways. Simulating two screens on the tablet or the TV won't be an ideal way to play. Rather, I think Nintendo is chucking all of its history overboard and saying: 'Let's start anew.' And since the NX will be the only hardware for the company, they'll have twice the software output, in theory making for a huge lineup of really terrific titles. How could you not be excited? Nintendo is going to be a brand you can buy into with a single hardware purchase (mobile excursions aside), which is neat. Color me excited.

 

Where does that leave the Wii U, though? Turns out it was (and will remain) the legacy machine. The one console you can own that can play almost anything NIntendo has produced in the last thirty years. Virtual Console has tons of games and it has Wii backwards compatibility out of the box. The only, major oversight is Gamecube. And that smarts, since I have about eleven noteworthy Gamecube titles that I'd be loathe to store away. Mind you, this problem is solvable by installing a homebrew app on the Wii component. You'll have to extract an .iso from your Gamecube discs to get it to work though, so it's hardly ideal (and skirting the lines of legality, though I don't have any moral problems with so porting games that I've purchased years ago). It'd be fantastic if Nintendo would release some sort of compatibility patch for the Wii U so it supports Gamecube (they won't).

 

This has actually made me more enthusiastic to buy a Wii U in the next half year, before it's taken out of production, on top of the upcoming NX.

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I love that Nintendo are starting anew. It's what they need. People moved on from the Wii pretty quickly, but it left a sour taste in many people's mouths, including a lot of 3rd party devs who published on it, only to see that they sold practically nothing.

 

Also, get a WiiU if you don't have one. They're incredible. 

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