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Nintendo's Mysterious 'NX' Gaming Platform To Be Launched In March 2017 (pcworld.com)
Nintendo has announced that its next gaming platform -- codenamed NX -- will launch worldwide in March 2017. "For our dedicated video game platform, Nintendo is currently developing a gaming platform codenamed 'NX' with a brand-new concept," the gaming console company said while announcing its annual results. PCWorld reports:Nintendo is placing big bets on NX. The company will continue to offer games for smartphone devices, a strategy it has started executing on, but its core business focus will be on what it describes as its "software-led hardware-software integrated business." [...] For the fiscal year ended March 31, the company sold 6.8 million units of the portable Nintendo 3DS hardware and over 48.5 million units of 3DS software. Global sales of the Wii U hardware and software were 3.26 million and 27.4 million units respectively.
Superior in terms of raw horsepower sure, but that's not the market that Nintendo is trying to go for.
Nintendo caters to same-console multiplayer and exploration-game and platformer players, not competitive FPS and sports-game players. Their design goals are easy-to-pick-up, intuitive, and fun, not focused solely on dazzling the eyes with the extreme number of polygons. They explore wacky and different game mechanics like the motion-controller Wii remotes and the asymetric-gameplay Wii U tablet. Go into any nursing home. Odds are you'll find a Wii but won't find an Xbox or PS.
It would be stupid for Nintendo to exit the market, there's no one else that is even trying to cater to their player base. You may not be part of their target market, and that's completely okay. Other people are.