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Nintendo NX Is a Portable Console With Detachable Controllers, Says Report (eurogamer.net)

An anonymous reader writes from a report via Eurogamer.net: We now have a good idea as to what the Nintendo NX will consist of thanks to a new report from Eurogamer. According to a number of sources, Nintendo's upcoming NX will be a portable, handheld console with detachable controllers. Eurogamer.net reports: "On the move, NX will function as a high-powered handheld console with its own display. So far so normal -- but here's the twist: we've heard the screen is bookended by two controller sections on either side, which can be attached or detached as required. Then, when you get home, the system can connect to your TV for gaming on the big screen. A base unit, or dock station, is used to connect the brain of the NX -- within the controller -- to display on your TV. NX will use game cartridges as its choice of physical media, multiple sources have also told [Eurogamer]. Another source said the system would run on a new operating system from Nintendo. It won't, contrary to some earlier rumors, simply run on Android. [...] The system will harness Nvidia's powerful mobile processor Tegra. Graphical comparisons with current consoles are difficult due to the vastly different nature of the device -- but once again we've heard Nintendo is not chasing graphical parity. Quite the opposite, it is sacrificing power to ensure it can squeeze all of this technology into a handheld, something which also tallies with earlier reports. Finally, we've heard from one source that NX planning has recently moved up a gear within Nintendo ahead of the console's unveiling, which is currently slated for September. After the confused PR fiasco of the Wii U launch, the company is already settling on a simple marketing message for NX -- of being able to take your games with you on the go."

5 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Has Nintendo not heard of smartphones? by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Except none of your dozens of systems has the Mario Franchise on it. or the other nintendo only franchises that have a rabid following.

    it's about the games not the hardware. Those that think it's about the hardware, just do not play games.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  2. As for the hardware by johnsmithperson123 · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's a Tegra X1 (possibly successor.) Enough power to emulate an original Wii if Nintendo wants to.

  3. Re:Has Nintendo not heard of smartphones? by mukinrestak · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Hey, my smart phone does double duty as an Ebook reader. I also play Master of Magic on it via Dosbox and a portable keyboard with touchpad (It's great for doctor's visits!). OFC, when you need a cellphone stand, a USB A to micro adapter, and a small wireless keyboard, you ain't exactly doing "mobile" gaming anymore than a laptop user is. And no, using the onscreen keyboard and touchscreen is NOT a viable option for Dosbox.

  4. Re:Has Nintendo not heard of smartphones? by Z80a · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Try playing any oldschool action game on your mobile device and tell us how well you went.
    I'm pretty sure you can't for example reach the ending of megaman 3.

  5. Re:Still hasn't learned by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nintendo is in the fortunate position that they needn't rely on third party games. They have a pretty well stocked catalog themselves. Mario, Smash Brothers, now probably Pokemon, too, what more "exclusives" do you need?

    Noticeably, Nintendo has always been the "odd man out" when it came to games libraries. Non-exclusives for XB or PS usually eventually came out for the other system, but Nintendo always had a nearly distinct game library from the other two. That does matter. It means that Nintendo doesn't have to compete with them on their turf. XB and PS have always been busy one-up'ing each other in specs, mostly because, well, if you have the same games on both systems, what matters is simply "where does it look better" and "where does it run more smoothly". If you're dealing with a completely different game base, you can't compare. More over, the games have a vastly different focus. Where PS and XB focus on action oriented games where multiplayer is mostly a thing of online gaming, Nintendo's consoles always had a distinct focus on local multiplayer, complete with a lineup of party games and controllers that were, compared to XB and PS controllers, VERY basic and simplified, so you didn't first have to learn to play, you could simply pick them up and play. Maybe not perfectly, but most games were of the "easy to pick up" kind that lends itself well to party gaming.

    So I do think that Nintendo can (and will) survive as this "niche" player. It has a few strong IPs in their pocket, and since they themselves own that IP, there is exactly zero danger that this IP would ever go to another console, hoping for a bigger market share there. Even the WiiU, which was a train wreck from conception to inception to realization to actually playing with that piece of garbage, couldn't prevent that. I still don't see why anyone thought the WiiU was a good idea, and I don't know anyone who really wanted that console, but, well, there's nowhere else you could play Mario games. And Smash Brothers. And the other consoles simply suck as party consoles. Even more than the WiiU, believe it or not.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.