RUMOR: NEW 3DS XL out next month

[Samus Aran]

Metroid? What Metroid? I'm pretty sure there's no Metroid game coming out for the foreseeable future.

[TooB]

I think the popular interpretation/prediction of NX plans is that it'll be a pair of hardware systems launching together that tie together in some way, effectively replacing both 3DS and Wii U.

Considering Nintendo's usual console lifecycles so far, regardless of what "NX" actually is, shouldn't 3DS be dead within at most maybe a year and a half, probably less, unless it manages to outlive the abnormally-long-lived DS line? I think Nintendo has already mostly (if not fully) depleted its big releases for 3DS. The upcoming releases are just as lackluster as Wii U's if not even moreso. What's their biggest upcoming game? Metroid?

metroid prime FF and Tri-force heroes are basically the same ideas.
Happy home designer could be pretty big too

[ME##]

i would be extremely surprised if nintendo's next console were actually designed to also cannibalize the sales of its handheld platform

i'm still betting it'll be an entirely stationary wii u successor console with a separate 3ds successor coming at a later point, it makes no sense for them to kill off one of their only two revenue streams like that

Although so far Nintendo has claimed NX is a separate system not intended to replace 3DS or Wii U

it's definitely replacing one or the other (almost certainly the wii u), but more than likely not both

i don't know, you can see it that way.  but if nintendo has only one piece of hardware, a pseudo-console/handheld, next time around it reduces the need to develop different games in the same franchise and would finally mean that there could be a proper god damn console version of pokémon 

[Kalahari Inkantation]

I think the popular interpretation/prediction of NX plans is that it'll be a pair of hardware systems launching together that tie together in some way, effectively replacing both 3DS and Wii U.

but why would they do this

and "launching together" in what sense

if they're bundled together as part of a single package, they'd be greatly increasing the cost of entry into the nintendo experience for a feature that, like most of their other harebrained schemes, would be hardly utilized in any meaningful way by either developers or gamers themselves, and then they'd find themselves without a discrete handheld console to back it up like the 3ds to the wii u after it bombed

they'd be writing themselves out of console development

if they instead opted to sell two separate devices under the nx brand, using the same architecture and boasting 100% library cross-compatibility, then they'd be completely removing the need for a nintendo fan to own both their handheld and home console offerings

the vast majority would settle for just one or the other, probably the home console version, completely nullifying whatever few benefits a unified platform might offer

and both implementations would have the major issue of forcing any and all games to be massively limited in scope and scale by the weaknesses of the handheld version, once again needlessly stifling game development and scaring away third parties

not to mention, it simply isn't innovative in a gameplay sense they way nintendo hardware has historically striven to be

a consolidated home console/handheld hybrid would add absolutely nothing new to gameplay, and in fact do pretty much everything worse than a separate handheld and home console could, in addition to being overpriced, underpowered, uncompetitive, unintuitive, and repulsive to third parties

Considering Nintendo's usual console lifecycles so far, regardless of what "NX" actually is, shouldn't 3DS be dead within at most maybe a year and a half, probably less, unless it manages to outlive the abnormally-long-lived DS line? I think Nintendo has already mostly (if not fully) depleted its big releases for 3DS. The upcoming releases are just as lackluster as Wii U's if not even moreso. What's their biggest upcoming game? Metroid?

assuming the 3ds has exactly the same life trajectory as the original ds, it still has until about 2017 before a true successor

of course, in reality the 3ds is only about 2/5 as successful as the ds was, and i definitely agree that it's obvious that its library is drying up

waifu emblem: shameless dickbait edition, another boring zelda spinoff, a lackluster crossover of two long-dead mario rpg franchises, some $5 reskinned indie bs masquerading as a "'"metroid""" game, and that's it

still, in the public eye the wii u is doing even worse and nintendo's home console branch is in a much more dire situation, and so i think nintendo would much rather prioritize replacing the wii u in 2016 while trying to squeeze another year of life out of the healthier 3ds

there's no doubt in my mind that the nx is designed to succeed the wii u

[Kalahari Inkantation]

i don't know, you can see it that way.  but if nintendo has only one piece of hardware, a pseudo-console/handheld, next time around it reduces the need to develop different games in the same franchise and would finally mean that there could be a proper god damn console version of pokémon 

yes, but it also reduces potential sales from selling platform exclusives

one mario kart per generation as opposed to two, one animal crossing, half the number of zeldas, half the number of mainline marios, etc.

the removal of exclusivity nullifies any need a nintendo fan might have previously had to own both one nintendo handheld and one nintendo home console per generation (i certainly wouldn't buy both if they did exactly the same thing except at different resolutions)

it would also mean that games would have to be designed for the weaker handheld and then scaled up, greatly reducing the potential sophistication of any games on the platform

that """console""" pokemon we dream of seeing one day would essentially just be pokemon x/y except stretched across a 50in living room screen, and nobody wants that

[bluaki]

I think the popular interpretation/prediction of NX plans is that it'll be a pair of hardware systems launching together that tie together in some way, effectively replacing both 3DS and Wii U.

but why would they do this

and "launching together" in what sense

if they're bundled together as part of a single package, they'd be greatly increasing the cost of entry into the nintendo experience for a feature that, like most of their other harebrained schemes, would be hardly utilized in any meaningful way by either developers or gamers themselves, and then they'd find themselves without a discrete handheld console to back it up like the 3ds to the wii u after it bombed

they'd be writing themselves out of console development

if they instead opted to sell two separate devices under the nx brand, using the same architecture and boasting 100% library cross-compatibility, then they'd be completely removing the need for a nintendo fan to own both their handheld and home console offerings

the vast majority would settle for just one or the other, probably the home console version, completely nullifying whatever few benefits a unified platform might offer

and both implementations would have the major issue of forcing any and all games to be massively limited in scope and scale by the weaknesses of the handheld version, once again needlessly stifling game development and scaring away third parties

not to mention, it simply isn't innovative in a gameplay sense they way nintendo hardware has historically striven to be

a consolidated home console/handheld hybrid would add absolutely nothing new to gameplay, and in fact do pretty much everything worse than a separate handheld and home console could, in addition to being overpriced, underpowered, uncompetitive, unintuitive, and repulsive to third parties

By "launching together" I mean they're probably sold separately but releasing around the same time, maybe? Or they could be bundled just like the GamePad already is.

"tie together in some way" could mean very many things, and there's still no telling what it actually is, but here's some random guesses of some other ways that can work out besides what you mentioned:
* Instead of including an expensive and limited GamePad with the console, they focus on attaining essentially the same functionality by connecting the new handheld to use as a (optional?) controller with every game for extra features
* Remote Play
* Or the inverse of remote play: projecting the handheld to a TV. They could even extend this to unlock stuff like couch multiplayer when played in this mode.
* Shared friend list
* Shared partial library, like maybe every VC game and certain dual-release games (like that recent Mario Minis WiiU+3DS game), with cross-buy and/or cross-save support via linked accounts.
* Shared "full" library, but under the condition that playing non-native games from the other system requires a streaming subscription like PS Now (ew)
* A lot more games with equivalent but not identical counterparts for both systems (like Smash), maybe with special connectivity features
* Individual games on the console can support a special take-to-go minigame experience that works with the handheld system in a similar way to Pokewalker (or the Sonic Advance Chao Garden)

I don't think any of those options sounds outrageous. Sony in particular already has had some of them for a while.

[Kalahari Inkantation]

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/more-3ds-models-would-confuse-gamers-says-nintendo/1100-6384793/

lmao

[Kalahari Inkantation]

also, yet another one of these now exists

http://www.siliconera.com/2015/09/01/take-a-look-at-the-hyrule-gold-edition-new-nintendo-3ds-xl/

[bluaki]

This is kinda way off topic from the N3DS now, but...

Half the speculation things I just said about NX just made it into a news article (Tec you better not be their "source"):
* points 1, 2, 4, and 5 from my last list
* 540p to 720p resolution
* supposedly 3DS replacement actually comes out first

http://mynintendonews.com/2015/09/04/more-nintendo-nx-rumours-emerge/

That said, I totally don't believe that article:
* screen resolution should be long finalized by now
* I can't believe part of Google's Android team moved to Nintendo
* I doubt they'd keep Wii U backwards compatibility, but wouldn't completely rule it out
* F-Zero and Metroid? Totally sounds like a fan's hopes.

I think the rest of it sounds plausible though.

[Kalahari Inkantation]

(Tec you better not be their "source")

* points 1, 2, 4, and 5 from my last list

all of which sound like perfectly feasible ideas which would be genuinely valuable to gamers without making the handheld completely redundant or the home console depressingly underpowered

remote play would be welcome too

my concern is that sony has indeed been doing some of these for a while, to the point where the vita was marketed as a companion console for the ps4 after they realized its own pitiful library couldn't support it

and look how much that helped its sales, it's apparent that very few people see $200 worth of value in being able to play their console games on the go when they could play them at a much higher resolution on their ludicrously oversized screens at home

so while i would welcome many of these features, each console would additionally need to have its own set of system-selling exclusives if both are to be viable, and if they do indeed have their own set of exclusives then i don't think it makes sense to market them as a single """hybrid""" platform for what would basically amount to ease-of-access features as it would just create needless confusion (though knowing nintendo's absolutely idiotic naming schemes.............)

* supposedly 3DS replacement actually comes out first

the 3ds consistently outsells the wii u by a factor of at least 3-4 on a weekly basis



it remains the best-selling platform just behind the ps4 despite its age and despite the fact that its library is drying up

nintendo would be absolutely insane to replace the 3ds before the wii u, which in comparison sells like the dying platform on its last legs that it is

How To Create Totally Believable Nintendo Rumours Every Time:

• compile a bunch of information that was already rumoured, speculated, completely obvious, or even freely available into a single info dump - no disc drive, online overhaul, """approached third parties""", references to games and projects which are already known to exist, etc.


• make reference to the fact that you're, naturally, breaking your """strict nda"""


• provide some generic, obvious information on basic specs, but make no commitments and use weasel words wherever you can - "should be 540p, considering 720p if costs go down", "but with nintendo you never know"


• sprinkle it with a dash of pure rose-tinted wish fulfillment - metroid, f-zero, etc.

and nintendo """fans""", in their abject desperation, eat it all up every year without fail, without allowing themselves so much as a second of thought about the suspicious nature of such claims

what a sad bunch

[Kalahari Inkantation]

http://kotaku.com/nintendos-not-so-subtle-hint-to-buy-new-hardware-for-mo-1745661660

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiKg3LG_Uqs[/youtube]

that like:dislike ratio, rofl

[Travis]

4 seconds quicker load times? absolutely amazing