The sorry state of the Wii U

[C.Mongler]

there's no way to make an ergonomic design with buttons, pack it up folks

that's not what i said at all

an ergonomic design that includes buttons would naturally be more expensive than a button free equivalent or compromise in other areas (see: blackberry priv, which is both overpriced and full of compromises)

in building a smartphone that doubles as a dedicated gaming machine, nintendo would have some enormous conflicts of interest regarding interface options, software pricing and complexity, hardware capability/longevity/pricing, etc. to reconcile, and as evidenced by the gravestones of the dozen other gaming-oriented smartphones that litter the mobile industry, that is no easy task

yes, nintendo has a much larger and more prestigious software ecosystem to support any of its mobile ventures than sony or any of those other guys did, but it still would have to find an adequate balance between all of those other concerns

well how different would that be from developing a new handheld tec tbh

lol felt beat me to it

[Hiro]

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i mean if we're calling sequels 'ports' then splatoon is the only original title nintendo has made since like the year 2000 

3d World adds a lot to the 3d land formula
NSMB Wii U is arguably the best one in that entire shitty franchise
Mario Kart 8 is the best Mario Kart since DS, way better than the shitty Wii one and better than the "eh it's better than the wii one at least" 7
and lol I wish the Wii U Kirby was simply Canvas Curse HD cuz that game is a fuckload of wasted potential

I was being cynical/joking, I love MK8, Sm4sh, and 3D World
also my guess for the March date is that they're using the latest AMD chips, which couldn't be produced in large quantities in time for the end of the year. Still, I would have much preferred they just release Zelda U this winter, then push the NX back to maybe September 2017 and just release the Zelda U port then, plus they'd have more time for a bigger launch lineup which could maybe include some big winter release AAA titles like Dishonored 2, FF XV, or Mass Effect Andromeda

[C.Mongler]

ok GOOD cuz i felt extremely triggered

also i'm curious if zelda actually has months more work left on it or if it's being artificially staggered like everyone is assuming 

[Kalahari Inkantation]

well how different would that be from developing a new handheld tec tbh

lol felt beat me to it

well, let's see:

1. a $200 dedicated handheld console doesn't have to be (and can't be due to cost limitations) even a third of the multitasking swiss army knife of a device that the average $500 smartphone is

a gaming smartphone would have to have every one of the iphone's essential features in addition to the ability to competently and comfortably play proper games, all while being about 1/3 the cost of last year's iphone model in order to appeal to children and the parents of children

2. with a dedicated gaming handheld there's no real need to consider what the pricing model for the typical game is going to be - you pay upfront ($30+) for a full experience

expectations in the smartphone space are completely different, the average game is """free""" and loaded with ads and microtransactions, and $5 tops for maybe something of higher quality with a little bit more depth

also a service like virtual console would be nonviable as piracy of legacy games is rampant in the mobile space

3. a dedicated gaming handheld becomes outmoded only every five or six years, minor revisions like the '''new''' 3ds notwithstanding - with smartphones the standard evolves yearly, and now nintendo would have to find some balance between the pressure to iterate annually and maintain a long-term technical standard

those are just a few of the problems nintendo would have to resolve that it simply doesn't even have to think about when developing a new 4DS XLi U - the general dedicated handheld's price range is from $150-$250, its games are purchased in full up front (for the most part), and it remains the standard for five years at a time

so it would be very different

the business models of smartphones and dedicated gaming handhelds completely contradict each other in too many significant ways for a nintendo venture into the smartphone space to be feasible imhotbh

[squirrelfriend]

um nintendo could defy those expectations and just use their own pricing model
there's no rule that says nintendo has to use free to play... That's just used to sell crapware and new IP
nintendo could have their own app ecosystem like they do now
the reason smartphones are expensive is that they don't have software they can sell
people are starting to lease their phones as opposed to a few years ago
they could just release a wifi only version tablet along the lines of the wii u gamepad

as far as i know it's not an ios feature to limit incoming calls which the helicopter market would LOVE

[squirrelfriend]

And some people pirate their games because they rather carry their games on one device, again nof a strong argument
3ds+ my iphone can't fit in my pocket... guess i have to carry my phone

[Kalahari Inkantation]

somehow i don't think nintendo would be comfortable giving away $400-$500 worth of hardware for $250 and praying to god that they can recoup their losses on software that costs >6x the price of the typical app store offering

they've never liked subsidizing their consoles and a subsidy of $100+ per unit is a lot to ask

and how often does nintendo iterate

do they release a new model annually to keep up with the smartphone competition

or do they not release a significantly updated model for five years so that they have some hope of eventually making a profit on their hardware (but get left in the dust by other mobile manufacturers)

And some people pirate their games because they rather carry their games on one device

but most do it because it's free and there's no alternative

and it's been free and unregulated for so long that a mobile virtual console if introduced today would largely be ignored

i've had super mario bros. and pukémon on my lagdroid for the past six years, why am i suddenly going to pay $5 for them now

maybe if nintendo had been a little more proactive and established its own paid mobile emulator service in the incipient years of the smart device industry it could have made a decent chunk of change as the legitimate vendor of legacy games on ios and android

but nintendo slept while the mobile revolution was underway lol

[squirrelfriend]

I think widely releasing its games to every phone platform where it can't guarantee its reliability on all platforms would run counter to the Nintendo way
children can't legally use half of ios features because of coppa regulations
nintendo's target market is children and helicopter parents
So conclusion: it can have a limited feature set and lower hardware costs because well it would be for kids

[C.Mongler]

god i always get a good laugh out of tec's triggered posts lol good job felt

[strongbad]

tec are you suggesting that nintendo is going to make the next ngage?

[Thyme]

"i'm suggesting they already have" -tec

[C.Mongler]

cellphones cost 900+ dollars to produce it simply ISnT FEASABLE!@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[6M69I69B9]

nintendo should just become third party

[Daddy]

 

1. a $200 dedicated handheld console doesn't have to be (and can't be due to cost limitations) even a third of the multitasking swiss army knife of a device that the average $500 smartphone is

tbh it isn't actually that extreme

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/mobiles/apples-iphone-6-profit-margin-at-least-69-per-cent-report-20140924-10ld37.html

It costs Apple about $250 or so to actually make an iPhone so nintendo may be able to shave offsome costs + tweak it more for gaming and maintain a price point of 2-300 and make a little profit or break even

[bluaki]

Wii U's future has hope: [glow=black,2,300]Splatoon is getting 5 new amiibo[/glow]

[spoiler=images]

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=a video too][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP3CPiSOBRs[/youtube][/spoiler]

It's all releasing on July 8 in America.