Nintendo NX - What Are Your Thoughts?

[ActRaiser]

I just watched a clip about Sony's Morpheus. Did anyone else catch the release date? It's going to be early 2016. Seriously, if Sony releases a VR set for the PS4 and Nintendo still only plans on supporting the Wii U until 2017 I'll eat my shirt.

I have no idea what the NX will be but I am confident Nintendo will change the name to something stupid. Remember when the Wii was called Revolution. Now, that's a name. That's a freaking awesome name.

Will they go with Super Wii U? Or how about Mini Wii, cause really I want to walk into Target and ask, "May I see your Mini Wii?" Or "Come play with my Mini Wii, maybe, we can turn it into a Super Wii!"

Okay, I'm done with the stupid jokes.

Regarding Mother and a compilation that's an awesome idea. I was stoked to learn that Nintendo released Earthbound Beginnings for the Wii U then I saw the price, $7. $7. And then I watched Microsoft's conference. 30 Rare games for $30.

Seriously...that's messed up.

Here's something else to consider. Fan service by a company makes a huge difference. My brother-in-law asked me what console to get. I'm sure others have asked each of you your opinions as you're heavily in the know. I sure as heck didn't say the Wii U. The PS4's future game line up is awesome and the same goes for Xbox One. They both offered hope for a long term investment. What on earth is there to look forward to on the Wii U after 2016? There's no future there.

[scotland]

Here's something else to consider. Fan service by a company makes a huge difference. My brother-in-law asked me what console to get. I'm sure others have asked each of you your opinions as you're heavily in the know. I sure as heck didn't say the Wii U.

Did someone say Fan Service? Oh...I thought you meant ... never mind. Yeah, that 'what do you recommend' question is the where the rubber meets the highway. I too would not recommend the Wii U, even to people with families. There are plenty of family friendly games now on the other two consoles. I think Lego Dimensions might be a hit this holiday season, and its available on all the consoles from this generation and two of the three from last generation (no Wii, of course). My excitement for the Wii U has been such a downhill road for me, from being really excited and beginning with the default of 'this is the console for me', and reading that long first impressions post on the forum which was awesome, to today recommending Brand Sony or Brand Microsoft instead. I feel like I need a shower.

The DS was the last hardware from Nintendo I did not feel was gimmicky. The DS rocked. I have a feeling that instead of going the PS4 route of "We listened, and we know you just one a darn fine gaming machine", I see some sort of NX gimmick ahead. Gimmicks can be great, I mean, people are excited about self driving cars...but if those self driving cars turn out to be Trabants, then that excitement is going to be short lived. The Wii U is like a Trabant.

[ptdebate]

My excitement for the Wii U has been such a downhill road for me, from being really excited and beginning with the default of 'this is the console for me', and reading that long first impressions post on the forum which was awesome, to today recommending Brand Sony or Brand Microsoft instead. I feel like I need a shower.

I feel the exact same way. Nintendo has been so lethargic this generation. The 3DS is undoubtedly a great system but it doesn't break the trend of relying on gimmicks.

I would still recommend a Nintendo 64 to families wanting simple fun. The selection of 4-player games dwarfs that of Xbox One or PS4. A system and an Everdrive with all the N64 games on it would set them back $200.

[Atarifever]

Actraiser, Morpheus got, I kid you not, 2 minutes and 20 seconds of the Sony press conference. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Morpeus isn't coming out at all. Like ever. I'm pretty confident about the NX being spring/summer 2017. I am absolutely certain after that press conference that Morpheus is February 31, 20never.

If Sony is really planning to release a VR headset at enormous consumer cost to compete with an incredibly well reviewed Microsoft product and a well reviewed product owned by FACEBOOK and now also somewhat partnered with Microsoft, and they really are launching it next year, and all they gave it was 140 seconds at E3, you'll have to eat your shirt anyway, because in bizarro land, people wear food and eat shirts anyway. .

They waved the white flag on VR in the press conference.

[Atarifever]

My excitement for the Wii U has been such a downhill road for me, from being really excited and beginning with the default of 'this is the console for me', and reading that long first impressions post on the forum which was awesome, to today recommending Brand Sony or Brand Microsoft instead. I feel like I need a shower.

I feel the exact same way. Nintendo has been so lethargic this generation. The 3DS is undoubtedly a great system but it doesn't break the trend of relying on gimmicks.

I would still recommend a Nintendo 64 to families wanting simple fun. The selection of 4-player games dwarfs that of Xbox One or PS4. A system and an Everdrive with all the N64 games on it would set them back $200.

I really don't think games have anything to do with Nintendo's problems this generation. I think they marketed poorly and answered a question no one asked them.

For everyone saying they need more 3rd party, better tech, and more deep cut franchises, they did that already. It was called the Gamecube. It was more powerful than the DC or PS2 (and close to the Xbox). They had exclusives (of the type now referred to as timed exclusives) from Resident Evil (a major move considering it's traditional place with Sony). They had tons of third parties lined up in the first couple years. They had sports games from multiple publishers. They had mature stuff like Killer 7 and that weird game where you go crazy. They made Metroid into a FPS that people loved. And the only Nintendo console to sell worse than it was the Wii U.

What sold most of any system ever for them? DS and Wii. They HAVE to do something besides compete on hardcore gamers and tech. They can't win there. They tried. Another Gamecube could make money, but not enough to make their investors happy, given the declining handheld market to pair with it.

What they need is to figure out what their next Wii is. Not what the gimmick is. What makes people (families, gamers, kids, everyone) buy and play something together. The answer was very resoundingly NOT another tablet your spouse or kid can look at instead of interacting with you. Seemed like a good idea when you thought Nintendo Land would be the first of many party games for the system, but when you really think about it, as pt said above, the N64 is actually better for families looking to play together.

I expect the NX will be a lot less concerned with graphics and core games than you guys hope, and will be a lot more concerned with somehow making people interact (Nintendo iOS and Android streetpass app that talks to the console maybe? Streaming from the console to multiple devices to play one game locally? Mii messengers bringing greetings and messages from the console to people's smart devices?). I really don't think they have the choice to compete with Sony and Microsoft directly. One company has already won this ebtire generation, and the other can afford to lose money almost indefinitely.

[scotland]

I really don't think games have anything to do with Nintendo's problems this generation. I think they marketed poorly and answered a question no one asked them. For everyone saying they need more 3rd party, better tech, and more deep cut franchises, they did that already. It was called the Gamecube....What they need is to figure out what their next Wii is. Not what the gimmick is. What makes people (families, gamers, kids, everyone) buy and play something together.

Good thoughts as usual my friend.

I think "don't think games have anything to do with Nintendo's problems this generation" is debatable. First, I look at the Nintendo eshop and I see too few games, and at too high prices (again - $30 for a digital download of a 2 1/2 year old launch title, or even games I can get on Steam for a fraction of the price). Next, Nintendo has a huge library of older games which they could release cheaply to rebuild the fan base, many of those games are commonly found in the wild and emulators for older systems are legal and common. Big title games have to lift too heavy of a burden because games are too few on the ground. Franchises like Mario Kart has to be not good, but awesome to move systems. Franchises like Zelda have expectations set so high there is going to come a reckoning...and now its clear that no matter how good the Wii U Zelda is, its not going to affect the console's sales much (although it may satisfy current Wii U fans enough so they buy the NX). Then look at the games themselves, and listen to the 'Too much Mario' complaints. Sure, Mario is like a seal of quality, but it reinforces the idea that Nintendo is stuck in the past. They are the Radio Shack of gaming.

Its fine to march to your own drummer, but if you expect 50 million other people to do that, you better have a lot of different kinds of drum music and not keep saying "Look, its Ringo on the drums" all the time. Right now it looks like they have 10 million fans and that number may be moving down more than up.

I would absolutely love Nintendo to take your last sentence and paint it on the walls in every meeting room. What makes people buy and play something together.

Focus on family fun. That is not a hard question to answer - what do families do together? What makes boardgames like Clue (very old) or Labyrinth (a new game) sell and please families so much? What makes Legos fun? What made GoldenEye fun? Its being able to gather around and play something they all can understand, all can enjoy, and has strong elements of interaction.

[JustLikeHeaven]

By comparison since 2013 there have been 2 Assasin's Creed titles with a 3rd one to be released this year.

I am going to chime in and say that is not really fair. Since 2013 Disney has put out 5 movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise, all well received, some spectacular, and a sixth in a few weeks. That Nintendo puts out 5 Zelda console games in 15 years is not in itself a mark of quality. Slow is not necessary for High Quality. We waited 16 years for the fourth Star Wars movie. Fast does not necessarily mean Poor Quality. People love some tv shows that produce a dozen or more episodes in a few months. Why not put out more Zelda games...there are more than a couple of creative people in the world. Obviously Nintendo does not fear over exposure of their IPs.

So, if you want to say Assassins Creed is a poor quality game, thats fine, buts not automatically poor quality by having annual installments.

I wasn't trying to bag on Assassin's Creed with my comments. Someone mentioned that Nintendo needs to stop putting out Mario games. My point was that while Mario is sort of everywhere in Nintendo's lineup...ACTUAL Mario games only come out every so often. As compared to AAA games on other systems which routinely see yearly releases.

[JustLikeHeaven]

One more thing I'd like to add to this thread...Nintendo is the only company where it is fun to speculate about their future. When Sony and Microsoft announce a new system you pretty much know what to expect. It will push graphics, have online capabilities and it will have strong media capabilities. The controllers won't change much and neither will the games. You're basically getting a better version of the console that is currently on the market. Which is fine. And it works.

Nintendo on the other hand. Who the hell knows what they're going to do? They're always trying something kooky and that makes it fun to speculate about what they're up to. They've always tried to innovate with controllers and input devices. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Whatever the NX is...I expect it to be different. It will be different from the Wii U and it will be different from the PS4 and XBOX ONE. That alone makes it exciting and worth paying attention to.

[scotland]

Nintendo is the only company where it is fun to speculate about their future...Nintendo on the other hand. Who the hell knows what they're going to do? They're always trying something kooky and that makes it fun to speculate about what they're up to. They've always tried to innovate with controllers and input devices. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Whatever the NX is...I expect it to be different. It will be different from the Wii U and it will be different from the PS4 and XBOX ONE. That alone makes it exciting and worth paying attention to.

You are quite right. I will add to it by saying that Nintendo is big enough to matter, but small enough where video games are not just a division of a megacorporation. Sony screwed up with the PS3 launch, MS with the Xbone launch, and so what...each could eat crow, and financially weather the storm and right the ship. Smaller companies like Ouya are certainly innovative, but so small they fail to gain traction. Nintendo is far from that yet...but mostly because they own portables. Failing that, they would have to bring their games to another console.

Nintendo, Atari and Sega are three names that mean Video Games. Sony means...what...technology? Microsoft means what...the operating system that ate manhattan? Not so for Sega, Nintendo and Atari. Sega was doing coin op when coin op meant juke boxes, and to see them abandon hardware to be where they are pulls heartstrings. Atari begins with Nolan Bushnell kinda stealing Baer's thunder, then creates a tiny little empire that seems more like Reefer Madness than Wall Street....of course, that Atari became nothing more than a division of a megacorp even before the 80s began, but the name still means something, even if its just selling flashbacks every holiday season. Nintendo is the last survivor...newer than Sega or Atari, but wow, the impact, and to this day, it seems that video games are their business...not a side business...not a short term business...but what Nintendo wants to be for the next 50 years.

Oddly, by sticking to their 1st party games, they are not influencing video gaming much anymore. They are becoming passengers on the very ship they used to captain.

The problem is that "Who the hell knows what they're going to do? They're always trying something kooky and that makes it fun to speculate what they're up to." Who else does that sound like....Sega! This is what you would have said about Sega 20 years ago. Gaming was in Sega's blood, they were pushing innovation while Nintendo played it safe. The Dreamcast is still loved for its innovation. Even more than being innovative, Sega had cool, which Nintendo no longer has. What Nintendo has are those amazing 1st party IPs, but since the expectations are "I bought a console for this game, it darn well better blow my socks of" that business model is very risky.

[ActRaiser]

Actraiser, Morpheus got, I kid you not, 2 minutes and 20 seconds of the Sony press conference. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Morpeus isn't coming out at all. Like ever. I'm pretty confident about the NX being spring/summer 2017. I am absolutely certain after that press conference that Morpheus is February 31, 20never.

If Sony is really planning to release a VR headset at enormous consumer cost to compete with an incredibly well reviewed Microsoft product and a well reviewed product owned by FACEBOOK and now also somewhat partnered with Microsoft, and they really are launching it next year, and all they gave it was 140 seconds at E3, you'll have to eat your shirt anyway, because in bizarro land, people wear food and eat shirts anyway. .

They waved the white flag on VR in the press conference.

I watched a whole other show on Spike where they had interviews and demos of various games and systems for everything. They interviewed one of the guys from Sony and played several games. The statement came from that interview and not during the e3 show.

Oh, shirts are tasty by the way. Add a little Tabasco, a little salt and pepper, and you're good to go!