18th June 2015, 12:16 PM
(This post was last modified: 18th June 2015, 12:29 PM by Dark Jaguar.)
Plus, Wii U has been getting some life breathed into it from their recent games. It remains to be seen just how much of a push Splatoon's release made, but May's sales were healthier than they've been. In all fairness, I've been cheering on the Wii U from the start, so I'll concede a bias on my part. (That is, the part of someone with an avatar directly ripping off the Wii U logo.)
There's a few considerable options for NX. I highly doubt they'll be pushing a release this soon, but when the next gen comes along, I expect Nintendo is planning to finally ditch the "one generation behind" strategy they've been using since the Wii and go back to actually trying to compete with system specs again. That is to say, this generation more than before they're finding out their "make it cheap" strategy isn't working like it once did. They only managed to get the 3DS on track with a big cut to the system's price months after release, and they're also cutting the price of the Wii U. In both cases, for some time they were selling at a loss just like the other console makers. They may be realizing that they'll need to do that from the start this time around, and even then Nintendo's system is going to end up being more expensive than past Nintendo consoles.
There's one alternative, and it's a big one that'd require the whole industry to cooperate. I'm talking about a "console standard", where everyone comes together to design the specs of the next gen console. All games will work on everyone's consoles, because they'll be fundamentally the same system with the same specs. In many ways, it'll be like a PC, but with fixed specs until the standard gets revised. Each company that wants to sell hardware will be selling their own, but for users it really won't matter which one they buy. Part of the spec would require either a fixed OS, or the ability to install competing OSes. Even the controller would be standardized, with room to add in non-spec controllers for more experimental stuff. The few areas of wiggle room would be things like storage space, number of USB ports, and other connector options. That's the future for consoles, I think. Heck, if they decided to base the specs off IBM compatibility, then consoles would be "fixed spec" versions of a PC and capable of running PC OSes and games too.
There's a few considerable options for NX. I highly doubt they'll be pushing a release this soon, but when the next gen comes along, I expect Nintendo is planning to finally ditch the "one generation behind" strategy they've been using since the Wii and go back to actually trying to compete with system specs again. That is to say, this generation more than before they're finding out their "make it cheap" strategy isn't working like it once did. They only managed to get the 3DS on track with a big cut to the system's price months after release, and they're also cutting the price of the Wii U. In both cases, for some time they were selling at a loss just like the other console makers. They may be realizing that they'll need to do that from the start this time around, and even then Nintendo's system is going to end up being more expensive than past Nintendo consoles.
There's one alternative, and it's a big one that'd require the whole industry to cooperate. I'm talking about a "console standard", where everyone comes together to design the specs of the next gen console. All games will work on everyone's consoles, because they'll be fundamentally the same system with the same specs. In many ways, it'll be like a PC, but with fixed specs until the standard gets revised. Each company that wants to sell hardware will be selling their own, but for users it really won't matter which one they buy. Part of the spec would require either a fixed OS, or the ability to install competing OSes. Even the controller would be standardized, with room to add in non-spec controllers for more experimental stuff. The few areas of wiggle room would be things like storage space, number of USB ports, and other connector options. That's the future for consoles, I think. Heck, if they decided to base the specs off IBM compatibility, then consoles would be "fixed spec" versions of a PC and capable of running PC OSes and games too.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)