1st November 2015, 7:50 PM
If the rumors are true and this is essentially a handheld designed to be hooked up to a TV as well (including using external controllers), then I can believe it'll come out next year, as it would basically be the true replacement for the 3DS with the console replacement being a bonus.
If it's meant purely as a home console, then I still have a hard time believing that Nintendo would risk alienating so much of their audience with such a move. It'd make people wonder if they shouldn't skip THIS one too and wait for the upcoming "real" next gen. I mean, releasing a "mid-generation" console upgrade would tell people "we want to stay current with the technology again", and thus I have a hard time believing they'd skip out when MS and Sony released whatever they've got coming up next time around. That is, unless Nintendo is intentionally trying to go for a "tick/tock" strategy, where they intend to simply release their own consoles during the "midway" point from here forward. That'd be new.
As for a media-less release, I don't think that'll happen. There's still companies that release physical-only games (such as the entirety of the Kingdom Hearts series, so released for what I can only assume are licensing reasons). Nintendo just doesn't have the influence to force companies to release digital for ALL their games and KEEP them on the store, even when you consider their handheld "dominance". There's also the small matter of backwards compatibility, which Nintendo considers pretty important, at least important enough to keep it going back at least one generation. That said, fact is optical drives likely are a big cost and space factor. Going back to cartridges is actually pretty viable at this point, with SD cards now rivaling bluray storage space (I've seen 128 GB cards on the shelves being sold for about $60). Price is clearly still a concern there, but Nintendo may be banking on the prices for comparable storage space dropping enough to reduce the manufacturing costs to something like $10 per game, which is still way more than an optical disk, but comes with a whole host of benefits, not least of which is how well it fits in with the idea of a handheld/console hybrid.
One thing's for sure. IF that's their plan, they will be marketting the NX as a new handheld to avoid scaring the Wii U owners. I say that based on how they handled the DS, trying to make us believe it was a "third pillar" handheld meant to be sold alongside the Gameboy line. We all know the obvious truth now, it really was the next Gameboy and they used that marketing speak to make it easier to accept it as a two screened giant monster of a handheld (compared to Gameboy systems). As I said, I doubt Wii U owners will be very comfortable with their console becoming "obsolete" this soon, especially considering things like the online-centric nature of hits like Splatoon (and legitimate fears that it's online mode will go dark far too soon). So, Nintendo will say "hey, we have this new handheld, the NX, which is more powerful than the Wii U and can be hooked up to your TV, but don't worry, it's just our new handheld meant to replace the 3DS, and Nintendo is committed to supporting the Wii U for it's continued life span". Then it'll end up replacing the Wii U after all and Nintendo will say something like "due to the runaway success of our new handheld, we're positioning it as our main focus, but don't worry, it can be used as a console too!".
If it's meant purely as a home console, then I still have a hard time believing that Nintendo would risk alienating so much of their audience with such a move. It'd make people wonder if they shouldn't skip THIS one too and wait for the upcoming "real" next gen. I mean, releasing a "mid-generation" console upgrade would tell people "we want to stay current with the technology again", and thus I have a hard time believing they'd skip out when MS and Sony released whatever they've got coming up next time around. That is, unless Nintendo is intentionally trying to go for a "tick/tock" strategy, where they intend to simply release their own consoles during the "midway" point from here forward. That'd be new.
As for a media-less release, I don't think that'll happen. There's still companies that release physical-only games (such as the entirety of the Kingdom Hearts series, so released for what I can only assume are licensing reasons). Nintendo just doesn't have the influence to force companies to release digital for ALL their games and KEEP them on the store, even when you consider their handheld "dominance". There's also the small matter of backwards compatibility, which Nintendo considers pretty important, at least important enough to keep it going back at least one generation. That said, fact is optical drives likely are a big cost and space factor. Going back to cartridges is actually pretty viable at this point, with SD cards now rivaling bluray storage space (I've seen 128 GB cards on the shelves being sold for about $60). Price is clearly still a concern there, but Nintendo may be banking on the prices for comparable storage space dropping enough to reduce the manufacturing costs to something like $10 per game, which is still way more than an optical disk, but comes with a whole host of benefits, not least of which is how well it fits in with the idea of a handheld/console hybrid.
One thing's for sure. IF that's their plan, they will be marketting the NX as a new handheld to avoid scaring the Wii U owners. I say that based on how they handled the DS, trying to make us believe it was a "third pillar" handheld meant to be sold alongside the Gameboy line. We all know the obvious truth now, it really was the next Gameboy and they used that marketing speak to make it easier to accept it as a two screened giant monster of a handheld (compared to Gameboy systems). As I said, I doubt Wii U owners will be very comfortable with their console becoming "obsolete" this soon, especially considering things like the online-centric nature of hits like Splatoon (and legitimate fears that it's online mode will go dark far too soon). So, Nintendo will say "hey, we have this new handheld, the NX, which is more powerful than the Wii U and can be hooked up to your TV, but don't worry, it's just our new handheld meant to replace the 3DS, and Nintendo is committed to supporting the Wii U for it's continued life span". Then it'll end up replacing the Wii U after all and Nintendo will say something like "due to the runaway success of our new handheld, we're positioning it as our main focus, but don't worry, it can be used as a console 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)