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[s0]

What I'm thinking is slightly better versions of the console every year like Apple does with the iPhone.

One of the good things about using consoles over PC is that you don't have to worry about hardware specs and such. Every game is guaranteed to run out of the box and usually runs acceptably.

Oh wait

[Smerik]

Marketing a new console is EXPENSIVE LIKE *#&%, cannot imagine how expensive Nintendo's marketing campaign is, but it probably has 8 digits. Instead marketing a PS4 Pro or a Xbox Scorpio is relatively cheap, people know what they get but its better more or less. There is only one incentive and that is financial for this kind of shit.

[Tuba]

Well, that's why I have a PC only.

I don't think consoles will last long anyway.

[Richard Kain]

Incremental upgrades for the Nintendo Switch are not likely, and not really in the users best interests or in Nintendo's. I'm constantly baffled by some people's hang-ups on processing muscle. We're well past the point of diminishing returns on that sort of thing. Properly utilizing the power already at our disposal is far more of a pressing issue as opposed to salivating over what we don't have. Learning to scale back expectations and scope in a project is far more valuable to the average developer, and should be exercised more regularly. Designing for only the latest and greatest hardware is a losing proposition.

The Switch's best chance at success is to shift a lot of units in its first few years on the market. It's lack of hardware parity is important, but only in its relation to its most immediate competitors. Porting games easily to the Switch makes 3rd party support more likely. This is the only area where hardware power becomes relevant. Shifting a lot of units early will establish a sizable user base. If there is a market to sell to, the 3rd parties will be much more likely to start supporting the Switch. You can't just ignore potential customers, especially if there are a lot of them.

In truth, I think the Switch is going to be one of the first major consoles that will live or die based on its digital store. The most likely 3rd party developers who will support the Switch will be smaller to mid-tier indie teams. They have less to lose, and more to gain by supporting the Switch. An early lack of competition from other major developers, combined with Nintendo's known genre focuses, is going to leave the Switch with several unfulfilled experiences. Any indie developer worth their salt could waltz in and fill those niches. Firm indie support could bolster the Switch with a broader selection of titles across a larger swath of genres.

[gimymblert]

Incremental update at nintendo:
- ds

What about the DSi?

- dslite
- dsxl
- 3ds
- 3ds xl
- new 3ds
- new 3ds xl
- 2ds

Before that was the gb and gba revisions ...


I would say they have tested the water and it works fairly well, but what I'm saying is that it's different this time, and these are not peripheral, it's not the same as expansion pack or whatever sega did, they are the same thing with different compatible "form factor" not required to run game at all (unlike ram pak and whatever sega did), but distributed across 3 basic elements you already have (they are not add on). For example you have that 4k tv, buy the 4k dock with extra power for scale to put under it, keep the old dock and move it to the bedroom with the old 1080p tv. The extra power is not used to make game "prettier", just to compensate the increase resolution. Similarly you can buy the tablet xl, which would have a 1080p screen with updated gpu to scale, still compatible with all games and all inputs and dock. nintendo is already having half a gazillion controller variation that are all compatible. It would not feel like buying a new console, will be way cheaper (especially if Trump use tariff policy), and you technically don't need it for any game.

[_glitch]

What about the DSi?

[gimymblert]

good point

[Tuba]

The only incremental updates there are the DSi, New 3DS and the Game Boy Color. Those added more cpu power to their systems and weren't very successful, very few games are exclusive to the New 3DS (2 or 3 indie games on the eShop and Xenoblade which is the only physical one).

The Game Boy Color was successful but it was released 9 years after the original Game Boy, so people had good reasons to buy it, there were a lot of exclusive games for it, including a main Pokémon game. It was pretty much a new console, although it had a very short lifespan (GBA was released 2 years after it).

But yeah, in a way, Nintendo has experience with that kind of thing. But our industry don't seem to care, it's rare to see games being exclusive for incremental updates like the New 3DS and the PS4Pro, or for peripherals like the Kinect or the PSVR. AAA games are too expensive for publishers to ignore a big install base. Maybe now that everyone has experience with incremental updates on smartphones we can do it? Microsoft seems to be going on that path with the Scorpio.

[gimymblert]

They are not meant to be successful in isolation, but to get the ecosystem that support game growing. And that's exactly what I'm proposing, scaled resolution wouldn't be for everyone, it's equivalent to game boy light, they are QOL and preferences for lifestyle vs budget. SO these revision do count as incremental update, not just update that interest us gamer (aka power update).

[Tuba]

True, in fact the DSXL was created with older people in mind. But I'm talking not only from the interest of enthusiasts, but also for developers. Nothing changes if Nintendo decides to launch a smaller or bigger Switch, some people might be attracted by the new size but development is the same and people that already have a Switch won't feel compelled to buy a new one. Those things change if you release a console with better cpu/gpu/memory.

[Bad_Dude 2017]

and people that already have a Switch won't feel compelled to buy a new one.

thats unlikely

[s0]

They are not meant to be successful in isolation, but to get the ecosystem that support game growing. And that's exactly what I'm proposing, scaled resolution wouldn't be for everyone, it's equivalent to game boy light, they are QOL and preferences for lifestyle vs budget. SO these revision do count as incremental update, not just update that interest us gamer (aka power update).

DUDE,

almost every longrunning console out there has had a redesign at some point, thats nothing new. incremental hardware upgrades a la smartphones that would eventually make old games incompatible with newer hardware revisions is a completely different ball park.

[gimymblert]

Yep but I have only been describing resolution bump and bigger screen, that's not smartphone incremental upgrade, the ps4 pro is not making old game irrelevant, nor did the new 3ds (I still suspect they did it to sell more xenoblade).

[gimymblert]

Take Two CEO "Nintendo is making a 'great effort' to support 3rd parties on Switch"

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1320652

Context: they have long been dismissive or hostile to nintendo publicly!

Can still be unprecedented partnership, lip service is strong in the industry

[Richard Kain]

Yep but I have only been describing resolution bump and bigger screen, that's not smartphone incremental upgrade, the ps4 pro is not making old game irrelevant, nor did the new 3ds (I still suspect they did it to sell more xenoblade).

And is the PS4 Pro flying off of shelves? The PS4 Pro is a soft-launch, and the lack of marketing surrounding it is intentional.

Theoretically, Nintendo could do something similar with the Switch, but what would be the incentive? Increasing the screen's resolution would increase the demands for processing graphics on the go, and potentially hamstring the already brief battery life. We all know that there will eventually be a Switch "Lite." But Nintendo's incremental hardware upgrades have never been focused on boosting power, so much as boosting efficiency. Their re-designed handhelds serve to keep their respective platforms alive with cleaner, smaller, more efficient hardware. But all of those "upgrades" have been guaranteed to be backwards compatible, so they are all tied to the original specification.

When the Switch "Lite" happens, it will be slightly sleeker, slightly smaller, slightly lighter, slightly brighter, and have about a 50% increase in operating efficiency. The battery will last for 7-10 hours, instead of the 3-6 of the launch model. It might have some more processing muscle, the base processor will almost certainly be different. But that extra power and efficiency will targeted toward upping framerates for TV mode and upping battery life in mobile mode.

[gimymblert]

I'm just saying that you need a rez up for VR, they say they are interested, also the next revision of the chip is already ready and is more efficient for more compute power (certainly not used due to logistic only them know about), so minimal upgrade, also reliance on engine like unity and unreal mean it's hardware agnostic (which is the point of embracing them). You can see there is room for a more portable form factor AND a vr form factor (maybe rolled together, bigger rez don't guarantee you will use that rez internally).

The point is never to have the console fly off the shelf anyway, it's to provide option to cater to certain niche while increasing the ecosystem. Which is exactly why the pro and the scorpio are made, to retain and capture high end user and adding them to the overall ecosystem.

[gimymblert]

Anecdotal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu_iF9p12lM?
that explain new donk city as a reference (same move)


fan mock up


Stupidly it snap from below, nope nope nope

[eyeliner]

This is a system that says nothing to me, realy. It's a tablet that has no browser, so no point in aquiring it to "replace" any other tablet one might have just to browse the web.

The amount of paraphernalia is a bit too much, I mean, we all have stuff lying around anywhere. Will love to see videos of dogs munching joycons, babies messing with the Switch and make joycons disappear and what not.

I mean, it's a complicated device to play, specially when you have tablets that don't need the extra peripherals.

And the price point isn't that atractive.

[Smerik]

to me a system never says anything, but Zelda <3 and Mario <3

[Bad_Dude 2017]

you can easily play every single nintendo game made before wii u and 3ds on a decent pc.
With actual Nintendo console you need to pay $60 for baloon fight and hope someday someone finds a japanese dumpster that has Shatterhand ownership documents in it.