Hardware Miyamoto on future hardware after Wii U

shinkodachi

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I thought this recent interview with Miyamoto was insightful to read. What piqued my interest however, was this quote in particular:
We're focused on providing a robust line-up of Wii U software for next year. It seems like we've managed to do that this year and people are very happy with what we've done on Wii U. For the time being, our focus is on the Wii U hardware, but Nintendo as a whole has groups working on ideas for new hardware systems. While we're busy working on software for the Wii U, we have production lines that are working on ideas for what the next system might be.
Now here are my thoughts (feel absolutely free to criticize, I welcome it)... I know that Nintendo and probably every other company out there starts working on the next thing right after they release a product. However, since Nintendo has played a bit of "catch up" in the past with their hardware, I think we can expect the successor to the Wii U to be (architecturally) very different. And what that means for Wii U owners is what I'd like to ponder.

Let me clarify what I mean with Nintendo catching up in the past: it has thus far taken Nintendo a full console generation to implement a feature that others have had before them. Some examples...

(5th gen) Cartridge (Nintendo 64) vs. optical media (PlayStation)
(6th gen) Virtually non-existent online (GameCube) vs. full-fledged online (Xbox Live)
(7th gen) Standard definition (Wii) vs. high definition (PlayStation 3 / Xbox 360)
(8th gen) PowerPC arch (Wii U) vs. x86 arch (PlayStation 4 / Xbox One)
(9th gen) ...?

All of these features have been important to the development of consoles. My concern is with that last point of the Wii U still using a PowerPC architecture similar to the GameCube and Wii. Essentially (and this is very much to simplify my statement) the Wii U is a Wii times three as in the number of processor cores, and the Wii is internally a GameCube with higher clock frequency. It's therefore very unlikely that Nintendo will follow up with yet again the same architecture in their next console. I know that there are more variables at play, but for the purpose of my statement these are the facts.

So what comes next for Nintendo? The one big problem that Nintendo has faced this generation with the Wii U is the lack of 3rd party support. No matter how much time and effort Nintendo will put into polishing their first party titles for the Wii U, not having a big enough library of games will only hurt them going forward. Nintendo will definitely want to make a more developer friendly console, catering to everyone from indies (a strong dependence today already) to AAA studios (the big names making the stuff that sells like hot cakes no matter the quality).

Since development on x86 is much cheaper as it foregoes the need for dedicated development kits and enables better portability between PC and console hardware, x86 is the de facto architecture moving forward. Will Nintendo use x86 in their next console? I'd say it's very possible.

Let me go back to my earlier point on how this affects Wii U owners. Since "we" (collectively the fans of Nintendo games and Wii U owners) are a minority and often support every release we can, think e.g. #OperationPlatinum, we're already on our way building up a healthy collection of Wii U games. Should my theory prove right and Nintendo goes with x86 in their next console, these Wii U games will strictly stay as Wii U games with no forward compatibility.

This makes me very concerned and more than anything cautious: should I stick to a few great games and skip the rest, or continue putting money in a product that may never outgrow its shadow? Just my random ramblings again, but it does make you think (hopefully). What say you?
 

stomp_442

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The Wii U has more than a few great games. With vWii mode you get all the emulators for past Nintendo consoles and also gamecube and Wii games. That's Nintendo's full catalog of games. Maybe someday if Wii U mode gets hacked we'll see a good N64 emu. Who knows if we'll ever see another hacked Nintendo console like the Wii.
 

shinkodachi

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The Wii U has more than a few great games. With vWii mode you get all the emulators for past Nintendo consoles and also gamecube and Wii games. That's Nintendo's full catalog of games. Maybe someday if Wii U mode gets hacked we'll see a good N64 emu. Who knows if we'll ever see another hacked Nintendo console like the Wii.

If it's not on Virtual Console, I'm not emulating it. Doesn't suit me to bend the law like that, so I'd rather buy Wii U games. :)
 

stomp_442

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If it's not on Virtual Console, I'm not emulating it. Doesn't suit me to bend the law like that, so I'd rather buy Wii U games. :)

Suit yourself. Anyways, I wasn't referring to Wii U piracy. I buy Wii U games too.

Back to your post, I think that Nintendo's next console will be their last if they don't get the third party support. I for one will not be buying it on release day like I did with the Wii U. First I will need to see the third party support before I purchase. I just assumed the Wii U would have more third party support, boy was I wrong.
 

aofelix

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Hmm I don't think next gen will be anything but x86 from anyone now. PC Hardware has moved so far forward and continues to improve drastically that Nintendo can only really move towards that if they want to output 1080p+ and secure ports and multiplats.

If Nintendo were x86 now, developers would be porting titles to them. They'll be fine even if they are a little underpowered. The problem this gen is not that they're just underpowered... they're architecture is just too different from the PC/PS4/XB1 from what I understand.

Its ashame as the gamepad is an excellent idea and could have been an awesome tool. However Nintendo need to make the gamepad a CHOICE for developers.. i.e. they can either have it or leave it completely alone. The answer to that is to bundle a pro controller IMO.

At the same time, I don't think they should release a superpowered console either. Their brand name just isn't as strong as it was and they haven't done the relevant price cuts to get their consoles in homes.




e.g. Sony/PS3... PS3 flopped hard and Sony made losses galore but they did a price cut, stripped away loads of features and got those PS3 babies into people's homes. Its now paying dividends with PS4 sales.
 

shinkodachi

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Suit yourself. Anyways, I wasn't referring to Wii U piracy. I buy Wii U games too.
I don't mean piracy. When you buy a game, you actually buy a license to use the game software. Nowhere ever has Nintendo granted the right in their license agreement that you can play (for example) an NES game on anything other than an NES. It's a breach of Nintendo's agreements whether you emulate a NES game you physically own or play it with a "RetroN 5", etc. I felt like clearing this up, but to each their own I say.
Back to your post, I think that Nintendo's next console will be their last if they don't get the third party support. I for one will not be buying it on release day like I did with the Wii U. First I will need to see the third party support before I purchase. I just assumed the Wii U would have more third party support, boy was I wrong.
This is exactly my concern. It was hard to tell with Wii U especially since it had even EA on board for games early on, with that support quickly going away.
 

aofelix

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Also god knows what Miyamato even let this all slip. I can't think of a reason for him needing to disclose any of this information. Also disappointed if we don't get another 3D mario title on the Wii U although I guess they do have other concerns.
 

shinkodachi

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Also god knows what Miyamato even let this all slip. I can't think of a reason for him needing to disclose any of this information. Also disappointed if we don't get another 3D mario title on the Wii U although I guess they do have other concerns.

Which is precisely why I started this thread. I can't think of any other reason than Miyamoto wanting to shift focus to the future, i.e. Wii U is not their last console despite its struggles. But in trying to send a positive message (I hope), it just made me concerned and cautious. At this point I'm not sure if I will hold on to my Wii U possessions for the next 2-3 years. Who knows if Nintendo will pull another "New" with a "New Wii U"? That'd suck.
 

stomp_442

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I don't mean piracy. When you buy a game, you actually buy a license to use the game software. Nowhere ever has Nintendo granted the right in their license agreement that you can play (for example) an NES game on anything other than an NES. It's a breach of Nintendo's agreements whether you emulate a NES game you physically own or play it with a "RetroN 5", etc. I felt like clearing this up, but to each their own I say.

No need to beat a dead horse, this has been brought up many times already.
 

aofelix

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meh im not too worried. i have a solid collection of wii U games i wanna play through and its always easy to sell a console on.
 

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To me the biggest difference between Nintendo and Microsoft/Sony on 8th gen wasn't as much as PowerPC vs x86, but rather different direction.

You'll notice that with PS4 and X1, they aren't just about game console anymore. Now they can play Blu-ray, buy or rent TV episode/movie/music online, etc. X1 even has a HDMI input port that makes X1 a sort of DVR.
PS4 and X1 are heading into the direction of all in one multimedia system, while Wii U is still just a game console.

Then there is the fact that Nintendo is still way behind on online aspect. Nintendo design their system based on their needs, not the needs of consumer or developer.
 
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aofelix

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Hmm... the difference in terms of media capabilities matters little to developers. Not to beat around the bush, Nintendo lost a lot of potential buyers due to lack of third party games like FIFA. Not because of media playback.

Entertainment as a selling point is pretty difficult ATM. The XBOX one has the best media abilities but people just don't care and opt for the PS4.


Not having third party support this day in age is terrible. The PS4 has had such a poor exclusive start to its first year but the power of third party support means its still kept its fans relatively happy.
 

shinkodachi

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You'll notice that with PS4 and X1, they aren't just about game console anymore. Now they can play Blu-ray, buy or rent TV episode/movie/music online, etc. X1 even has a HDMI input port that makes X1 a sort of DVR.
Completely ignoring the fact PlayStation 3 already had Blu-ray and actually better media support than PlayStation 4. The former has DLNA support, meaning you can even stream movies from your computer or NAS, which the PlayStation 4 still lacks (apart from the newly released Plex app, which is a little different). There was a Netflix, Crunchyroll, YouTube app and much more already on PlayStation 3. Did you know that PlayStation 3 also had DVR capabilities? PlayTV in Europe and torne in Japan.

So... exactly what has changed in direction?

EDIT: I forgot to mention Sony even boasted about Other OS support for PlayStation 3, so it could even double as a computer and run Linux! How much further from just producing a game console can you be at that point? :) Let's not forget the fact even the PlayStation 2 had DVD video support and there also was a short-lived DVR hybrid released only in Japan called the "PSX" that had the XrossMediaBar well before the PlayStation 3.

Nintendo has only ever come close with the Panasonic Q, a failed DVD player and GameCube hybrid that came out only in Japan.
 

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Personally I don't understand the whole 3rd party arguement.

Think about this the Wii had god awful third party which range to aweful ports (how Manny games that were on all three systems can you really say were best on Wii) to no support.

Now I do believe that 3rd party support is needed but I also believe Nintendo needs to get rid of miyamoto and others like him as while they have made great games the ups at Nintendo haven't been able to really put out a good product for the general gaming consumer who cares more about COD and Creed than he does Mario.
 

shinkodachi

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Think about this the Wii had god awful third party which range to aweful ports (how Manny games that were on all three systems can you really say were best on Wii) to no support.
I think the Wii is a perfect console from the standpoint of sheer numbers. The mountains of shovelware for the Wii actually helped it.


If the Wii only had Nintendo games, meaning from the launch there'd be only Wii Sports and no Call of Duty or Rayman Raving Rabbids, the Wii would've been a less successful console. Much less. I think it would've been written off like the Wii U is now when compared to the competition. Somebody actually bought all those Barbie games and shovelware for the Wii. And that helped the sales of the Wii.
 

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I don't mean piracy. When you buy a game, you actually buy a license to use the game software. Nowhere ever has Nintendo granted the right in their license agreement that you can play (for example) an NES game on anything other than an NES. It's a breach of Nintendo's agreements whether you emulate a NES game you physically own or play it with a "RetroN 5", etc. I felt like clearing this up, but to each their own I say.
This is exactly my concern. It was hard to tell with Wii U especially since it had even EA on board for games early on, with that support quickly going away.


Providing the people running said emulators genuinely cared about EULAs/TOSes in the first place. Many people on here couldn't care less, but that's another thread lol. Third parties have been an issue with Nintendo consoles since the N64, their sticking to using a 512 Mbit (64 MB) cartridge as opposed to a 650 MB CD ROM turned off a lot of developers. N64 was pretty dang powerful, but since then...it's been rough. Whether or not they can gain back the support they lost with their next console remains to be seen, but Nintendo just can't sit their twiddling their thumbs, they have to do something different.
 
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RevPokemon

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I think the Wii is a perfect console from the standpoint of sheer numbers. The mountains of shovelware for the Wii actually helped it.


If the Wii only had Nintendo games, meaning from the launch there'd be only Wii Sports and no Call of Duty or Rayman Raving Rabbids, the Wii would've been a less successful console. Much less. I think it would've been written off like the Wii U is now when compared to the competition. Somebody actually bought all those Barbie games and shovelware for the Wii. And that helped the sales of the Wii.
Well according to Nintendo power back in 10 or 11 or so they stated there were like 47 or so games that sold over a million copies with about half were 3rd party games which includes major games that were on all consoles to games like wipeout (TV show game) and all game sells help however you need enticing 3rd party games to get good market share nowadays.
 

shinkodachi

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Third parties have been an issue with Nintendo consoles since the N64, their sticking to using a 512 Mbit (64 MB) cartridge as opposed to a 650 MB CD ROM turned off a lot of developers. N64 was pretty dang powerful, but since then...it's been rough.
Wasn't the GameCube a lot more powerful than the PlayStation 2 as well, only losing to the original Xbox? The problem is a marketing one and Nintendo still to this day tries to market itself as being "different" or "family friendly". I mean, there's a PEGI 3+ rating on the PlayStation 4 box already, so how much more should a parent care about there being a "different" console if Nintendo doesn't explain that in their marketing?!
 

RevPokemon

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Wasn't the GameCube a lot more powerful than the PlayStation 2 as well, only losing to the original Xbox? The problem is a marketing one and Nintendo still to this day tries to market itself as being "different" or "family friendly". I mean, there's a PEGI 3+ rating on the PlayStation 4 box already, so how much more should a parent care about there being a "different" console if Nintendo doesn't explain that in their marketing?!
The GC way second in that gen to xbox in that gen in specs, although the ps2 disc could hold more then the GC which is why many ps2 games are more detailed then GameCube games
 

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