# Rumour: Nintendo Network in the works



## Midna (Jan 23, 2012)

*Get Ready for the Nintendo Network!*

A never before seen icon has appeared on the box-art of Theatrythm: Final Fantasy. Clearly written in the upper right-hand corner is a logo with the words “Nintendo Network”. On the back of the box it says that the game will offer DLC, which apparently will be one of the functions of the new network. According to reports around the industry, the Nintendo Network will be the new network on the 3DS and the Wii U, somehow integrating and connecting the two systems. Screenshots show that already in some places around the world, Mario Kart 7 is running on this new network. So, apparently, multiplayer online gaming is confirmed as a part of the network, not just DLC.  What new features will Nintendo Network offer and how will it unify the Wii U and 3DS? All this may be announced at the conference scheduled for January 26th. Next week. Last year, Nintendo announced new details about the 3DS at the very same conference, so we can expect some new details to be revealed again this year.

A source that wished to remain anonymous has told us that Nintendo will launch a website accessible from any web browser that will handle configuration of your Nintendo Network account for use on the Wii U or 3DS. He also stated that Nintendo Network will include many new features that haven’t been used before by Nintendo. According to his accounts: Nintendo Network = Sony PSN = Xbox Live.
UPDATE: Our source saw the article and wanted to make sure that people understood that he didn’t mean necessarily that Nintendo’s service will be better or feature every single detail that Sony and Microsoft do, rather that until now Nintendo hasn’t even tried to compete but now they are going to create a service that is in full competition with the others. But of course, each one will still have their own style. However, he had one other detail to add:_ “What I can add to all this is that there is in fact one feature that is significantly ahead of one of the competitors, and I’m not talking about the well know ability to video chat. A few users on another console will be quite upset.”_





Source

Interdasting... even more interdasting when you consider the previous rumours that EA and Valve were competing to develop Nintendo's new online system.

There's an image of Mario Kart 7 online saying "Connecting to Nintendo Network" and a few extra rumours at the source if you want to check it out.


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## Tom Bombadildo (Jan 23, 2012)

Didn't some other game use the term "Nintendo Network"? I feel like I've seen this before...


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## Foxi4 (Jan 23, 2012)

Uhm... I don't think it's a rumor - didn't Nintendo themselves admit that they are working with outsourced companies (Valve, EA) in an effort to create an all-new Nintendo Online Network while teasing the Wii U? It's only natural to EXPECT them to include the service on their latest handheld.


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## Midna (Jan 23, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> Uhm... I don't think it's a rumor - didn't Nintendo themselves admit that they are working with outsourced companies (Valve, EA) in an effort to create an all-new Nintendo Online Network while teasing the Wii U? It's only natural to EXPECT them to include the service on their latest handheld.


The source named it's article 'Rumour Roundup', and the quote contains more specific details from 'an anonymous source'. I labelled the thread as such.


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## Foxi4 (Jan 23, 2012)

Midna said:


> Foxi4 said:
> 
> 
> > Uhm... I don't think it's a rumor - didn't Nintendo themselves admit that they are working with outsourced companies (Valve, EA) in an effort to create an all-new Nintendo Online Network while teasing the Wii U? It's only natural to EXPECT them to include the service on their latest handheld.
> ...


Understood, I was just speaking from a more pragmatic standpoint.  Still, nice find with the boxart. Looks legit. No, really - it does.


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## Astoria (Jan 23, 2012)

I really wanna see that feature that *is significantly ahead of one of the competitors.*


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## Foxi4 (Jan 23, 2012)

Josephvb10 said:


> I really wanna see that feature that *is significantly ahead of one of the competitors.*


Video Chat, perhaps? Nintendo "did it" in Pokemon White/Black and the 3DS has a facing camera - can't see why video calls wouldn't be a possibility during multi.


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## Midna (Jan 23, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> Josephvb10 said:
> 
> 
> > I really wanna see that feature that *is significantly ahead of one of the competitors.*
> ...


Anonymous source alleges it's more than video chat


> “What I can add to all this is that there is in fact one feature that is significantly ahead of one of the competitors, and I’m not talking about the well know ability to video chat. A few users on another console will be quite upset.”


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## Foxi4 (Jan 23, 2012)

Midna said:


> Foxi4 said:
> 
> 
> > Josephvb10 said:
> ...


Oh yeah, I missed that. Well, I guess we shall see. I can't really think of other types of connectivity, really... voice chat, video chat, text chat, pictochat... unless they give us "demo sharing" over the internet with people on your friends list or Single Cart Multi over the web then I don't think it'll be THAT revolutionary.


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## Midna (Jan 23, 2012)

Though it's worth noting that the Wii U controller has a camera among it's dozen other gizmos. I actually recall something from back at E3 about video chat on Wii U. Does anyone else remember this?
Edit: Rewatched Iwata's speech at E3, there is indeed video chat support already announced. I wonder what this new feature is...


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## Foxi4 (Jan 23, 2012)

Midna said:


> Though it's worth noting that the Wii U controller has a camera among it's dozen other gizmos. I actually recall something from back at E3 about video chat on Wii U. Does anyone else remember this?


Yeah, I remember them mentioning it. It's sort of hard to imagine Nintendo NOT adding that kind of functionality after the Kinect showed'em how it's done. If they REALLY want to step their game up with online, they need to offer similar features and more.


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## Astoria (Jan 23, 2012)

I just hope that Nintendo Network games don't have the same connection problems that MK7 has..


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## Midna (Jan 23, 2012)

I've heard the complains of connections errors with MK7 before from a few people, but all the replies to those people are always other people who have logged hours and hours into the online without having a single issue. Might be location based...


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## Foxi4 (Jan 23, 2012)

This is to be expected when the network is being actively redesigned, I don't think the issues will persist.


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## awssk8er (Jan 23, 2012)

Nintendo should have did this a while ago.

It's good news to show that they're catching up on things... but I don't really play games online so it's not a big deal to me.

Then again, it's just a rumor.


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## Zerosuit connor (Jan 23, 2012)

Voice chat? Parties? Cross Game Chat? Who knows, hopefully it brings these to the console, otherwise the friends list is useless.


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## chris888222 (Jan 23, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> Josephvb10 said:
> 
> 
> > I really wanna see that feature that *is significantly ahead of one of the competitors.*
> ...


FYI, Video Chat is somehow confirmed on the Wii U.


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## jalaneme (Jan 23, 2012)

awssk8er said:


> Nintendo should have did this a while ago.
> 
> It's good news to show that they're catching up on things... but I don't really play games online so it's not a big deal to me.
> 
> Then again, it's just a rumor.



exactly, i don't care about online gaming that much either, and that is why i liked nintendo for that reason (they never cared about online that much), now they are going all the way their quality of games will suffer because of it.


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## Midna (Jan 23, 2012)

2:20
Video chat confirmed


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## insidexdeath (Jan 23, 2012)

jalaneme said:


> awssk8er said:
> 
> 
> > Nintendo should have did this a while ago.
> ...




How will it suffer if Nintendo's trying to improve their service?


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## Midna (Jan 23, 2012)

jalaneme said:


> awssk8er said:
> 
> 
> > Nintendo should have did this a while ago.
> ...


That's one of the weirdest comments I have seen recently.  How does new online system = bad games?

And anyway, this new system is supposed to handle digital purchases and DLC as well.


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## gloweyjoey (Jan 23, 2012)

Pinkie232 said:


> Didn't some other game use the term "Nintendo Network"? I feel like I've seen this before...


Not a different game, but what you saw might have been Soulx making a report on this not to long ago
http://gbatemp.net/topic/319081-theatrhythm-final-fantasy-has-paid-dlc-and-nintendo-network-support/


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## jalaneme (Jan 23, 2012)

insidexdeath said:


> How will it suffer if Nintendo's trying to improve their service?



games especially 1st party ones will have online passes, rip off dlc and forced online multiplayer, i am a older gamer i like and will always enjoy the older way games were played, i don't expect younger generations to understand any of my logic but that is just the way it is.


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## Midna (Jan 23, 2012)

jalaneme said:


> games especially 1st party ones will have online passes, rip off dlc and forced online multiplayer, i am a older gamer i like and will always enjoy the older way games were played, i don't expect younger generations to understand any of my logic but that is just the way it is.


And what if it has no online passes, optional online multiplayer, free non-day 1 DLC?

If you're implying that because something has more features that the other features will suffer, that's unreasonable.

Edit: Since when has anything had "forced" online multiplayer?
Edit 2: I don't even. I have no counter argument for something so ridiculous.


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## KingVamp (Jan 23, 2012)

I think what he means is, since Nintendo is focusing on online much more then their games will go the way of something like cod
and have their games focus on the multiplayer part and come short on the single player part. In a sense, (I guess) you force
to go online since the single player wouldn't be that good.

I didn't think Nintendo will do online passes, rip-off dlc nor damage single player games with the online part.


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## Clarky (Jan 23, 2012)

cannot imagine nintendo following suit and doing online passes or rip off dlc, i imagine those features would be in there to appeal more to the 3rd party developers though


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## Gahars (Jan 23, 2012)

This could be interesting. Still, without much in the way of information right now, it's a bit too early to judge.





clarky said:


> cannot imagine nintendo following suit and doing online passes or rip off dlc, i imagine those features would be in there to appeal more to the 3rd party developers though



That's all in the hands of the publishers, not Sony, Microsoft, or (potentially) Nintendo. Microsoft is pretty strict about payment for DLC, but that's as close as it seems to get.


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## ferofax (Jan 23, 2012)

wow, i...


i'm getting excited. GETTING A MIFI DATA PLAN PRONTO. like, this week. and maybe MK7 too. this should generally turn my 3DS into a Vita 3G.


foreveronline.jpg.


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## FireGrey (Jan 23, 2012)

I hope they have online connection between the 3DS and Wii U.
And have cross game voice chat so I can voice chat with someone playing the Wii U while playing Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS.


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## chris888222 (Jan 23, 2012)

FireGrey said:


> I hope they have online connection between the 3DS and Wii U.
> And have cross game voice chat so I can voice chat with someone playing the Wii U while playing Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS.


What bullshit. I hope I can crossplay MK7 with MK Wii U in addition to X game chat.

Still, sounds impossible


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## Hyro-Sama (Jan 23, 2012)

Isn't this a bit late? PSN and Xbox Live seems to have far better support and functionality.


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## chris888222 (Jan 23, 2012)

Hyro-Sama said:


> Isn't this a bit late? PSN and Xbox Live seems to have far better support and functionality.


That's why people say it must have something unique.


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## DiscostewSM (Jan 23, 2012)

Hyro-Sama said:


> Isn't this a bit late? PSN and Xbox Live seems to have far better support and functionality.



Isn't that reason enough that Nintendo shouldn't stay behind?


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## Thesolcity (Jan 23, 2012)

Can it include a better messaging system? Swapnote is tedious when you can only reply once.


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## PizzaPino (Jan 23, 2012)

there's a japanese 3ds photo contest hosted on a nintendonetwork domain
http://3dphoto-conte...ndonetwork.net/

and when you go to nintendonetwork.net you will be redirected to nintendo.com


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## Thesolcity (Jan 23, 2012)

PizzaPino said:


> there's a japanese 3ds photo contest hosted on a nintendonetwork domain
> http://3dphoto-conte...ndonetwork.net/
> 
> and when you go to nintendonetwork.net you will be redirected to nintendo.com



Its not Loading...


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## Skelletonike (Jan 23, 2012)

Thesolcity said:


> PizzaPino said:
> 
> 
> > there's a japanese 3ds photo contest hosted on a nintendonetwork domain
> ...


Works fine for me, although I can't understand anything it says.


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## Thesolcity (Jan 23, 2012)

Skelletonike said:


> Thesolcity said:
> 
> 
> > PizzaPino said:
> ...


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## Satangel (Jan 23, 2012)

Welcome to what, 2007? Well better later than never I guess. Hopefully not too much paid DLC though, God I hate that shit.


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## jalaneme (Jan 23, 2012)

KingVamp said:


> I think what he means is, since Nintendo is focusing on online much more then their games will go the way of something like cod
> and have their games focus on the multiplayer part and come short on the single player part. In a sense, (I guess) you force
> to go online since the single player wouldn't be that good.
> 
> I didn't think Nintendo will do online passes, rip-off dlc nor damage single player games with the online part.



got it in one, we shall see if they will allow this on their console, microsoft and sony allow it, whats stopping nintendo from doing the same?


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## stanleyopar2000 (Jan 23, 2012)

better be free, and not pay-to-play online Live shit.

NIntendo did comment about this in the past, about how they were butthurt because everyone was making money from their online service in some sort of way, and they didn't..they said they have to play "catch up"

So I won't be surprised if NN will be with pay features, or just completely entirely pay-to-play


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## Hop2089 (Jan 23, 2012)

DLC is the wave of the future, Nintendo must keep prices down to Earth and don't make the mistake Bamco did with Idolmaster.


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## KingVamp (Jan 23, 2012)

jalaneme said:


> KingVamp said:
> 
> 
> > I think what he means is, since Nintendo is focusing on online much more then their games will go the way of something like cod
> ...


Sorry let me clarify, I mean Nintendo themselves wouldn't do that. Now with Nintendo allowing others devs to do that, well I have no idea.
Probably though, so they can keep up 3rd party support.


stanleyopar2000 said:


> NIntendo did comment about this in the past, about how they were butthurt because everyone was making money from their online service in some sort of way, and they didn't..they said they have to play "catch up"


Source?


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## Ace Overclocked (Jan 23, 2012)

Pinkie232 said:


> Didn't some other game use the term "Nintendo Network"? I feel like I've seen this before...


mk7 online says connecting to nintendo network.


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## heartgold (Jan 23, 2012)

aminemaster said:


> Pinkie232 said:
> 
> 
> > Didn't some other game use the term "Nintendo Network"? I feel like I've seen this before...
> ...


Really, i swear mine says internet or something.


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## Janthran (Jan 23, 2012)

Midna said:


> [media]http://www.youtube.c...h?v=mLtwARI4j9Y[/media]
> 2:20
> Video chat confirmed


Video chat looks like Skype.


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## stanleyopar2000 (Jan 23, 2012)

S


KingVamp said:


> jalaneme said:
> 
> 
> > KingVamp said:
> ...



http://www.1up.com/n...ium-paid-online
 

actually they said they haven't been  "active" about it.

Which pretty much means they've been too nice and haven't fucked people enough


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## Ace Overclocked (Jan 23, 2012)

heartgold said:


> aminemaster said:
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> 
> > Pinkie232 said:
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## heartgold (Jan 23, 2012)

aminemaster said:


>



Ah, did they change it recently?


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## Ace Overclocked (Jan 23, 2012)

heartgold said:


> aminemaster said:
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> 
> >
> ...


nope, from the very beginning


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## heartgold (Jan 23, 2012)

aminemaster said:


> heartgold said:
> 
> 
> > aminemaster said:
> ...


I see, guess I haven't been paying enough attention.


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## Foxi4 (Jan 23, 2012)

DiscostewSM said:


> Hyro-Sama said:
> 
> 
> > Isn't this a bit late? PSN and Xbox Live seems to have far better support and functionality.
> ...


It's sort of Nintendo Policy to stay behind the competition.

*some cold winter, 2004, Nintendo HQ* "So we heard about tis' new invention called "3D" - we gave our handheld a 3D accelerator since nowadays even cellphones have one."

*2008, another cold winter* "So we heard about this new, weird encryption... WPA? Yeah, we added that now."

*2012, early january, so technically still winter* "HD? What's HD? Ahh... yeah... Well, we'll release something later this year."


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## DiscostewSM (Jan 23, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> DiscostewSM said:
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> 
> > Hyro-Sama said:
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Pointing out only those things that they were behind with doesn't mean they always are.


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## Foxi4 (Jan 23, 2012)

DiscostewSM said:


> Foxi4 said:
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> 
> > DiscostewSM said:
> ...


By no means! I still thank them for the invention of the analog stick (N64), the most comfortable controller on Earth (GameCube... that console would've succeeded if not the miniDVD's >>; ), WiiMotes (I actually like them) and comming up with the idea to add touchscreens to handheld consoles.

Hardware-wise I can't think of any consoles that were "up-to-par" with the competition except the N64 and the GameCube though. They just have their magic, their "Nintendo" magic. Their consoles sell best when they procrastinate lol.

EDIT: NOT COUNTING RETRO CONSOLES. That was a real arms race with SEGA lol, they couldn't afford to be any "worse".


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## lokomelo (Jan 23, 2012)

Still no chance to have a MK7 DLC / Glitch Fix, right?


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## DiscostewSM (Jan 23, 2012)

lokomelo said:


> Still no chance to have a MK7 DLC / Glitch Fix, right?



I think they can, as I still believe the representative who replied about a fix giving players with the original an "unfair advantage" was not talking about a patch, but updating the game via releasing an updated version on newly released cards. That's the only interpretation atm I can think of that seems to make sense, as releasing updates as such without actually updating every single copy has been done by Nintendo since the NES days.


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## Astoria (Jan 23, 2012)

heartgold said:


> aminemaster said:
> 
> 
> > heartgold said:
> ...



It only shows that in the european versions.

In the american versions it only says "Connecting to the Internet".


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## Deleted_171835 (Jan 23, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> DiscostewSM said:
> 
> 
> > Hyro-Sama said:
> ...



Actually, this generation is the only one where Nintendo has really been behind in terms of specs.
NES: Powerful for when it was released.
SNES: Good for it's time.
Nintendo 64: Most powerful of all the fifth-generation consoles.
Gamecube: It was a work of art (dat mobo). More powerful than the PS2.

Game Boy Advance: Portable SNES, baby!

The Wii and DS are the only severely underpowered consoles by Nintendo. Before that, most of their consoles were up to par and when they weren't, it was because their competitors released their consoles years afterwards.

And dare I say it, Nintendo had a proper online system years before anyone else with the Satellaview. It allowed for patches and addon content (now know as DLC). Too bad it was ahead of it's time. It's a shame they didn't continue their efforts into their future consoles.

And dare I use the buzzword that most _hardcore_ gamers hate, Nintendo has innovated quite a bit this generation. The DS had a touch-screen, microphone and two screens which allowed for new gameplay possibilities. The two-screen design which extended to the 3DS allowed for the HUD to remain at the bottom and unique games to be made.

The Wii brought on motion-controls which had a _*wow*_ factor of it's own. It was unheard of before in a gaming console and honestly brought forth a lot of new gameplay possibilities. It also for the first time made videogames accessible to the average person. To be frank, I think that apart from the keyboard and mouse, pointer controls on the Wii remain the single-best FPS control scheme.

That's not to say Nintendo is without it's missteps. The fact that the Wii was so underpowered is the reason that third-party support has been so barren. The Wii simply wasn't able to run the vast majority of games released on other platforms which is part of the reason why the Wii came to a bit of a stand-still in the past three years.

The DS is an entire different beast, though. While it too was underpowered, that didn't matter as much as multiplatform development is not commonplace on handhelds. Unique games were created for both the DS and PSP. It gave people a reason to purchase both platforms. You couldn't find a game like Gods Eater Burst or Peacewalker on the DS just like you couldn't find The World Ends With You or Elite Beat Agents on the PSP.

Whether this generations trend of underpowered consoles by Nintendo continue on to the next is not yet sure. If Nintendo plays their cards right, the Wii U should be powerful enough to have multiplatform games along with the PS4/Ten. If the PS4/Ten release sometime in 2013 and the Wii U releases in 2012 with up-to-date tech, there shouldn't be too much of a difference. One year certainly won't make for huge gains in hardware.


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## Foxi4 (Jan 23, 2012)

soulx said:


> Actually, this generation is the only one where Nintendo has really been behind in terms of specs.
> NES: Powerful for when it was released.
> SNES: Good for it's time.
> Nintendo 64: Most powerful of all the fifth-generation consoles.
> ...


I specifically mentioned that I don't mean the retro consoles, but even these arguments can be refuted.

The NES was revolutionary, that much is correct. Ever so slightly less powerful then the Master System, but definatelly the console that single-handedly changed the rules of the game...

SNES was indeed good for its time, but the Genesis/Megadrive with expansions was arguably a "stronger" system, even if its capabilities were not fully used (for example the only games that actually used Blast Processing were Sonic games and a few other first party titles). Some cartridges had to contain specific "extra" hardware such as the SuperFX chips to actually run on the system, and the only thing the system was "technically" best at at its time was the sound - it had a superb sound chip compared to the Genesis. It also had a great library, so many consider it to be the "winner" in the 16-bit era, but not all. Depends on the individual.

The N64 definatelly had the "processing power" to dominate the market, but its memory was severely flawed, to the point that certain games actually required RAM cartriges to work properly. (Expansion Pak) The console was to be improved by the DD add-on, but in the end, not much was released for it and the project was eventually "canned"... The final nail to N64's coffin was definatelly the medium used - FLASH cartridges at the time were obselete and did not provide nearly enough space, making developers "cut their games short" when they could spread their wings on the PlayStation, which OBLITERATED the system on every front, at least in my opinion.

The GameBoy's were lucky flukes. When I think back to the day and remember the Nomad (portable Genesis) and similar projects, I do wonder why it was kept afloat... if only the Nomad was more compact and, well, cheaper, perhaps it would've won that round.

The GBA was NOT a portable SNES in the slightest, even if it had SNES ports running on it. Perhaps it's my personal opinion only, but I find the console to be both amazing and... well, downplayed. I have the original GBA and I (used to) have an N-Gage... and I have to say that the difference between 16Mhz and 109Mhz ARM is QUITE BLOODY APPARENT, to the point that some N-Gage games were actually ported to the DS later on. If only the games were on a proprietary cartridge, not on SD's, if they were priced right, more numerous and if the cartridge slot was not under the battery like in the Classic design (later changed in QD), the N-Gage had a fighting chance againts the GBA to say the least. Portrait screen didn't help either - it should've been landscape... but all in all, the little games that did come out for the N-Gage were actually awesome, and the addition of Symbian, which was hip at the time and basically meant "emulators, yay!" and, well, phone capabilities made it a fantastic system. I really weeped after it failed when confronted with the mighty "N".

The DS's hardware is a joke. As much as I like the touchscreen, I find its ammount of RAM and processing power to be at best pitiful. If the PSP and the DS had a baby last generation then I would literally throw all my money at N and Sony and immediatelly buy it - it would be the perfect combination. Yet again, Nintendo was saved by a massive library of games and by the fact that, well, they're Nintendo - it's magic.

The Gamecube was a fantastic system - good CPU, great GPU, compact size, 4 controller ports. Everything was looking great... except some dumb ass at N thought it's a great idea to be fancy and cut down the size of the DVD's to "mini" effectively lowering the capacity of discs by 40%. YET AGAIN Nintendo released a fantastic, strong console that suffered from small capacity discs and, well, developers were not pleased. It died a horrible death, which is a shame. If it had DVD support, a USB slot and a built-in browser (hey - it had a modem slot. Why not use it?) it would have had a fighting chance againts the XBox and the PS2.

The Wii is a retrofitted Gamecube. It's as much behind the times as humanly possible. It's fun to play though, I'll give them that. Still... avalanche of shovelware is quite scary when looking for "good" games.

Now, Nintendo prepares a console that's "1,5 times as strong as the PS3" basically catching up with LastGen and having the audacity to call it a Next Generation Console. Well done.

The 3DS? No comment. Twin core, likely pretty slow, a no-name GPU (people argue it's quite strong, but I would've welcomed the Tegra more >>; )... Hardware-wise Vita eats it for breakfast...

So don't tell me Nintendo doesn't have a habit of being behind the times. They do. Since, like, a long while. 

Yes, I have quite excentric tastes. Bite me.


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## Gnargle (Jan 23, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> The Gamecube was a fantastic system - good CPU, great GPU, compact size, 4 controller ports. Everything was looking great... except some dumb ass at N thought it's a great idea to be fancy and cut down the size of the DVD's to "mini" effectively lowering the capacity of discs by 50%. YET AGAIN Nintendo released a fantastic, strong console that suffered from small capacity discs and, well, developers were not pleased. It died a horrible death, which is a shame. If it had DVD support, a USB slot and a built-in browser (hey - it had a modem slot. Why not use it?) it would have a fighting chance againts the XBox and the PS2.


Wait, you actually think that having a smaller disk decreases the potential storage space on the disc?
Oh dear lord.

And I get the feeling you're pretty anti-Nintendo. While you're correct in saying that in the handheld arena, Nintendo's hardware has always been inferior, bear in mind that people dont care too much about graphics when it comes to handhelds. Hence why Nintendo win every single time. Sony made the same mistake with the Vita as they did with the PSP, i.e. making it overpowered and pricey, so people won't (and aren't) buy(ing) it.
Hopefully the Vita finds its niche, much like the PSP did eventually, but it may well not.

And we all know Sony won't do a price drop. They seem to hate money, after all.


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## Foxi4 (Jan 23, 2012)

Gnargle said:


> Foxi4 said:
> 
> 
> > The Gamecube was a fantastic system - good CPU, great GPU, compact size, 4 controller ports. Everything was looking great... except some dumb ass at N thought it's a great idea to be fancy and cut down the size of the DVD's to "mini" effectively lowering the capacity of discs by 40%. YET AGAIN Nintendo released a fantastic, strong console that suffered from small capacity discs and, well, developers were not pleased. It died a horrible death, which is a shame. If it had DVD support, a USB slot and a built-in browser (hey - it had a modem slot. Why not use it?) it would have had a fighting chance againts the XBox and the PS2.
> ...


It's an optical disc in the DVD standard, the size and ammount of layers DOES matter. The Gamecube was only compatible with single-layer discs and the size was cut by 40% (down to 8cm) - the discs had the capacity of about 1,4GB - much less than a DVD (4,5GB standard). Don't try to be smarter than thou - you're simply wrong.

I'm not anti-nintendo - I buy their products since I was a kid. In fact, I buy all the consoles I can possibly afford. I'm just aware of the flaws of each of the ones I own. Hell, I even program stuff for the DS. I'm as "non-anti-nintendo" as it gets.

EDIT: Grammar mistakes in my previous post, I do apologize, I'm kinda sleepy.


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## drgnslayers (Jan 23, 2012)

The Game Boy won against the Atari Lynx, the Nomad and the Game Gear, although they had color, is because you had to recharge the console's batteries faster than with the Game Boy.
Game Gear: 6 AA batteries for 4-5 hours of gameplay
Game Boy: 4 AA batteries for 10-14 hours of gameplay (due to that system's monochrome screen and lack of a backlight)
Sega Nomad: 30 minutes of gameplay and you needed alkaline batteries (more powerful than Ni-Cd batteries), You had access to the Genesis' library but was bulky.
Atari Lynx: 6 AA batteries for 4-6 hours of gameplay
Don't forget that NiMH batteries didn't exist at that time.

NES: It was revolutionary but had an obvious flaw in the design that's called the Zero Force Insertion that wear out quite quickly and cause the Blinking Lights of Doom. Many years later, another company didn't learn the lesson and released a console that also has an design flaw that causes the Red Ring of Death, in which the console was deemed dead and had to be replaced. Anyway, what fun people had to blow in the cartridge.

Super NES and Genesis: Two superb consoles, had the chance to play with both consoles. Best console war ever. Super Nes was the most popular and had the most games that were appealing to me. At that time, you were pledging allegience to either Nintendo or Sega. Those days, people own multiple consoles. For example, a PS3 and a Wii.

N64: I agree that it was the strongest of the consoles but it was the only console who were still using cartridges. The limit that cartridges had made Squaresoft release Final Fantasy VII on Playstation (The PS was supposed to be the Super Nes' answer to the Sega CD but they canned the idea.) That idea made Nintendo the least popular in Japan but were a close second in North America.

Gamecube: I agree with Foxi4 said about this console. It would have been fun if they had included an USB port. As for the idea of mini-DVD, they were afraid of piracy. Thats the same reason that brought them into having the N64 running on Flash cartridges instead of CD. That's why Playstation won over N64.

Wii: Nintendo's bet was to return the fun in playing with a Nintendo console. Microsoft and Sony were inspired by the Wii. The WiiMote was inspired by a failure of the NES' time... the Power Glove.


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## Deleted_171835 (Jan 24, 2012)

Foxi4 said:


> soulx said:
> 
> 
> > Actually, this generation is the only one where Nintendo has really been behind in terms of specs.
> ...


I don't disagree with you in terms of the N64. The system was certainly capable enough but the use of cartridges were detrimental to it.

I don't think the Game Boy's success was a lucky fluke, though. The reason the Nomad didn't succeed was because of it's bulky design and horrid battery life. The specs did not matter if it could hardly function as a _handheld_ system. Oh and I didn't mention the original Gameboy in my original post for a reason.

In terms of specs, the GBA was essentially a portable SNES. Hardware rotation, 15bit color and a 16.78 MHz 32-bit ARM7tdmi chip. It also got a number of SNES ports which proves that the system is more than capable of running SNES games. Whether it matched the SNES in terms of it's game library is a matter of opinion, though.

I would say that the reason the N-Gage failed was not solely because of the things you mentioned but rather because a phone and a handheld gaming system do not go well together, IMO. But I have already delved into that before and I would rather not start another debate regarding that.

The DS obviously wasn't powerful. Although I already went over the fact that Nintendo skimped on technical specs this gen. But like I said, that fact didn't matter as much since multiplatform development is not common-place on handhelds. I suppose in a way, a PSP and DS baby would be the 3DS albeit more powerful and a much smaller game library.

The Gamecube was a great console but like you said, the minidiscs and a number of other factors did bring it out down. The console's overall purple design certainly didn't bold well with the public's misconception that it was for kids. While it still turned a profit, it definitely wasn't a wild success.

Like I said, the Wii came out this gen and was underpowered. I already mentioned that.

I'm not quite sure where you came to the conclusion that the WiiU is "1.5 times as strong as the PS3". All the evidence that I've seen so far actually points to the contrary of that. The Wii U devkit apparently had a modified R7770 which is significantly more powerful than the PS3 and 360's GPU (although not powerful enough IMO for a next-gen console). Later devkits were said to have changed a lot with them supposedly being more powerful than anticipated. I have faith that Nintendo won't gimp the Wii U like they did with the Wii in the next-gen.


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## Foxi4 (Jan 24, 2012)

I'm glad that we agree on many points and I do put my hopes in Nintendo aswell. WiiU looks like an interesting console, even if only for the tablet controler. I don't think it's all that bulky and I actually like larger controlers.


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## DiscostewSM (Jan 24, 2012)

drgnslayers said:


> The WiiMote was inspired by a failure of the NES' time... the Power Glove.



[yt]Zi2gUKR36tI[/yt]


Anyways, hasn't this discussion gone off-topic enough? Going from the Nintendo Network to strolling down memory lane?


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## stanleyopar2000 (Jan 24, 2012)

Gnargle said:


> Foxi4 said:
> 
> 
> > The Gamecube was a fantastic system - good CPU, great GPU, compact size, 4 controller ports. Everything was looking great... except some dumb ass at N thought it's a great idea to be fancy and cut down the size of the DVD's to "mini" effectively lowering the capacity of discs by 50%. YET AGAIN Nintendo released a fantastic, strong console that suffered from small capacity discs and, well, developers were not pleased. It died a horrible death, which is a shame. If it had DVD support, a USB slot and a built-in browser (hey - it had a modem slot. Why not use it?) it would have a fighting chance againts the XBox and the PS2.
> ...



plus the main color of the EmoCube was "kiddie purple" there were no mature games on it to appeal to mature gamers. They finally got the hint...but it was too late...same thing with the Wii


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## Foxi4 (Jan 24, 2012)

stanleyopar2000 said:


> Gnargle said:
> 
> 
> > Foxi4 said:
> ...


I LIKED THE KIDDIE-PURPLE. >>;

The colour was chosen to "match" the "best-selling GBA colour". By the way, did I mention GBA connectivity and the GBA player? Awesome.

As far as mature games, you surely jest. Bloody Roar? Time Splitters 2? Resident Evil 4? Lots of Star Wars games? Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes? Gamecube's situation was NOTHING like the Wii's - the system was strong for its time and developers did try their best. They just hated having to add a second miniDVD when the game was "big" and eventually dropped the console.


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## Deleted User (Jan 24, 2012)

Pinkie232 said:


> Didn't some other game use the term "Nintendo Network"? I feel like I've seen this before...


Mario Kart.
Bingo.


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## Hadrian (Jan 24, 2012)

stanleyopar2000 said:


> plus the main color of the EmoCube was "kiddie purple" there were no mature games on it to appeal to mature gamers. They finally got the hint...but it was too late...same thing with the Wii


EmoCube what the fuck are you talking about.

Also Eternal Darkness, Twin Snakes, Geist, various Resident Evil's and loads of others, it had a lot more 3rd party releases than people remember. You might need to research before you comment so you don't appear ignorant.


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## Midna (Jan 24, 2012)

Apparently this has turned into "were old Nintendo consoles underpowered?" general discussion.

It's funny. All the overpowered Nintendo consoles (N64, Gamecube) were comparative failures. All the underpowered Nintendo consoles (GB, GBC, GBA, DS, Wii) have been  huge successes. The only real exceptions are the NES, which had little competition to be compared against, and the SNES, which lost it's console war to the genesis because of Sega's aggressive marketing, and "mature" image.










> I'm not quite sure where you came to the conclusion that the WiiU is "1.5 times as strong as the PS3". All the evidence that I've seen so far actually points to the contrary of that. The Wii U devkit apparently had a modified R7770 which is significantly more powerful than the PS3 and 360's GPU (although not powerful enough IMO for a next-gen console). Later devkits were said to have changed a lot with them supposedly being more powerful than anticipated. I have faith that Nintendo won't gimp the Wii U like they did with the Wii in the next-gen.


soulx, why did you say that all the evidence points to the Wii U not being 1.5x more powerful than the PS3, and then provide evidence that points to the Wii U being "significantly more powerful than the PS3"?




> plus the main color of the EmoCube was "kiddie purple" there were no mature games on it to appeal to mature gamers. They finally got the hint...but it was too late...same thing with the Wii


Fuck off, Gamecube was full of mature titles, and purple is the best console colouring to date


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## frogboy (Jan 24, 2012)

Finally Nintendo may be able to compete with PSN...


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## Foxi4 (Jan 24, 2012)

Midna said:


> > I'm not quite sure where you came to the conclusion that the WiiU is "1.5 times as strong as the PS3". All the evidence that I've seen so far actually points to the contrary of that. The Wii U devkit apparently had a modified R7770 which is significantly more powerful than the PS3 and 360's GPU (although not powerful enough IMO for a next-gen console). Later devkits were said to have changed a lot with them supposedly being more powerful than anticipated. I have faith that Nintendo won't gimp the Wii U like they did with the Wii in the next-gen.
> 
> 
> soulx, why did you say that all the evidence points to the Wii U not being 1.5x more powerful than the PS3, and then provide evidence that points to the Wii U being "significantly more powerful than the PS3"?
> ...



I believe he read it as "0.5" aka "half". I meant 150%, which is "stronger".

As for the Gamecube - yes, lots of "mature" titles out there for it. The colour? Well, the trends dictate that whatever's next to the TV should be the same colour or gray in the worst case, but Purple Naysayers could always buy a black one. At first I didn't like the purple (even remember bashing it back in the day), but then it kinda grew onto me and now I love it - can't imagine having a differently-coloured one.

As for the sudden change of the topic - I personally believe that threads on forums should be more "organic". Sometimes the discussion goes more or less offtopic, but it's the users who cause it, and if users want to digress for a while then they should be allowed to within reason. Afterall, the subject is sort of connected - we're talking about the evolution of Nintendo systems, and Nintendo Network Compatible systems are the next natural step. Crude connection, but a connection.


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## xist (Jan 24, 2012)

Midna said:


> It's funny. All the overpowered Nintendo consoles (N64, Gamecube) were comparative failures.



Would you attribute the choice to use a proprietary disc format as somewhat to blame though? It's funny the Sixth Gen was totally dominated by the PS2 which was the least capable of the 3 main players.


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## KingVamp (Jan 24, 2012)

EmoCube? "kiddie purple" ? That's a new one. 

The stereotype for Nintendo runs deep in people. 


For me, as long as I get good free wifi, I'm fine with it. All the other wifi features/services are just a nice extra for me.


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## Foxi4 (Jan 24, 2012)

xist said:


> Midna said:
> 
> 
> > It's funny. All the overpowered Nintendo consoles (N64, Gamecube) were comparative failures.
> ...


Oh, I'm not so sure. Fair play, it had the least horses under its hood, but only because it had a massive head start. It also had lots of perhaptials for the time - camera, extended pad slots (up to 4 when connected), HDD add-on, online add-on, USB slots on-board stock... it was quite the powerhouse for the time.

The other 2 players entered the game when everybody and their dog already had a PS2 and the console had a massive library of games.


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## zachtheninja (Jan 25, 2012)

Midna said:


> It's funny. All the overpowered Nintendo consoles (N64, Gamecube) were comparative failures. All the underpowered Nintendo consoles (GB, GBC, GBA, DS, Wii) have been  huge successes.


because the under-powered consoles were marketed as affordable and family-friendly.


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## Astoria (Jan 25, 2012)

zachtheninja said:


> Midna said:
> 
> 
> > It's funny. All the overpowered Nintendo consoles (N64, Gamecube) were comparative failures. All the underpowered Nintendo consoles (GB, GBC, GBA, DS, Wii) have been  huge successes.
> ...


So, the Wii U will be a failure?


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## Eerpow (Jan 25, 2012)

Josephvb10 said:


> So, the Wii U will be a failure?



Not if it's affordable...

Apparently the Nintendo Network logo shows up on the cover of Dynasty Warriors VS.
Nintendo really needs to explain this now.


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## Astoria (Jan 25, 2012)




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## Midna (Jan 25, 2012)

Josephvb10 said:


> zachtheninja said:
> 
> 
> > Midna said:
> ...


I was just showing a correlation, not implying that advanced hardware caused the consoles to fail.

The N64 was expensive, low on RAM, hard to develop for, and the low capacity cartridges were put up against competitors with 700MB discs.
The Gamecube was up against the PS2, and was using mini DVDs.

Reportedly, the Wii U is very developer friendly, so that takes care of that problem. Just have to wait and see about the price.


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## xist (Jan 25, 2012)

Midna said:


> Reportedly, the Wii U is very developer friendly, so that takes care of that problem.



I haven't been following the Wii U but remember reading all sorts of development horror stories in the latter stages of last year (like this) Has that all been resolved? Or is it still being pushed out ASAP?


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## Valwin (Jan 25, 2012)

xist said:


> Midna said:
> 
> 
> > Reportedly, the Wii U is very developer friendly, so that takes care of that problem.
> ...




well seem that OLD you link to were fake for what the latest info says


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## xist (Jan 25, 2012)

Valwin said:


> well seem that OLD you link to were fake for what the latest info says



Nope you're wrong (and i don't understand how you missed that i said it was an old link and also Destructoid is a legitimate site). Seems that there were all sorts of problems last year.....this article from yesterday about those updated kits doesn't  make them sound like they're properly finished which might prove a problem for games being developed for release early in the Wii U's launch window.

Anyhow it doesn't matter....we can only wait and see what happens.


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## Midna (Jan 25, 2012)

There was a rumour several months back that the Wii U was hard to work with, the controller was a frustrating mess, and that Nintendo was desperately rushing out updates to try to fix all the problems. It came from that site... N01 was it? Anyway they had put out a legitimate leak earlier, so it had some credibility.

Nothing since then has supported that news in the least. Quite the opposite actually.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl3HGOsAlx0

That's an interview with Vigil, the creators of Darksiders. They have Darksiders II queued up as a WIi U launch title.

If you don't want to watch it, I'll summarize the relevant bits. They claim that Nintendo has been very helpful so far, and their access to the dev kits and site was speedy. They say that the environment is about as easy to work with as the Xbox 360. And here's the good part. He explains all about how they ported all of Darksiders II to the console in 5 weeks, and then got the entire game streaming on the controller with 10 minutes and two lines of code.

I'll take the word of actual developers speaking their minds over some gaming site's "leaks".


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## Gahars (Jan 25, 2012)

@[member='Midna']

The issue is distinguishing between the truth and the PR hype in that video. After all, if any problems did exist, I doubt that the employees would be allowed to complain publicly. That's not to say it's all lies, only that we have to take it with a grain of salt for now.


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## Midna (Jan 26, 2012)

Well with that logic we have to discredit the word of anyone who actually works with the console, suspecting them of bias, and only take the word of unverified news reports from anonymous sources.
That sounds like a good idea all right.

But I feel inclined to take David Adams' word for it here. If he was being pressured by Nintendo to only put out positive news, he would have to have been lying through his teeth for basically everything in that video. They gave a lot of specific details, particularly the timeframes they claim to have pulled some things off in.
That's nothing concrete though. Take it as you will.


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## Gahars (Jan 26, 2012)

Did I ever say that the original reports were in any way more truthful or reliable? Nope.

And no, of course I don't imagine that Nintendo would somehow force them to lie through their teeth about anything. However, it stands to reason that a developer is not going to say anything negative about a valuable client providing them with kits for a console that could prove very successful. We just might not be getting the full story at the moment (Hence the "That's not to say it's all lies, only that we have to take it with a grain of salt for now," bit).


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## Midna (Jan 26, 2012)

Gahars said:


> Did I ever say that the original reports were in any way more truthful or reliable? Nope.
> 
> And no, of course I don't imagine that Nintendo would somehow force them to lie through their teeth about anything. However, it stands to reason that a developer is not going to say anything negative about a valuable client providing them with kits for a console that could prove very successful. We just might not be getting the full story at the moment (Hence the "That's not to say it's all lies, only that we have to take it with a grain of salt for now," bit).


I'll agree with that.


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## Presto99 (Jan 26, 2012)

To be impatient, didn't the first post say there was some Nintendo conference today, the 26th? I haven't really heard anything about it...is it just later today? It'd be nice to know what they announce.


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## lizard81288 (Jan 27, 2012)

It seems Nintendo Network has the power to put up Retail games and you can download them. This would be amazing if Nintendo did this. Nintendo hinted that they might do this. NN launches sometime next year IIRC.It is for both the 3DS & Wiiu.

Aside from that, it beefs up their online to compete with the others like PSN & LIVE, IIRC.


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## Tazer_Silverscar (Jan 27, 2012)

Presto99 said:


> To be impatient, didn't the first post say there was some Nintendo conference today


Really?


lizard81288 said:


> It seems Nintendo Network has the power to put up Retail games and you can download them.


I doubt the 3DS currently has the memory for retail games. However, obviously, with the development of SD memory cards, memory shouldn't be an issue. My only concern is that the games would take forever to download, if the speed of the download for the Resident Evil: Revelations demo is anything to go by. Of course, if Nintendo Network deals with those problems, it won't be an issue


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## NES SNES V.B. N64 G.C. Wii WiiU (Jan 27, 2012)

Tazer_Silverscar said:


> lizard81288 said:
> 
> 
> > It seems Nintendo Network has the power to put up Retail games and you can download them.
> ...


Download speed isn't that bad... Well unless your on my Internet connection 
And yes SD cards are ever becoming less expensive for more storage... So memory isn't really an issue...


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## Tazer_Silverscar (Jan 30, 2012)

NES SNES V.B. N64 G.C. Wii said:


> Tazer_Silverscar said:
> 
> 
> > lizard81288 said:
> ...


Yeah, my Internet connection is pretty low too... and that's even though I'm using an ADSL connection...


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## DiscostewSM (Jan 30, 2012)

If you don't have a problem with downloads through XBox Live, the PSN, or even Steam, then I doubt there will be a problem downloading through the Nintendo Network. Maybe for the first couple of days when such access becomes available, but that is expected and experienced by the rest of them.


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## digipokemaster (Jan 30, 2012)

i cant wait for it


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## lizard81288 (Jan 30, 2012)

IIRC, aren't the games (you download) stored on the SD card anyways?


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## Briadark (Jan 30, 2012)

I can't wait to the release of the netwerk!!!


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## servant (Jan 30, 2012)

I believe nintendo chose to go with valve on having them set up the nn system.  Also nintendo has mentioned their interest in releasing full retail games for download one issue would be that one must purchase a larger sd card and hopefully the 3ds might one day support sdxc cards for superior memory space.  Too add to this nintendo planned on having an eshop app for iOS devices and most likely android devices too.


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## prowler (Jan 30, 2012)

servant said:


> Too add to this nintendo planned on having an eshop app for iOS devices and most likely android devices too.


wat


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## aburas (Feb 1, 2012)

I just really hope nintendo finally gives the people what they want, Im just sick and tired of being jealous from ps3 and 360 users :/


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## servant (Feb 1, 2012)

prowler_ said:


> servant said:
> 
> 
> > Too add to this nintendo planned on having an eshop app for iOS devices and most likely android devices too.
> ...


wat, wat?
I'm sure you could find it in one of the interviews with Iwata in the past year or even week.
I've been reading to many to keep track of which day and who asked who but yeah Iwata or whoever is in chrge of that sector answered as such.

May have been in this one, I can't recall why I saved it to favorites other than the fact I haven't finished it yet.
http://www.nintendo....27qa/index.html

EDIT: Okay just realized where you got confused.  They don't plan on releasing the games on the eshop app for you to play on your ipod, the iOS version will be an exact replica, minus 3ds exclusives, and only allow for management of data, downloads, and purchases.  The 3ds version doesn't let you play games and neither will the iOS version.


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## aburas (Feb 4, 2012)

so the big surprise was about the downloadable demos?
I was hoping for something a little more, but non the less, I played resident evil the demo version.................. I want it >.


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## c9003947 (Feb 10, 2012)

You can see on the eShop that Pokédex 3D is compatible with nintendo network.


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