Opinion - I think NX is not console hardware

[the8thark]

Many of us here (myself included) have kept up to date with Nintendo's NX announcements. Basically Everything Iwata has been saying. Iwata keeps referring to NX as Nintendo's new gaming platform. I believe he chose the word platform very carefully. He could have said Nintendo's new console but he didn't. We also know Nintendo is developing new hardware now too. So people are putting two and two to gether and coming up with NX is a new Nintendo console.

I personally prefer to believe Iwata's way of putting it. That NX is more a broad gaming platform. An umbrella that Nintendo works under. A gaming platform to take Nintendo into the future. And it seems NX will have the new Nintendo consoles under it's umbrella as well as the new Club Nintendo and other Quality of Life enhancements that Iwata have said are being worked on.

New Nintendo console X (whatever Nintendo call it) will be made under the NX framework or umbrella. To NX guidelines. We will find out more about this in 2016 (according to Iwata). But this is my opinion on it all.
What do you think about this?

 

[A Link In Time]

The way you described the NX really clicked with me. I didn't think it was new hardware either, but I didn't know exactly how to describe it. If we think of the NX as a "broad gaming platform," could it perhaps be used as a cloud storage platform to access game data across console, handheld, tablet, and smart phone? It's feasible to allow certain major franchises, such as Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, and Pokémon to be playable across all these means.

Even though I side with your position, I want to acknowledge why certain people may think the NX implies new hardware. Due to not being shown until E3 2016, people probably think Nintendo wants to keep interest in the Wii U before it's phased out. A 2016 reveal would likely mean a 2017 release, which means the Wii U would have a five year lifespan, a typical amount for a Nintendo console.

 

[the8thark]

Even though I side with your position, I want to acknowledge why certain people may think the NX implies new hardware. Due to not being shown until E3 2016, people probably think Nintendo wants to keep interest in the Wii U before it's phased out. A 2016 reveal would likely mean a 2017 release, which means the Wii U would have a five year lifespan, a typical amount for a Nintendo console.

Thank you for your reply, and very kind of you.

I so see your point of your 2nd paragraph though. It does make sense dates wise to have the NX as the codename for a new Nintendo piece of hardware. I don't believe that, simply because the announcement about Nintendo making a new console was totally separate to the NX announcement. But thinking on all angles, a 2016 reveal for the new Nintendo hardware is in line with past Nintendo console lifespans. So there is plausible evidence of that side as well.

 

[Salem]

Iwata once said the next handheld and console would be like "brothers" like the IOS for the IPhone and IPad. does this mean the next home console and handheld will use the same OS? For that to happen, they need to use the same computer architecture.

 

[CrimsonCavalier]

I'd have to look it up, but I'm almost 100% sure Iwata called the NX the next "dedicated gaming hardware", so why I don't disagree that Nintendo is making an umbrella infrastructure with which to ease their development for both handheld and console, I don't think that's what the NX is.

 

[the8thark]

I'd have to look it up, but I'm almost 100% sure Iwata called the NX the next "dedicated gaming hardware", so why I don't disagree that Nintendo is making an umbrella infrastructure with which to ease their development for both handheld and console, I don't think that's what the NX is.

Here is Iwata's exact words on the subject:
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/150508qa/02.html

I intentionally chose to announce the development of NX so early because I wanted to confirm the fact that we are developing a new dedicated video game platform, that we have never lost passion regarding the future for dedicated video game systems and that we have bright prospects for them. Though I cannot confirm when it will be launched or any other details of the system, since I have confirmed that it will be "a dedicated video game platform with a brand new concept," it should mean that we do not intend it to become a simple "replacement" for Nintendo 3DS or Wii U.

And it's cool if you disagree, everyone has their own opinion at this point. We have to wait till 2016 for more hard info on this.

 

[MrMosley]

Here is Iwata's exact words on the subject:
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/150508qa/02.html


And it's cool if you disagree, everyone has their own opinion at this point. We have to wait till 2016 for more hard info on this.

Iwata does say "platform", but he's explaining it there as if it were being compared to the 3DS and Wii U as a new console. He basically says here that even though they announced plans to make mobile games, they aren't giving up on creating dedicated hardware for their software. I believe its pretty clear that NX will be the next console to succeed the Wii U, and to some degree, maybe even the 3DS if it is to be a hybrid.

 

[the8thark]

Iwata does say "platform", but he's explaining it there as if it were being compared to the 3DS and Wii U as a new console. He basically says here that even though they announced plans to make mobile games, they aren't giving up on creating dedicated hardware for their software. I believe its pretty clear that NX will be the next console to succeed the Wii U, and to some degree, maybe even the 3DS if it is to be a hybrid.

I can see your point of view and it's plausible too. Next year we shall see what the NX really is. And hopefully it will be as amazing as we all hope it will be.