Nintendo NX Tech Demo Can Only Run On PC's With "Cutting Edge Chips"

The Wall Street Journal, which recently reported that software development kits have already begun being distributed to third-party developers, is now saying that some sort of an NX tech demo requires such a large amount of power to the point where it can only run on PCs with “cutting-edge” chips.

[Big_Game_Hunters]

Sounds good to me. what is the cred on this guy?

[suckingeggs]

Seems Nintendo is going in the right direction with regards to power

But it's it to little too late? There are going to be alot of Wii u owners feeling angry at how short the life span was... Nintendo are going to have to try and persuade Xbox one or ps4 owners they need another console... Its definitely an uphill battle for Nintendo.. Last chance saloon some might even say

Last Nintendo console I bought was gamecube..still Though I'm keeping open minded and hoping Nintendo give me no choice but have to buy the NX

[DarkZane]

Another problem is that by the time this come out, PS5 and Next Xbox devs kits will be out to developers and they will probably decide to ignore the NX and make games for PS5 and Next Xbox since they will be a lot more powerful than the NX.

[freshslicepizza]

a) nintendo most likely wants to come out with a system priced at $299 because they are a family friendly company and don't want to outprice themselves from that demographic of being a toy company. the wii u also failed to gain traction at $349.

b) nintendo will want to have some sort of parity among the xbox one and ps4 though to get more major ports and multiplat games from third party publishers. so i do expect a system that can handle those game but not cutting edge like it's supposed to be equivalent to the gtx 980 or something. not gonna happen.

c) nintendo also knows in order to set itself from the others they need to be different. rumor has it its going to be a hybrid of sorts that can also be a portable system. which could mean games can be scaled down to play on those devices or it will have a portable controller device built in like the wii u tablet again. which would also add extra cost to the hardware.

my expectations is they will make a nx console and a nx lite system which will play nx games but portable style. this would make cross gaming easy, buying one licence to play your games on both devices and help nintendo aim at both platforms at once instead of trying to support each independently. i also expect a brand new open world mario game to launch that will blow people away.

the other order of business i think is getting hideo kojima onboard and make a game for it.

@DarkZane,
"Another problem is that by the time this come out, PS5 and Next Xbox devs kits will be out to developers and they will probably decide to ignore the NX and make games for PS5 and Next Xbox since they will be a lot more powerful than the NX."

this is bound to happen with nintendo since their timing isn't very good no matter what they do now. i expect this new system to come out late next year. that would be midlife of the other two consoles and if it's priced at $299 it will match them perfectly.

[LOL_WUT]

If it indeed has cutting edge tech then Nintendo would be doing the right thing. Consider it a day one purchase for me ;)

[Game4Next]

NX 1080p, PS4 900p.
SONY still leading with Japanese Exclusive.
Xenoblade X with more realistic lighting, better skin shader, Bayonetta 3, Last Story 2, Open-World Splatoon, Metroid.

[herbs]

@ Darkzane
If the NX releases next year as planned and is more powerful which is likely then it will have at least 4 years as the premium console on the market so the timing is actually really good for Nintendo in terms of cost for industry leading hardware and deferentiating its self from its competitors.

[ABizzel1]

If true, and it turns into a $400 console I wish them the best of luck, because they're going to have a long hard road ahead of them.

[bangoskank]

Many Nintendo fans, including me, have abandoned the Wii U and are waiting for Nintendo to get back in the game. I'm excited about this news and am hopeful.

[someOnecalled]

So you're saying every gamer owns a next gen console. If this is more powerful and get 3rd party support why would someone choose the weaker consoles especially since people love to talk about the best console is the most powerful one.

[Scatpants]

If it has some sort of portable component and is as strong or stronger than PS4 I'll probably buy it.

[jamstorr86]

As A wii U owner, I would rather see nintendo become more competitive with a new console, rather than persevere with a piece of Hardware that is losing popularity with each passing day. If i can still play my wii u games on the NX, i will be happy

[bradleejones]

Yeah, the wiiu isn't even 3 years old and there aren't any new games on it already. Good luck getting me to buy their next system...

[Neonridr]

Most Nintendo consoles lifespans are 5 years. Assuming this releases at the earliest holiday 2016, then we are talking about 4 years. I guess I can look past it this time assuming they are bringing something beefy to the market. I have had more than enough enjoyment from my Wii U so far, so I feel as if I got my $300 worth of enjoyment.

[abstractel]

If it's as powerful as it seems to be, I'll buy it for Nintendo games alone. Never got a Wii, never got a Wii U but that's because my expectations of the technical aspects were higher than what those machines could deliver.

[ChronoJoe]

I feel that differentiating their system in terms of power from the PS4 / XBOX ONE will put them in a really awkward position.

One, I don't see a lot of consumers shelling out if this console is a lot more expensive than the alternatives, especially as the alternatives will be offering a lot more in terms of games and content at the time.

Two, it will make the platform problematic to develop for. Additional resources will be required as consumers will expect more than a port. A lot of big developers will either a) skip the console because of the extra effort or b) port their games over, without significant graphical or technical enhancements that make good use of the hardware.

3) Nintendo are liable to get left behind when the next generation of consoles comes around, more powerful than theirs. The next generation of consoles will have strong fanbases and thereby, pretty strong adoption rates, especially for Sony, who are currently dominating this generations hardware sales, in an unprecedented manner.

To me, this is painting a very similar scenario to the Dreamcast. A console that's more powerful than its current generation counterparts, a console that's both portable and a home console (slightly different on the NX, but the similarities are interesting).

I guess we will see, but I think everything is pointing towards a very bleak future for Nintendo if this ship sinks, especially as they're kind of putting all their eggs in one basket, with it being both a handheld, and home console.

The Dreamcast failed because it launched off of the back of a failed previous gen console, attempting to get out of the gate early with more powerful hardware in an effort to sell more units. That didn't appeal to people. A lot of people had already invested time and money into the original Playstation and the Nintendo 64, and they weren't willing to shell out on a new system when they suspected more 'next gen' systems would be arriving shortly after.

That, alongside the inherent lack of third party support that came with the unique nature of the system and small install base, made it very very difficult for the Dreamcast to get off the ground.

That's something that could happen here, if these rumours are true.

I guess we will see though. I'm not dismissing it, I'm just skeptical.

[SliceOfTruth888]

Nintendo could dump the Wii U today (owner since launch) and i would love it. Trash the Wii U and show off a real next gen Mario and Zelda and watch everyone bow down

[Codewow]

If Nintendo gives me credit and backwards compat with WiiU trade-in I'd be more than happy to get the new console.

[kneon]

Sounds meaningless to me.

They are likely running an emulated environment that simulates the target device. As you typically require about an order of magnitude more power to emulate a dissimilar hardware platform this doesn't really tell us anything about what NX has to offer.

[eddvdm]

Exactly.. not to mention Nintendo platforms tend to be the most hard ones to emulate (N64, GC).

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Likely? Based on what?
For all we know, this demo is being run straight off of a dev kit for the NX, and in that case, it'd be just as it says; a powerful build.

[kneon]

If they are running on real NX hardware then why the need for a powerful PC, it would make no sense.

[Ck1x]

It's not that its meaningless, we just don't have enough info on everything that was presented. The demo could have been created in an actually NX development environment and Nintendo could have given them recommended specifications on what's needed to run the demo at a decent setting.

[dcbronco]

What the hell? We know AMD is doing a custom solution and it has been hinted that it's x86. Since the Wii U was a updated Wii chip it should be cheap enough to include. Ten year old updated tech shrunk down. And given Nintendo entering the market at this point they get the advantage of coming in with several generations newer CPU and GPU architectures plus two die shrinks. Since they don't have 28nm versions of their chip to hold them back they can take advantage of power increase of die shrinks plus power savings. Along with the refinements AMD is introducing and already released in power efficiency.

The shrinks will half power requirements before architecture changes take place. Nintendo will have a very powerful console and still come in at a competitive price. $400 for a profit. $300 breaking even.

I'll make a prediction. Nintendo will announce a console with at least five teraflops. At a profit day one for$300. If they opt for a 8 teraflops machine, $400 breaking even. Also if they skip the gimmicks. Mark this post.

[brave27heart]

From the Wall Street Journal.

I don't know about you guys but they're my go to place for all the latest most accurate gaming news....

/s

Until I see a list of facts from a source that's credible then I'm not going to get excited/disappointed about some random gibberish spouted from a non games related source.

[Neonridr]

@kneon - yes that could possibly be true, or you could be completely wrong.

[kneon]

@Neonridr

And that's why this is all meaningless, unless we know why such a powerful PC is needed it doesn't tell you anything about the NX.

[Codewow]

Not exactly considering a emulation typically means that it wasn't developed to run on that hardware. If they're making a better system than Sony or Microsoft it has to be PC architecture or very similar. There is no way Nintendo is developing something like Linux themselves.

[Yahdaree]

I'm not about to get excited just so I can get disappointed later.

[thejigisup]

I agree I'm tired of seeing some of my favorite IPs only to be left disappointed. I wish ninty could bring me back on their side.

[nveenio]

Agreed. Nintendo hasn't released a powerful system since… Ill believe it when I see it, and even then I'll be skeptical, what with all the unreleased demos we've seen over the last 10 years from all sides.

[Moonman]

"Now You're Playing With Power.......NX Power"? :)

I just thought of something funny. What if these developers are complaining about Nintendo having "too much power". lol

[Bleucrunch]

How do people disagree with a question? Good questions by the way and to answer it I have no clue myswelf, but similar things have been said about other consoles in the past so I am skeptical.

[DevilOgreFish]

Nintendo has a track record going with Radeon based GPUs so I checked the specs for possibles. The R9 370 (big possibility) it's TDP is 150 and it's 1.894 T-flops.

And then there's the R9 380 (closer to "cutting-edge") it's TDP is 190 and it's 3.290 T-flops.

It's also possible that the GPU in the NX will be a modified version of an off the shelf one, with altered memory and shaders. I'm just listing some possible figures.

[ABizzel1]

Look at the R9 M300 series, there's you're most likely candidates (the "M" is a must for looking up the right GPU).

These consoles are using laptop GPUs.

At best expect R9 M390x performance.

Most likely R9 M385x.

At minimum R9 380x.

[sourav93]

Actually, there are some laptops now that are sporting full desktop grade GPUs: http://www.pcgamer.com/nvid...

Albeit that article mentions Nvidia GPUs, but I'm sure AMD can do it as well. So it's not far off to thing a desktop grade AMD GPU modified to run in the NX. I would think something like a 380x, at least to "beat" current gen consoles. But my inner geek inside me is screaming at the idea of an R9 Fury Nano in the new NX :D

Edit: No I'm not expecting in any way for the NX to have a Fury Nano; that would be stupid. I just mentioned it because I think it would be awesome. Unrealistic, but awesome.

[ABizzel1]

@sourav93

A GTX 980 is a $500 GPU, that's not going into a $400 (at most) console, and it takes SERIOUS amounts of cooling to keep those laptop cool, and a completely separate power supply dock.

And the TDP of the GTX 980 is 165w.

The Fury Nano...might since it has a a 175w TDP, but it has a bad whine when it gets too heated. The R9 380 is around 190w, so again it might work. The R9 370 is 110w so it should definitely work.....

But then we're back down into the R9 M385 territory, and the R9 390x being more powerful than the 370x, and about on par with the 380x with nearly half the TDP.

It's always a give and take, and picking with what works best overall.

[Ck1x]

Not sure why people keep saying that the PS4 and XbOne have laptop gpu's when you can clearly go buy each desktop version right now in stores. The cpu's were definitely laptop grade, but the gpu's are desktop variants.

[madmonkey01]

@ck1x,

its a laptop APU it has now CPu or GPU, in either the x1 or ps4

[ABizzel1]

@Ck1x

The GPU in the PS4 / XBO are based off laptop GPUs. The PS4 is specifically based off the 7970m / 8970m / R9 M290x series of laptop GPUs (which are all in turn based off the HD 7870 desktop GPU).

However, the PS4 has much more in common with the laptop GPUs, because it's in a tight, crammed, enclosed space thus heating becomes a problem.....just like a laptop. This is why the PS4's GPU has clock speeds, pixel fill rate, texture fill rate, and TDP on par with the laptop versions of the Pitcairn line of GPUs, and not the desktop. It's also why the Desktop 7870 performs a good notch better than the PS4, meanwhile the laptops are ever so slightly ahead.

The PS4's GPU is a HD 7970m with HEAVY inspiration from the R9 M290x, just clocked lower with 2CU disabled.

[conanlifts]

I'm thinking that they would likely come in with around 3 tflop for gpu if they want to seriously compete. If they come in closer to the ps4 they will likely struggle. But coming in around 3 tflops would give them a big edge, while still being affordable. They could then advertise "the worlds most powerful console" to grab the attention of gamers. Anyone concerned with 900p vs 1080 p would have to be interested, right?

I also think without a physical drive, yet the ability to add sd type storage the console price would be lower and inline with a ps4. With this option I would expect the nx to only offer a low 250gb hdd, which while not great cuts costs with the option to increase storage.
Of course it's all speculation,but sometimes it's good to guess, even if it might be wrong.

[ABBAJESUS]

nope, next year AMD releases 14nm video card chips wich are expexted to be over 50% more powerful

[Wenapee]

"Several people who said who have seen a demo said what they saw is impossible to run on a computer without a "industry-leading" or "cutting-edge" chips"

This implies (to me) that the demo had such high quality graphics that cutting edge chips on a pc are required to run it.

This sounds good and the direction to go for nintendo. However, even though I have had nintendo systems in the past, I am no longer interested in them because most of their exclusives are mostly childish games (mario this, mario that, mario X mario, mario 52).

[Ark_]

... could also just mean, that it's badly programmed or that it requires a lot of multithreading, if they e.g. simulate a console and handheld(s) running in combination.

Don't get me wrong - I hope for some graphical power as well on the NX.

[conanlifts]

Actually, while I hope the console is great and does have serious power I do remember the Wii U having cutting edge tech. The only problem with the WiiU and its cutting edge tech is that it is cutting edge for power vs energy consumption. It's quite impressive, unfortunately most gamers ( myself included) don't buy a console for its energy saving ability.

[iTechHeads]

Fake. Same rumors were said about the Wii U and we know how that turned out

[DragonDDark]

Yeah, i hated those false rumours. They got my hopes up :|

[LOL_WUT]

Yeah not to mention you had users here posting fake specs claiming it would have the best multiplats and all this other stuff lol ;)

[iTechHeads]

A Nintendo console doesn't need high-end specs anyway. 3rd party developers don't make games on Wii U because Nintendo fans don't like to buy yearly franchises. Nintendo fans buy Nintendo games and for that Nintendo doesn't need to go overboard on power/specs.

Give us a $199 console that plays Nintendo games and is powerful/fast enough to meet modern expectations and it'll sell like hotcakes.

[Spotie]

I'm skeptical as well. It's all just too vague.

I'd like it to be true, though. For Nintendo's sake, if nothing else.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Most of the rumors weren't wrong; it out-classed last-gen systems.
The PS4 and XBone were just more powerful in the end.

[Qrphe]

Most of them were. Remember the whole Wii U is 19x more powerful than PS3? Wii U is a powerhouse? Launch titles being 1080p60p?

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

Which why I said time and time again.

People need to wait til next year and stop wasting their time believing every rumor about the NX

[Gamist2dot0]

Oh man, I remember when the N64 received news and they said that the console will have the graphics power of the arcade game Killer Instinct. Ultra 64! When it finally launched, wtf happened? Then there's Gamecube when I remember reading how powerful it will be. When it launched, it was just a tad better than the Xbox.

[Picnic]

The GC was more powerful than the PS2 and less powerful than the Xbox. Only memory limitations on the GC discs occasionally meant fewer FMV scenes on GC than on PS2.

[BattleAxe]

Nintendo has no choice but to use powerful components this time around. When the Xbox Two and the PS5 release, they're most likely going to make another large leap, and Nintendo can't take the chance of being left behind this time.

[kenwonobi]

I'm willing to take a real close look at buying NX if the rumors of a highly powered console are true. If there is a significant enough upgrade over PS4 then I have no problems going back to Nintendo. It's the console of my childhood. They do have to shore up that 3rd party support again though. If they get 3rd party support I'm all aboard Nintendo.

[iistuii]

Nintendo need to bring real next gen to the table. Every game running at 1080/60p with highest textures/settings on all multi's & exclusives & it will sell.

[goldwyncq]

We all know that history's going to repeat itself with the PS5 and the next Xbox utterly destroying the NX specs wise once they release. Nintendo should've gone with this strategy in the first place instead of going with another gimmick console like the Wii U.

[Ck1x]

So how much more powerful than the PS4 do you think Sony will make the PS5? People are contradicting themselves a lot, they think that by 2018 Sony will have finalized it's PS5 specs for the console to launch in 2019. Where is Sony going to get this super powerful gpu from and keep the same price as the PS4? We'll be lucky if PS5 is 3x more powerful than the PS4 currently is for the same launch price.

You just can't have it both ways and these semiconductor manufacturers are currently struggling to meet demands of getting the first generation of decently powered gpu's onto the smaller Finfet process. So by 2019, why do people think that Sony will be sticking a GTX Titan chip in their next system or something.

[Intranquill]

This doesn't mean much to me.Unreal Engine 4 tech demo has to run on one hell of a rig and looks incredible, yet we've yet to see a game look as good as that tech demo, which is usually true for ANY tech demo, because they're just that..a demo.

[ChickeyCantor]

The unreal "demos" are only the tip of the iceberg. The problem with those unofficial "Nintendo" character demos is that the art style is lacking dearly.

If Nintendo worked on a game ontop of Unreal you'd see some magical graphics.

[corroios]

I think it impossible for the NX not be more powerfull then the PS4.

First the Ps4 is two years old and Sony didnt build a cutting edge machine. Its not difficult to build a more powerfull machine.

I think it would be crazy if the NX doesnt have better specs then the PS4 in 2016...

[kenwonobi]

Yea but hopefully it's not a tiny upgrade. I'm hoping it's a whole new generation ahead of PS4 in power.

[garrettbobbyferguson]

The generational leap from the 360/PS3 to One/PS4 was tiny. Expect the generational leap for the future consoles to be the same. Maybe they'll be 1080/60 standard at least.

[kenwonobi]

That's basically what I said. As long as its a generation leap.

[jonivtec]

I just want my zelda damnit!!!I buy my wii u just for this ! I dont care the power...just release a decent zelda game!Not a remake!

[DivineAssault]

They better not have a really bad ass tech demo showing a zelda we wont see come to life.. Im hoping for the best but damn, link needs an upgraded look.. That skyward sword style can only go so far

[jay2]

good hopefully they'll get 3rd party support and better tahn wii u was with 360/ps3.

[IanTH]

Feels like Nintendo would have had to learn their lesson about needing power to appeal to 3rd Party, as well the timing for their launch. One might think that the Big N, with their war chest overflowing with cash, will push strong hardware and eat a little on each console. Given it's weird timing on launch, this would allow it an interesting position.

Launching after PS4/XBO with similar architecture and more power would mean a lot of 3rd party support. Having more power means it would be the place to get the best console graphics at the time. They could build better looking first party games and draw people in that way. Then they'd have some of that future-forward power so even if PS5/XB2 came out, it'd be in a position to at least compete. I know this was sort of the case with Wii U, but it was not powerful enough and was released FAR too late last gen to be a viable strategy with the modest performance it launched with.

But by the time that would be an issue they would already have worked up a sizable install base and guarantee them a share of developer attention by the time next gen rolls around. That seems sensible to me, but if they truly are going this hybrid home console/portable route then I guess all bets are off.

I don't see them going PS4/Vita route - too expensive - so they'd more than likely have to go for some kind of "Tegra-like" processor for home/mobile playing. It's an interesting prospect. If they can get some facsimile of some of those things, I'll certainly take interest.

[ChickeyCantor]

It's not so much about power as it's about scalability. Even if Nintendo didn't make a console close to the Ps4/Xone but new games still ran on the system then there wouldn't be a problem.

WiiU simply doesn't fall under the scalability

[Taero]

If Nintendo just made a console like the PS4 then noone is going to buy it...you'll have Sony/Xbox fans sticking with their own purchase, and Nintendo WiiU fans feeling burnt from the time before.

Most people don't purchase 2 consoles, idc what the internet looks like or who posts/replies with "Peon, I have all 3 and a pc, and my own house, car, supermodel gf etc." the average person has one, MAYBE a pc as well so it definitely matters about the power.

[Ashunderfire86]

You know what last generation was longer with the 360/PS3/Wii era for 8 years. I think Nintendo's NX will have 5 more years before PS5 and Xbox 2 comes out. I hope for NX to at least have 1080p 60fps standard for every game. If they manage to have movie content in 4K at least that will be a plus. I expect full 4K gaming in consoles during the PS5 and Xbox 2 era next gen.

[Destiny1080]

cutting edge and Nintendo in the same sentence, id love to see it happen but Nintendo have basically declared them selves out of the tech wars

it looks like there going with an android based system and its also going to have some sort of portable device which attaches to the console in some way, or maybe the portable device is the console its self

[theFAYEsorceress]

i hope so. nintendo is in desperate need of a good home console. mebe they'll finally make that open-world pokemon game that everyone has been wanting all this time.

[PurpHerbison]

The game I have wanted since Pokemon Red.

[Chaosdreams]

Nintendo has always had the imagination.

They just need the power. If they achieve that then the sky is the limit.

[RPGrinder]

Games are what matters.

Power is irrelevant when it comes to the best games.

That being said I love the Wii U and cannot wait for NX.

[LOL_WUT]

Power is irrelevant? Hah! Tell that to EA, Rockstar, Ubisoft, CD projeck red, and every other major publisher/developer out there.

Its irrelevant unless you only want indies plaguing your system of choice which has been seen during most of the WiiU's lifecycle ;)

Powerful system > gimmicks

[ChickeyCantor]

> ts irrelevant unless you only want indies plaguing your system of choice which has been seen during most of the WiiU's lifecycle ;)

Implying indie games are bad.

> Powerful system > gimmicks

What does this even mean?
You're implying weaker systems can't have good games.

You're hilariously ignorant.

[RPGrinder]

You made my case

[benji101]

Power is relevant. Nintendo can lower the price of the wii u and keep that as the family orientated console. The NX could be just for hardcore gamers. NX sounds like it is being designed specifically to appeal to the people who want the biggest numbers on their tech. The people who upgrade their phones yearly. What it sounds like Nintendo is aiming for is the Apple market.
THe type of people who care more about their credibility as the consumers who have the most cutting edge home console, over the Nintendo fans.
I am excited for the NX. Sony has proved you can make less first party games if you have a good console for 3rd parties.
Nintendo may be aiming at supporting two home consoles. Nintendo could bring mature titles to the NX while supporting the wii u with more family friendly products. It would not be a long term plan but it would mean that family friendly games would bring in the cash on the 10 million plus wii u consoles while the NX audience expanded.
A new Metroid or a new Fatal Frame would be better placed on the NX for example.

[TwoForce]

Good to hear that Nintendo going right direction this time around.

[benji101]

Reading these comments you can smell the fear of the ps4 fanboys.

[iistuii]

Ha can you imagine N4G's if Nintendo had all the biggest multi formats all on highest settings at 1080/60 all running smooth, it would be hilarious.. And Digital Foundrey do their piece on the games & say the ps4/Xbox one running high settings with 900/30, but the Nintendo is the one to get at very high settings 1080/60...

[stuna1]

I don't think it's fear at all!? This is a repeat of history. When the WII U was announced we had Nintendo supporters making the same assumptions that they're making now. How the WII U was going to be more powerful by a large margin than then last gen consoles, specifically the PS3 and Xbox 360 respectively.

We even had some go as far as to say that the WII U would likely be more powerful than the soon to be next generation of consoles, namely the "Orbis" aka PS4. What I'm saying is with all the speculation look at how it turned out!?

To add insult too injury, here we are already talking about a successor to a console that has barely made a blip on the radar of console gaming, not to mention which had asbysmal 3rd party support that's likely to carry over to its successor.

If anything Nintendo supporters should be the ones who should be fearful. Fearful that NX doesn't do a repeat performance.

[Wenapee]

Yes you are completely right, and many people in here post common sense. I was not aware that there are nintendo fanboys as well that dont appear to see reality.

Let me repeat:

It is now almost 2016. Console gets announced (in whatever form powerful or not) somewhere between now and E3 2016.

Earliest release is late 2016. In this short time there will be little support, and few games available.

A release date in 2017 is more likely and is way too late, since by the time the console gets enough games and support and have sold enough consoles to warrant suport form 3th party publishers, people will already be talking about ps5 / xbox zero.

[Ck1x]

Well people saying that the NX will be in the same position as the WiiU doesn't understand the time line in which the two systems are facing. The WiiU came at the end of the 7th generation and struggled out of the gate to clearly show why it was more advanced than the PS3 and 360. The PS4 and XbOne aren't even 2 yrs old yet, so how are they remotely the same situations?

There's a chance that the NX might launch next year and the current systems will only be 3 yrs old, so Nintendo has a much better chance of getting back some market share this time more so than they did with the WiiU. People paint a almost impossible situation for Nintendo as if they can never get any market share back and most of the vocal gamers on sites like this are just the minority buyer.

Because if they actually build a console that people are excited to own and play games on, people will buy it! The WiiU wasn't on the market long at all before Sony and Microsoft started talking about the PS4 and XbOne. This will not be the same case with Sony and Microsoft this time, the NX could be on the market for a couple of years before we see the next systems from them.

[V0LT]

All I want is a powerful system this time with a normal controller and no gimmicks.

[DiaperFace]

Recent NX news is making me wonder...maybe Nintendo is back?

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

A lot of the people who are criticizing Nintendo and the NX need to decide what the hell they want out of Nintendo.
The amount of downplaying going on is ridiculous.

One moment the biggest criticism is that Nintendo isn't focusing enough on power in their consoles.
And now that there's reports that the NX might be exactly that, a powerful console, suddenly half the people on this site are like "Oh, too little too late" and "Oh, it's probably just false rumors!" and other BS designed to downplay what could possibly be good news for the tech inside of one of Nintendo's consoles, for the first time in a long while.

I get that some of you are just being logical and cautious, but the rest of you need to stop side-stepping and decide whether or not you actually WANT Nintendo to make a good console, and whether or not you'll support it if it's powerful enough.

You supported the PS4 and XBone for their graphical and technological prowess and criticized the Wii U for not measuring up.
Hell, you supported the other two even before their libraries justified the purchase!

If you can do that for the PS4 and XBone, then why can't you consider doing it for the NX? Especially considering all the rumors that third parties are actually PLEASED with Nintendo for once?
I know we heard a few similar things when the Wii U was about to release, but not on this scale, and not at such a critical time for Nintendo, when they really need to have a hit and finally know, thanks to how well the PS4 and XBone are selling, that a powerful console is one of the key ways to GET that hit they need.

The NX can change all of that disappointment you've felt, and give you all a reason to actually want a Nintendo console alongside those two.

If you can do what you did for the PS4 and XBone, IE, give it a CHANCE, then there's a good chance that the NX will not only get third parties to develop for it, but that Nintendo will see what focusing on tech does for their sales and decide that that should be something they do for ALL their consoles going forward!

Don't you want that?
Don't you WANT Nintendo to be a powerful competitive entity that inspires tons of third parties to make really good exclusives for them again? That on top of all the multiplats you love and their own first party games?

Or are you just pretending because you love bashing the crap out of Nintendo for any tiny reason you can find, or because you don't want to think of getting third party games on anything other than what you already own?

Owning Nintendo consoles isn't embarrassing.
Playing or liking Mario or other games from their lineup doesn't make you a child or immature, and only those who are insecure in their own maturity will be telling you any different.

All I ask is that the people here TRY to keep an open mind, instead of immediately pouncing on anything as if it's already automatically something they NEED to downplay.

[thelwebb100]

If it's as powerful as XB1 and PS4 or stronger than I'll pick one up. Competition only benefits gamers and I can't wait to see what Nintendo has up it's sleeve, especially since I haven't owned a Nintendo home console since SNES.

[Moonman]

You'll pick it up without seeing a game you want though? Just based off power? I am only asking and not judging. I need to know how some gamers think when it comes to specs even without a system seller announced.

[KaladinStormblessed]

My only qualm about all these rumors is why the hell are they running NX tech demos on a PC? Isn't that what the NX is for? To run its own software?

I do hope Ninty makes the NX powerful and gets 3rd parties back. That would eliminate my need to own more than one console.

[Nilla_Nate]

Come on Nintendo. You can do it.

[mochachino]

If NX has the power maybe my second console will be a NX instead if an xone... But Halo 5 is calling me.

So conflicted.

[masterfox]

hmmm I really want to get excited for that comment but I have to be cautious.

[fatneal]

You idiots are still being charmed away by graphic promises lol....gtaV is a great game regardless of if its on PS3 or pc with mods...watchdogs is an ok game regardless of if its on PS3 or pic with mods....get it? Graphics don't make games....never have never will....a mediocre game is still mediocre even if its the prettiest game we ever saw....one thing we all should have learned with the wifi,PS3,360 era was we've reached a point in gaming where the art style can carry the game. The order is a good looking game but was still just ok...the idea that Nintendo has some of you guys attention because there's rumors of high end graphics is just stupid...if u weren't impressed by smash or Mario kart on wiiU how can a graphic upgrade change that?

[PCpower]

If it's as powerful as they say it will be then it could be a APU that will use AMD's Zen cores and the Artic Islands GPU that will use HBM2 in 2016. Maybe this is it: http://wccftech.com/amd-all...

If this is true then it definitely will be a beast that could hold its own against powerful gaming PC's.

Even more info: http://wccftech.com/amd-zen...

[FallenAngel1984]

GameCube was more powerful than PS2 and it still struggled against it. There are various other elements that factor into victory in a generation. Marketing, third party deals, price, value, broad demographic, longevity, etc.

Those are things that Nintendo didn't gain much experience with during the Wii U's lifecycle. In fact the Wii U still continues to miss out on various multiplats that PS3 and 360 still receive 9/10+ years into their respective lifecycles. No reason to think that NX will be much different. There's no way they can completely turn around a situation that they've been struggling with for nearly 20 years in a single generation.

[PsVitaBuzz]

It struggled because of another dumb decision. That mini disc bullshit format. That was part of the reason. The other part was due to nintendo and strict policy .

[FallenAngel1984]

You really think that NX won't have any shortcomings, especially with Nintendo's track record of gimping their hardware? Not to mention there are still many other factors that Nintendo needs to work on besides hardware to make them a threat.

[spoonard]

"Nintendo NX Tech Demo Can Only Run On PC's With "Cutting Edge Chips"

Sounds like some PR crap. Because the PC probably has to emulate all the weird bullshit Nintendo is using in it's NX. At this point, there is nothing I can read on the internet that will make Nintendo's latest offering sound good to me. I will be waiting for an actual release from Nintendo so I can see things with my own eyes.

[PsVitaBuzz]

I think the various opinions is due to some many people wanting to have faith in nintendo but holding back through fear of dissapointed. Nintendo made the dumbest decision with the wii u, and with the wii alot of fans, the core gamers that brought success to nintendo before the wii feel stabbed in the back. What puzzles me more is how a company can make such a stupid decision and still not get it. They came out recently and said the wii u failure was due to just price point. Wtf. They don't get it. The reason ps4 is a success is cause they kept it simple ato a reasonable price point. And this is how dumb nintendo are, they will make a console that has a lower price point but it will have the power less of an xbox one by half. Sometimes I wonder if the old stubborn samurai way of thinking is going to be nintendo's end

[UNKLE]

hmm then must be not AMD because AMD chips is shit.. that's why the current gen consoles will have short lifespan... maybe NX have IBM CPU and NVIDIA vga? that would be cool. I hope PS5 and XBOX will have IBM/INTEL cpu and NVIDIA chips inside and not AMD chips. But I think this is fake anyone remember back the PS4 and XBOX ONE rumors? there was really fake rumors like next xbox will have 16 core cpu etc...

[Picnic]

Realistic Mario in Unreal Engine 4 would make a HUGE buzz.

[R00bot]

Nintendo would rather use their own engine, third party engines aren't really their style.

[Picnic]

If Nintendo don't support Unreal Engine 4 it deserves to be Game Over for them on TV consoles.

I want something closer to what you'd call a true successor to the Gamecube with its variety of both accessible and hardcore games without shovelware. Fortunately, the WiiU has far, far, less shovelware than the original Wii ever did.

Sony is struggling in Japan, although not elsewhere, and Xbox is doing badly there.

Nintendo can easily get back up to 20-25 million worthwhile sales (people who actually buy games and DLC instead of leaving it collecting dust) if only they blow people away with the tech. And if they market it based on how the past affects the present - that you can use a WiiU controller with it, that you can play WiiU games including Mario Maker on it, that you can (hopefully) still play online for free, that you have Unreal Engine 4 and (hopefully) multiformats with exclusive content such as Dishonored 2 and Kingdom Hearts 3, that you get a Pro Controller included in the box, that it has the best version of whatever Zelda WiiU becomes called- at launch. It needs to straddle innocent Nintendo and a more mature, Gamecube-like, Nintendo.

[UNKLE]

Why not? these are different times and if Nintendo want to be successfully then they make NX to powerful,and make contracts with every third party company. like UE4 etc... just imagine a powerful Nintendo system and you can find EVERY multiplatform game, that would be AWESOME! maybe better than PS5. I would buy that system.

[kino17]

It seems Nintendo is about to do a 360 and dominate the market which is cool. Hopefully they will get rid of the childish games and go towards a more serious market then I can by one

[mamotte]

Boy, I'll not take in account all you said about Nintendo and that, since it's your opinion and it's all right. Just want you to know that if you do a 360º, you'll end up in the same starting point. Maybe a 180º would be better.

[BigDuo]

It baffles me to read comments about some people thinking Nintendo will make a more powerful console than PS4. You've got to be kidding. Take a look at the following comments below, and tell me that's the company with an attitude that wants to be a direct competitor again.

"Expanding only on exiting hardware is dull." - Iwata, March 2015

"What the other companies are doing makes business sense, but it's boring. The same games appear on every system. At Nintendo we want an environment where game creators can collaborate and think of ideas for games that could have never happened before." - Miyamoto, Nov 2014

"A unique software experience can always be realized with unique hardware that has a unique interface. That is why I believe Nintendo is, and will be, sticking to these dedicated gaming machines." - Miyamoto, August 2014

"We just don't care too much about what other companies are doing or are trying to do. Our primary focus is to think about and actually carry out something which [another] company's hardware can never realize." - Iwata, June 2013

" From my perspective, with regard to the more powerful hardware systems, to me what still remains incredibly important is the developers maintaining a focus on creating unique games because if all that everyone does is uses the enhanced power to create more and more games that look and feel the same, then all that it becomes is a competition about the power of the hardware rather than the uniqueness of the experience. That, to me, is where developers should be devoting their effort." - Miyamoto, June 2013

“it’s not just about power alone, but how to balance what you’re offering in terms of power with cost. I’m very happy with the balance that we’ve been able to strike. What’s left is how developers use it.” - Miyamoto, June 2012

"We just don’t care what kind of “more beef” console Microsoft and Sony might produce in 2013." - Iwata, June 2012

Both Shigeru Miyamoto and the late Satoru Iwata have been consistently adamant about Nintendo's position to differentiate itself from Sony and Microsoft. They're not interested in trying to be more like Sony and Microsoft. They've had two back-to-back generations to prove this on both handheld and home console. Nintendo's next-gen support of integrated architecture and Iwata's confirmation of NX being a "brand new concept" is just another example of this. Nintendo's interested in doing its own thing despite the risks because it wants to be more ambitious as a platform holder by creating a more unique user experience (for better or worse).

Even with Iwata gone, Nintendo's transitional president and Miyamoto have both gone on record stating Nintendo's desire to see the plans Iwata set in motion come to fruition.

[MikleDemi]

Too late.

Even it releases next year (which is likely), the Xbone and PS4 already have a huge lead on it, and can always cut costs to price themselves lower (and become more attractive to consumers).

They will also have a more robust library, and possibly VR if Nintendo delays to 2017.

I wish Nintendo best of luck, since I love them dearly, but I think they needed to stick it out this gen, and launch a competitive console when PS5/XBN launch.

[Kalebninja]

Too late? At this point in time The PS4 and Xbox One are only a 4th at most into their lifespan. a 2016 release with at least 4 or 5 years before the next consoles release isn't "too late" at all. Before you even bother being one of those people saying the next consoles are going to release before 2020 take a look at the distance between each console release, they are only being released further and further apart so they are definitely not releasing before 2020.

[MoveTheGlow]

Nintendo's trying to go all-in on mid-cycle consoles lately. If they manage to do it right (read: Not the WiiU), you could see quite a few second-console buyers, along with casual and mobile game fans who have run away from the WiiU.

I think they had the right idea with the WiiU's timing as a market disruption last time instead of just being another option at the beginning of a new generation of consoles. Everything else was pretty much wrong at launch with that thing, especially everything else about the marketing, but I'll give them the timing thing!

Also, if they finally do the right thing and pull off a good Netflix-esque classic games library subscription service that you can take on the go, it doesn't matter when that thing's released or if third parties are on board for new games, it'll sell. They've borked the Virtual Console for far too long, it's now or never.

[stragomccloud]

I can't wait. I've enjoyed every Nintendo console immensely, even though I wish they had done things differently with some of them from a hardware point of view. E.g. Cartridges for n64, low capacity disks for GameCube, non had hardware for Wii, and low ram/slightly lower than I hoped for GPU in Wii U. That said, all of these systems I have of course been a happy owner of.

[Doodleburger]

Yeah, it's emulation, of course it required powerful pcs. They can say the nx will have "cutting edge tech" all they want, but that doesn't mean anything. What if it's cutting edge mobile tech, like what is used in smartphones? That'll get you PS2 graphics at best. Until i hear intel or nvidia is producing their chips, i don't think cutting edge means jack shit.

[mamotte]

Or you can read the article: "Several people who said who have seen a demo said what they saw is impossible to run on a computer without a "industry-leading" or "cutting-edge" chips. Cutting-edge in what way, they refused to elaborate."

As you can see, that opinion is based in what they saw, not running the demo. They saw awesome graphics (I suppose) and that's their opinion.

[truechainz]

There are a couple of signs that point to Nintendo focusing on power and some originality this time around. For one they have claimed that the NX will likely be region free which is a departure from previous consoles. Next Miyamoto has claimed he won't have a hand in the hardware development this time around. There have been several posts that have gone up to hire people outside the company from the western market which could mean this is different from any console we have seen from them in a while. The last being that the sources of main rumors claiming this are from devs just receiving kits working as sources for the WSJ. This is all here-say until official announcement, but it looks like the people who have wanted a powerful console from Nintendo might just get their wish. Time will tell.

[feraldrgn]

Please make it easy to develop for.
Also please don't wait until near the end of the gen to release it, mid-gen consoles aren't a good idea.

[shaenoide]

like every tech demo "in engine"...

[oldassgamer]

Running on a PC with "Cutting Edge Chips" means absolutely nothing. Show me the demo running on the NX with the same fidelity. Remember the Killzone demo for PS3? Yeah... I say to Nintendo... Prove it!

[Enyxodin]

Given that ps5 or xbox no 1 (see what I did there? ^^) is out by 2018-19 and its follows the same tradition by max 10x more powerful...it will have around 16-18 tflops of performance! So if nintendo wants to be relevant by that time it needs at least 10-12 tflops if not more

[nitrogav]

These are the Industry Leading Chips that are inside ,

[MoveTheGlow]

It makes sense - your tech specs are going to start out on PC and become a retail product once you have all your ducks in a row. Early test kits for consoles usually look like the most boring looking PCs around.

The unanswered question here is how much of this processing power is dedicated not to one game, but to a game on two screens - is the tech demo running two windows, meant to include the NX box and a separate processor on a completely portable NX controller? Or are they looking at some sort of streaming system from home to any wi-fi point?

Considering the rumors point to a 2016 release so far, I can't wait for next E3 when we'll actually hear about it.

[Kaiou]

This really doesn't mean anything at all , I hope it's more powerful than the PS4/XONE.

[muffinbutton]

Why when a nintendo article gets this amount of heat its only on the home page for an hour?