Linkedin Profile For Software Engineer Gives Some Insight Into NX Developement

The Nintendo NX is a hot item right now, with many people thinking it could lead to a 2016 release date. But how long has the system been in development for? A man named Steven Chith may have given away that answer.

[FallenAngel1984]

I doubt Nintendo would've started development that late on their next hardware. Development would've started in 2013 or more likely in 2014.

[smashman98]

Well he wasn't doing hardware it says he was on a 6 man team developing multimedia drivers. Seems plausible.

[never4get]

6-dev team coding multimedia drivers, is still hardware related like hdmi ouput, audio jack, controller, etc....external gpu drivers...who knows?

[smashman98]

Anything on the console is technically hardware related all I said was that he in no way stated that's when development on the hardware started

[XanderZane]

Yeah.. most likely they were working on this in early 2014 I would think. I'm sure they already have games in development by now. My only question is what 3rd party companies will be making games for the NX. Have any signed on yet? Probably won't know until E3.

[3-4-5]

* In case some of you don't know, as soon as Nintendo releases a console, they start development on the next one.

It's been that way since the SNES/N64 days. I wish more people would inform themselves and not be tricked by BS titles like this.

* They started the day after they launched the Wii U.

They do this with handhelds as well, and it's already been stated by many at Nintendo that this is true.

* Don't let the BS media spread lies with this clickbait BS. Be informed.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

There's more to development than just making the parts, in Nintendo's case.
There's also thinking up concepts for directions that the new hardware can push into, such as the Wii U's idea of a screen in the controller or the rumors of the NX having a handheld unit alongside the home console.

It's entirely plausible that they've been thinking up ideas for the NX since year 1 of the Wii U, and only just recently solidified the concept and started putting the necessary tech together, meaning guys like the one in this report weren't working on the tech due to it only having been in the planning stages up until that point last Feb.

That would tie in more strongly to the idea that 2017 is their planned release date for the system, which would make more sense if they want to give the system a stronger launch line-up of games.

[Loadedklip]

Retro Studios released Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze in February 2014 ... they haven't released a game since while hiring multiple people for a big project.

I am pretty sure that project is Metroid and it will be ready to be shown at E3.

Whether it is Metroid or not, some Nintendo studios have been working on NX projects for a couple of years now.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

uh no. That was the planning stage.

[Relientk77]

Seems a bit late to me if they only started a year ago, and the console is supposedly coming out this year

[Hoffmann]

Most lkely it started in 2012 or earlier.

[esmittystud101]

If it is coming out this year. I would imagine they would want to test it out for atleast a year before release. If they just started it and its releasing this year.......You couldn't pay me to own that piece of unpredictable hardware.

X1 and PS4 had a ton of time to test there's and both were still a mess at release and six months later. Especially for developers.

[Pillsbury1]

They had better have a Mario game ready at launch, it will make a huge difference.

[WickedLester]

It can't JUST be a Mario game either. It has to be a true, next gen-looking stunner of a Mario game! It can't just be another left to right side scroller. It has to be a true successor to Mario 64 with amazing graphics or the next iteration of Mario Galaxy. A true 3d world Mario.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Putting too much emphasis and expectation upon graphics is what will kill any chance there is of appreciating a game for its gameplay more than its visuals.

[WickedLester]

@wonderfulmonkeyman

You speak as if a game can't be both.

Why can't a game have great gameplay AND amazing graphics?

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

I'm not saying it can't.
I'm saying you're putting too much emphasis on that, and that makes it sound as if you feel that the game HAS to be this world-refreshing new graphical GOD of a game, or the gameplay won't matter.

And that, unfortunately, is one of the biggest issues that the modern gaming community of today has; too much care about how many polygons a game is pushing, and not enough care about the art style or gameplay.

[filchron]

Im with you on that Lester. And the new NX Zelda that comes out after this cell shaded WiiU afterthought of a game needs to be REALLY immersive and atmospheric. It should have the rich, contrasting, dark tone/visuals of the promised Zelda game tech demo from the Gamecube's reveal: http://m.youtube.com/watch?... not the bland twilight princess gray muddy style that people call "the photorealistic Zelda" lol.

[WickedLester]

@wonderfulmonkeyman

I never said it as to be a "graphical GOD of a game." However it does need to look like a next gen game. I'm all for great gameplay, however it's much, much harder to market gameplay than it is to show off what your new next gen system is capable of. The NX needs to impress, especially considering it's coming mid-generation.

@filchron

I'd like to see Nintendo start investing some real production value into their games. Could you imagine a new Metroid Prime with Halo's production value? How awesome would Zelda be if like you said, it looked like that original GameCube CG trailer?

[deafdani]

Super Mario 3D World had amazing graphics and was worthy of comparison with Mario Galaxy 1 and 2. (In my opinion, it's better than Galaxy 1, but not as good as Galaxy 2).

[About30Ninjas]

I doubt it a 3D Mario game takes about 2-3 years to make they probably just port the next Zelda so they can have it as a NX launch Title

[WickedLester]

Common sense would tell me that if the NX is coming this year, development surely would have started earlier. However this is Nintendo we're talking about here. Logic sometimes goes completely out the window when it comes to trying to guess what they do.

[sk8ofmnd]

I agree, but i highly doubt the nx will be announced, shown, and released in the same year. Early 2017 seems more plausible.

The question i have for you guys is if its 2017 before the nx launches, why not just wait and refine the nx to be released with the other console makers as early as winter 2019 giving the ps4 and xb1 6 years on the market. Surely the nx would be a better machine with 2 more years of dev time.

[WickedLester]

Because shareholders aren't going to let them wait that long. They just had an investors meeting where they announced a pretty sharp drop in operating profit year over year. While Nintendo was still profitable, the drop was pretty significant. Most agree that Amiibo is the main thing keeping Nintendo in the black. However that's not going to last forever. They need to get NX out the door as soon as possible.

Also if the architecture for the NX is already set, meaning dev kits are already out to developers and chipsets are being readied to be produced, there's no way they can just sit on that for 2-3 more years. Nintendo isn't going to throw away the invested R&D costs by scrapping what they have and re designing NX to try and match the performance of PS5/X2. Not to mention it would piss off 3rd parties who might be working on NX titles right now because it means they'd have to sit on projects they've invested time and money into developing.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

If the entirety of its development period started in Feb of last year, then that definitely means that the system is launching in 2017.

The only way I could see this not being the case, is if several other bits and pieces of the system already had people working on them before that point, and Steven Chith was brought into the project well after other parts of the project were either done or well underway.

I'm still firmly convinced that a 2017 release date makes more sense, though.
For the sake of getting a final dev kit put together well for the sake of avoiding the multi-dev-kit issues that third parties had with the Wii U, as well as for the sake of giving all parties involved the time needed to create new games for the system.

If the new Mass Effect is coming out next year, for example, and they want to get it onto the NX in its full and complete form, then Nintendo should be giving the devs the time they need to get familiar with the dev kits and get the game done the right way, instead of having no time to learn it, getting confused, then bringing out the game late with content missing.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

Nintendo is most likely not talking to Western Devs.

Japanese Devs are the only ones and including some indies devs spoke on NX games or future plans.

[Stealth20k]

Nobody knows.

[Raider69]

2017 not sooner!

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

Planning comes first
then Development
then mass production

So yes it did.

[Coachkeys]

All the companies do this. It would be suicide to not be pro - active in the gaming business world. Technology advances way too fast.

[DC777]

I know that temp company. It doesn't mean anything as far as release. They probably hired some extra temp staff to finish off a large project.

[BigDuo]

Based on part of a statement Satoru Iwata made back at the end of January 2013 while describing Nintendo's next-gen unified architectural strategy, he revealed that the company recently began work on integrated architecture for next-gen platforms some time in 2012.

For the record, Satoru Iwata also revealed that the origin of Wii U's development process began in 2008 which initiated with meetings regarding the approach the company wanted to take with the console's direction and how to differentiate it from the Wii. Based on other Iwata Asks interviews, Wii U's architecture was going through testing, analysis and feedback process back in 2009. In that same year, after the release of Wii Sports Resort for Wii, Nintendo EAD began experimenting with asymmetric gameplay prototype controls and software. By June 2011 at E3, Nintendo revealed the first GamePad prototype controller. Select third parties received second-gen dev kits roughly a month before E3 began.However, the GamePad controller shown at E3 was an improved prototype of the one third parties were in possession of.

According to industry reports, select third parties received finalized Wii U "mass production" dev kits back in May 2012. Wii U later launched in November 2012.