3 Platform Future: Nintendo N-Fusion!!!!!!!!

Nintendo will always be remembered as a pioneer in the gaming industry by standardizing the consoles, and creating some of the most well-known, successful, and established franchises in gaming. However, Nintendo's fortunes has taken a turn for the worse with the home console once again in risk of being a commercial failure. Nintendo's home console sales have been on the decline each console generation since the launch of the original NES, with the Wii finally breaking the lower sales habit. However, the Wii U (while an enjoy console) threatens to return to the cycle of low sales. However, Nintendo's handheld division has been the complete opposite which each handheld selling extremely well with all 3 prior handhelds (GB, GBA, DS) making it into the top 10 best selling dedicated gaming hardware, and the 3DS is currently on track to join them. Ultimately this is why it seems financially intelligent, and a no brainer for Nintendo to focus heavily on handheld gaming rather than consoles gaming. Thus, the birth of the Nintendo Fusion device, and my concept for the device, how it should perform, why and how it works now, and why it's the best move for Nintendo going forward.

The Nintendo Fusion console / device / thingy has been around for about a year now, and personally I was one of the ones to chime in on the concept before it’s fake specs we....revealed. And I still hold true to that to this day. In my opinion the Wii U should be the last tradition Nintendo home console. It’s nothing against Nintendo, but their success by a large percentage comes from their handheld division, and it would be best for Nintendo to focus all their efforts on their handheld market.

Imagine Nintendo putting all their efforts into one device rather than their current one year handheld, one year console strategy which often leaves one feeling a bit left out. With this one device everything will be on that platform and for the first time Nintendo’s audience won’t be alienated between handheld and console, or worse handheld + another manufactures console.

The idea of a fusion console is to have a home console and a handheld. However, that instantly increase the potential price of the device unless the technology doesn’t evolve beyond the current hardware standards (as with GameCube -> Wii). Personally I don’t see the N-fusion (I coined the name) as two devices, but as a Nintendo 4DS so to speak that uses a hub to connect to your HDTV.

http://shawndaborg.com/wp-c...

What makes it a fusion device?
The best, and most creative way to connect the N-Fusion to an HDTV in my opinion is through the charging cradle. Crazy insane, but it works. The charging cradle will function as the hub for the N-Fusion and with the HDMI-out port your connected N-Fusion instantly becomes a home console, meanwhile it's charging and ready for on the go play as well. It's so simple, it's brilliant. However, the charging cradle isn’t going to be a small little square like normal. It’s going to be a decent size, since it needs to house the technology that the handheld simply can’t contain, such as a small fan for cooling, a wifi adapter, a sound card, USB ports, SD card slot, Ethernet port, upscaler chip, and more.

http://ak1.ostkcdn.com/imag...

Mobile Hardware, can it compare?
Hardware isn't really that big of a problem either and thanks to the current mobile technology jump, Nintendo can basically have a handheld Wii U (or potentially better) with the N-Fusion and easily launch it for $199 N-Fusion only / $249 with the cradle (2016 - 2018).

Tegra K1 is the main mobile graphics powerhouse right now, and thanks to real-world benchmarks we finally know graphically it is indeed on par with the PS360 and already capable of matching PSN / XBLA games and early PS360 games (The Orange Box). Technically speaking it's more powerful graphically than the PS360, but its mediocre physics scores, lack of dedicated developers, and it's current CPU hold it back from its true potential.

Here are some graphics benchmark test of Tegra K1 in NVIDA’s new Shield tablet:

Everything you need to believe in the concept of N-Fusion (NVIDIA Shield Tegra K1)
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Half Life 2
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Trine 2 (Tegra K1 vs Xbox 360 vs PS3)
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

More games running on Tegra K1
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

That tablet is out now, and retails for $299. Starting 2015 Tegra K1 should be mainstream, and later that year we should be seeing $199 devices by holiday 2015.

By the end of 2015 Tegra K1 CPU issues should be over, as NVIDIA’s Denver CPU is scheduled to launch then. So holiday 2015 Tegra K1 + Denver devices should be out, it should be mainstream by 2016, and we should see $199 devices by holiday 2016 which fits the N-Fusion perfectly, giving the handheld PS360 level performance for potentially $199 price.

However, it would be best for Nintendo to simply wait 1 - 2 more years for Tegra M1 (Maxwell aka Tegra 6) to launch holiday 2016 - early 2017 as it's scheduled to double the performance of Tegra K1, making 1080p console gaming a complete reality on mobile, and put the N-Fusion on par or even above the Wii U.

N--Fusion $199 (Holiday 2017 / 2018)

Tegra M1
Dual Core Denver CPU
730 GFLOP GPU (really runs like a 550 GFLOP GPU, w/o NVIDIA overhype)
2GB RAM
1GB VRAM

N-Fusion Drama!!!!
But there are still a few of issues standing in the way of N-Fusion that need to be addressed by Nintendo.

The main problem is battery life. The NVIDIA Shield 2 holds up extremely well with it’s battery until you get to it’s main function....gaming. While gaming with console-like quality the Shield 2 battery life is around 2.5 hours, which is unacceptable for a handheld. This is why the cradle is so important, and ultimately why the N-Fusion is treated as a dual platform. But it's not all bad for Nintendo, having smaller dual screens 720p screens, sticking to 720p gaming on the handheld and upscaling to 1080p via the cradle, dimmer screen settings, significantly less running in the background, a better battery, and energy safe design could easily double the battery performance with up to 5 hours on the go while playing demanding games.

Another problem is storage space. Nintendo is mega stingy on included storage space, but thankfully they allow external storage on console (hence the USB ports for the cradle), and SD cards for their handhelds (64GB $30, 128GB $60, 256GB $100, huge storage friendly prices).

Controls. Many will say that the 3DS has good controls. But after playing Super Smash Bros during the Best Buy E3 promo, I can honestly say it just doesn’t stack up to a real controller. When it comes to design controls need to be a heavy focus for Nintendo. Dual analog sticks are a must and as I found out with remote play so are quad shoulder buttons (dual shoulders and dual trigger). It’s as important as possible to emulate a normal controller so handheld gaming is the best it can be, but more importantly, it allows you to use your Wii U game Pad for a home controller ($69.99 as well as a standalone N-Fusion cradle for the same price), and for Nintendo to sell the gamepad separately as an accessory.

http://th02.deviantart.net/...

So it just might be me, but I honestly feel like this is the best direction for Nintendo to go, or maybe just where I hope Nintendo will go. I can’t see any faults in this strategy outside of comparing N-Fusion to say the PlayStation 5 (or PS4 for that matter). But I say to that Nintendo graphics aren't nearly as important to Nintendo fans as it is to other gamers, or else they wouldn't have bought a Wii or Wii U, and they most certainly wouldn't be buying more handhelds than consoles (and for a handheld this performance is great). Outside of raw power in comparison to the competition technically, they’re not giving up the home console space, at the same time they’re focusing completely on their handheld brand (the biggest success for them for generations), the technology is there or soon to be in mobile for this type of change, and the pricing is reasonable for their audience. Let me know what you think, or what flaws you can point out that I may have overlooked in the comments.

[ABizzel1]

Technologically speaking the specs, I came up with are a step ahead of what the Wii U is currently capable of, so just image being able to play games like Mario Kart 8, Bayonetta 2, and Zelda on a handheld looking like this, and running flawlessly.

Mario Kart 8
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Bayonetta 2 (that opening scene look amazing considering the hardware)
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Hyrule Warrios (closet thing we have to Zelda right now)
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Agree / Disagree

[darthv72]

I've been saying for some time that traditional "consoles" are in need of a change. The popularity of mobility that can double as a console when docked to a tv.

In fact...the PSP Go is a very good example of a product with similar capabilities. Yet not many ever gave it a chance. It had a docking station that you could charge the unit as well as connect to the TV. Plus the Go had bluetooth support for a basic sixaxis controller. i know because i have this setup.

Playing PSP games on a TV is nothing new but playing them with a real controller makes all the difference (even with the lack of 2nd analog stick support). the vita would have been a great followup to the ideas of the Go if it too had TV out support. But...oh well.

Now here is an interesting twist. Nintendo could do this, sony HAS done this but MS has been very quiet about any plans on a portable gaming/media device and could actually have something like this in the works.

Like a Surface Gaming Pro edition. Tablet while on the go and game system and media center when plugged in at home. The popularity of simplistic gaming that is touch based would still be present when out and about but plug it into your home theater and boom...game pad and media streaming support and full hd gaming from your couch.

The main things that need to be ironed out are the type of media supported (disc is out of the question but flash memory...perhaps) and of course price and specs.

[ABizzel1]

Thanks for reading and commenting, and I really think this is where Nintendo needs to go. Japan is their biggest market, and mobile completely dominates Japan.

The N-fusion in the way I described it, would have more than enough power to be a handheld / console hybrid, because the handheld has better specs than the Wii.

The concept of simply setting the handheld on a cradle, and gaming with the Wii U Gamepad and still having full handheld functionality on your TV is just perfect for Nintendo.

Then there's no need for splitting their IP's up to home console IP, and handheld IP.

[DonDon]

Great ideas

But...

They would have to find a media storage that can handle large HD games (even blu ray is running out of space).

Maybe the console can have a slot for "smaller" portable games (and backwards compatability with 3ds/ds) while the cradle-dock thingy can actually asle serve as a portable disk reader for REAL next gen 1080p/2k games. This keeps the system being an actual 2-in-1, rather than being a portable with games with budgets that rival next gen.

Just throwing in an idea.

[ABizzel1]

Thanks for pointing that out, and MSBUASTX pointed it out as well.

Storage medium is a big problem especially for HD games. My recommendation would be making games on 8GB SD cards. Nintendo's games shockingly don't consume much storage, so 8GB cards should work for most games. However, there are some drawbacks as always.

1) Problem 1 is that it SD cards potentially opens the system up to hacking, so proprietary code needs to be on the games and cards themselves to help block piracy.

2) Cost. 8GB SD cards can be bought for $5 ($4 for a lot of 100). Buying in massive bulk should help lower this cost even more, but this is still much more expensive than disc considering a single Blu 25GB Blu Ray disc cost $1 ($0.80 for a lot of 100). However, SD card read speeds would be much greater than a Blu Ray disc so there is a benefit, but N-Fusion games would probably have a price hike and cost $40 - $50, which is steep for a handheld, but know this is there console kind of helps swallow that pill.

Overall this probably means that the best route to go is a mostly digital device. As I said in the blog you can buy 64GB ($30), 128GB ($60), and 256GB ($100) SD cards and if these high-end HD games clock in around 8GB a piece (it amazes me Nintendo's games are so small) you can store 8 / 16 / and 32 games on these cards at a time. And again that's why the USB ports are on the cradle so you can save everything to a external HDD, and transfer it games when you want to switch.

The digital future is soon upon us, and as long as storage is ample and affordable (which it is through externals and SD cards) I don't see it becoming that much of a problem, especially considering kids use the app store faithfully on mobile, and this device would have a 2016 - 2018 release date.

[Geekman]

Zelda actually CAN look like that on the Wii U. For whatever reason Nintendo went with the cell shading. Still looks amazing.