Nintendoom: Part 3: Specs., Price, and Performance

First and foremost the console has to be more powerful, but most importantly, easy to develop for (something all developers benefit from). The PlayStation 4 is the perfect example of giving developers, the gamer, and the community what they want, and reaping the rewards for it. At $199 - $249 the console can’t be a powerhouse if it launches between 2017 - 2018, but at worst it should be on par with the XBO or PS4. The biggest complaint about the PS4 and XBO are their CPUs, and the most basic decision is to get a better one. The FX 6300 is a 6 core CPU, 2 less than the PS4 and XBO, but each core is easily 2x - 3x as powerful as the cores inside those two consoles. The only downside is it prevents the console from having backwards compatibility with the Wii U.

Now IMO, the Wii U is a failure sales wise, but it had the right idea conceptually for a Nintendo console. However, in order to maintain backwards compatibility Nintendo has to stick with am IBM Power PC CPU. Honestly there’s nothing wrong with the Power PC model, but Nintendo can’t re-use the same GameCube to Wii to Wii U CPU anymore. They have to get a newer model CPU, and ultimately this would have to be the last generation for the Power PC architecture. A Quad-Core Power7 CPU with a 3.0 GHz clock rate (2.5x Wii U’s), more cache, and hyper-threaded should suffice for at least 1 more generation giving Nintendo more than enough CPU power for their games, 3rd party games, and since Nintendo are the only console manufacturer still using Power PC, there’s a slim chance they can work out a beneficial pricing arrangement with IBM.

The GPU selection would be the most important, with performance, price, and TDP at the top of Nintendo’s list. With a good bit of prediction I suspect an R7 550 would be ideal for the console which should offer around 2 TFLOP of performance (probably less) at 60w (basically PS4 performance at less than half the power consumption). Again this is a $199 - $249 console, so performance can’t be top class. But even then that’s a near 6x performance boost over the Wii U’s current GPU, which again is more than enough for Nintendo’s first party games.

RAM would likely be 4GB DDR4 shared and 4GB GDDR5 / GDDR6 / eDRAM dedicated to games. This seems like a lot for graphics RAM, especially for a Nintendo console and expensive, but games are starting to demand a lot more graphics memory, and AMD has generally been more generous when it comes to VRAM than NVIDIA. And as far as price goes, it would probably be a $400+ console being sold at a slight loss if it launched today, but in another 3+ years (2018) $249 is a very likely possibility.

NES7

CPU: 3.0 GHz Power7 CPU or AMD FX 6300
GPU: R7 550 (1.5 TFLOPS - 2 TFLOPS)
RAM: 4GB DDR4 + 4GB VRAM
HDD: 500GB
TDP: 60w - 80w

Price: $249
Games: PS4 quality, Nintendo charm

Finally the “4DS” specs. should pound for pound be the same as a high-end 2014 / early 2015 smartphone. The 4DS should be launching in 1 or 2 years (2016 / 2017), and the best phones from last year still sell for $500 unlocked (which is the price you have to use to configure the retail price of the 4DS). In 2 years time that price should drop down to $300 or less since mobile technology has advanced significantly over the last few years, and will continue, until battery life can no longer keep up.

The specs of a 2014 phone in 2017 seems very underwhelming, but again Nintendo focuses on art-design, and bringing the most out of the hardware they have. To this day, no mobile developer has pushed the specs of these phones to their limit, which is something Nintendo would do with the same hardware. On top of that the specs would still be a big upgrade from the 3DS.

Current Android based smart phones (off the shelf) generally feature ARM Cortex A15 or ARM Cortex-A57 Quad-Core mobile CPUs. While not as powerful as a contemporary desktop or laptop Quad-Core CPU, these little chips are more than enough to power through most tasks.

These CPUs are generally accompanied by Adreno 330 or 420, two small but might GPUs capable of pumping out 120 - 170 GFLOPS of performance under safe clock rates.

Together with 2GB - 3GB of RAM, a small pool of VRAM (128 MB), 1080p display, 16MP camera, wifi, bluetooth, and more and the 4DS will match any cell phone on todays market. Going back to price this is currently a $500 device (or $300 selling at cost, meaning no real profit margins, but taking all the extra expenses such as marketing), and by 2017 it should still be in the upper $200 - $300 range which is far above the magic $150 price point. This is why some specs will likely be downgraded to fit that price and match needs.

A 720p top screen and lower resolution bottom screen (tradition) are more likely to be used, since most core Nintendo games would more likely be rendered in this quality, and it would save a lot on the display cost. The 16MP camera will most definitely be dropped for something more price friendly such as a 3MP front-facing camera and a 5MP back. Going with an ARM A15 instead of the A57 could also benefit Nintendo since the A15 is currently being discontinued and Nintendo could easily swipe them up at a super low cost right now. Other nips and tucks can be made to ensure the price is as low as possible, which again is a must for Nintendo going forward.

4DS

CPU: ARM Cortex A15 Quad-Core
GPU: AMD Andreno 330 equivalent (120 - 170 GFLOPS)
RAM: 2GB - 3GB RAM + 128MB VRAM
HDD: 8GB SD card
TDP: 5w

Price: $149
Games: PS360 games, 720p lowest possible settings

How does all this boil down into helping Nintendo? Well, once again they now have entry level gaming prices and an easier market to reach because of it. With a $249 console, and a $149 Handheld that’s as little as $400 for the full Nintendo experience, and a much easier sell, then the console itself costing $400. But Nintendo also needs it’s niche, and to me it’s as simple as connecting your 4DS as your controller. The Wii U proved to me that having your own screen in games like Nintendoland can truly be fun, so being able to connect 3 Nintendo 4DS to your your console while the other player uses a revamped Gamepad (1080p screen, smaller size, less fisher price looking), can truly be a unique and brilliant couch co-op gaming experience that is missing from most of today’s games and truly sells family and friend interaction. They could also take a lesson out of Sony’s playbook and allow all eShop games to transfer between the two platforms since allowing all compatible games ranging from NES up to Wii to be playable on both platforms.

Nintendoom: Part 4: Changing the Future
http://n4g.com/blogs/detail...

[ABizzel1]

The NES7 console would be capable of pumping out games with settings at worse on par with XBO, and at best just above PS4, so that's generally PC Mid / High settings 900p - 1080p.

Here’s what a 2014 phone hardware can do with UNOPTIMIZED games, and the bare minimum for the 4DS.

Modern Combat 5 (COD mobile)
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Asphalt 8 (Need for Speed, meets Burnout meets Cruising USA)
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Beach Buggy Racing (a sense of what Mario Kart would surpass)
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Oceanhorn (those wanting to see a Zelda Windwaker style 4DS game)
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Micromon (Pokemon clone)
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Assassin’s Creed: Identity
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Bioshock mobile vs 360 (360 wins, but it still looks acceptable on mobile)
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

And on top of Bioshock there are a ton of games already sold in mobile versions such as Rock Band, the Sims, Civilization, Sim City, EA Sports, Command & Conquer,