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Nintendo NX said to be a portable with detachable controllers

by Mark Tyson on 27 July 2016, 12:31

Tags: Nintendo (TYO:7974), NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qac4zd

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Details about Nintendo's mysterious upcoming next gen console continue to ebb and flow over the internet news wires. In a recent report EuroGamer says that some key details about the Nintendo NX have been confirmed by several sources, giving us a clearer picture of this upcoming entertainment machine.

The Nintendo NX will be "a portable, handheld console with detachable controllers," according to the gaming news site. Expanding upon this base description, it says that while on the move the NX will work as a high powered handheld console, like a tablet but with dedicated controllers. The "twist" is that the "screen is bookended by two controller sections on either side," which work in detached or attached positions as the user wishes.

Nintendo is reckoned to imagine the usage of its NX console as follows;

  • Outside or simply away from your big screen TV you use the NX as a gaming tablet.
  • You can stand it up with a kickstand and detach the controllers for comfort or competitive play if you wish.
  • At home you can easily connect the NX to your big TV using a dock which will presumably have a dedicated video cable and power charging functionality if not more functionality.

It's been quite a long time since we looked at Nintendo NX rumours and the latest complementary info to the above, as relayed by EuroGamer is as follows:

  • The Nintendo NX will use games 'cartridges' up to 32GB in capacity
  • Downloads will be supported but Nintendo likes to sell physical cart-based games
  • The NX will use a new OS, not related to Android, and won't be backwards compatible with any Wii gaming gems.
  • Nintendo isn't aiming to beat PS4/Xbox One on power and graphics but think its portability and fun factor will triumph.
  • Current Nintendo NX development kits are said to be powered by the Nvidia Tegra X1 chip, as found in the Shield Android TV console and the Google Pixel C tablet.

If you are eager for more info, especially official info from Nintendo, it isn't long until September when some say that the NX will be first unveiled to the public. Officially the console is said to "launch in March 2017," so the September event, if it is genuinely scheduled, might not reveal much.

HEXUS Forums :: 12 Comments

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Posted by Nifl - Wed 27 Jul 2016 13:54
Looks like Nvidia found someone to buy their Tegra chips that nobody else wants. The other aspects also don't sound very promising. Guess Nintendo will stay irrelevant for another console generation, if the leaks are accurate.
Posted by Kato-2 - Wed 27 Jul 2016 13:58
Pretty much derived from the Nvidia Shield concept.

Shield was different iterations of the chipset but because of that the software base wasnt 100% compatible, Nintendo's path is same base hardware but in modular form so it can be a handheld or use a dock for TV. Would also explain the rumors a while back Nintendo were considering an Android fork but wisely avoided that.

Nvidia will probably try and help Nintendo especially when it comes to the back end software development, maybe for once Nintendo might get some third party ports of games.
Posted by outwar6010 - Wed 27 Jul 2016 14:41
Another nintendo console that I'm going to give a miss.
Posted by chj - Wed 27 Jul 2016 15:34
Doesn't the snapdragon 820 stack up to the Nvidia Tegra X1? I know os will have a big impact but still seems a bit lacklustre.
Posted by nobodyspecial - Wed 27 Jul 2016 15:48
Since it's running tegra probably (and a 14nm version of X1 would be very potent), they should make it dual boot or something to be able to play all of the tegrazone games out of the box and be sure to make streaming from NV PC gpus part of the package. That isn't to say their games need to be on android (they can be completely incompatible), just that you should want to access at least tegrazone games if not all of googleplay's library which would be a massive library that people could use until 100's of games get out for their own device. A 14nm X1 with GDDR5x or something should easily be able to upscale it's own games to 1080p on a TV if desired. They're probably not going to look as good as xbox1/ps4, but this isn't aimed at that market. It's a handheld/tablet first, tv device second. Going with tegra also means if any game doesn't sell well (of their own IP), they can always port it to android for a massive market to pitch it to quite easily later in the device's cycle.

Personally, I'm uninterested if it can't play tegrazone or googleplay stuff speaking as someone passing on current consoles because PC has almost everything anyway (I want the android side and PC gpu streaming to tv). More and more games will be coming based on unreal4/unity5 etc for that platform (already many I want to play even without those engines now) and I'm not going to pass on those. Sony/Msft went x86 for easier porting to/from another large platform. Nintendo should do the same with android since they went that way with an ARM chip. It doesn't have to run everything over there, but it should run the best titles or ones that are specifically aimed at tegra optimizations at least. Android has a lot of unique content and really good prices compared to the $60 stuff on regular consoles. I'm done with those as a PC owner, and for my 2nd platform I'd rather have fun over graphics since a 14nm tegra can already blow away an xbox 360/ps3 level game for my tv for years to come. That's the best part of android IMHO. They don't have ps4/xbox1 graphics to wow you with (yet), so they have to concentrate on making a game really FUN. I'm not saying there aren't great experiences elsewhere (I love PC games…LOL), just that due to graphics limitations on android still, addictive gameplay has to come FIRST. If shield rev2 comes soon with a 14nm/10nm version (hopefully in a box the size of xbox1 at ~85w, GDDR5x etc), I'm all in and I'll pretty much go NV on the gpu next also if that's the case. Vega better hit soon and be high perf, great watts/heat. Price isn't important to me as long as it wins and is ballpark NV price.

If this thing is coming mar2017 or later it could be 10nm. That would be impressive. TSMC/Samsung say 10nm production in 2016 (wow), so if I was Nintendo I'd delay for that chip. That would be a massive power/perf increase over AndroidTV (20nm X1). I hope NV does this too for AndroidTV rev2.

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