nintendo Nintendo making new console and games going multiplatform

[HeadClot]

http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/196303-nintendos-next-console-will-likely-use-x86-amd-chip-just-like-the-xbox-one-and-ps4

After securing both the Xbox One and PS4, it would appear that an AMD SoC will also be powering Nintendo’s next console. Nintendo has been hinting at new hardware for a while now, probably to appease any disgruntled gamers and shareholders over the Wii U’s lackluster impact in the eighth-generation console war — now, Shigeru Miyamoto has confirmed that Nintendo is working on a possible new gaming system, and AMD has confirmed that it’s got another major design win. Are they one and the same thing? Probably.
At a recent conference, AMD’s CFO Devinder Kumar said that the company had two major new design wins. When pushed on the details, he elaborated a little further, “I will say that one is x86 and the other is ARM, and at least one will be beyond gaming, right … They [the customers] are going to announce it and then … you will find out that it is AMD’s APU that is being used in those products.” When he talks about ARM, it’s hard to say if he’s talking about AMD’s 8-core Cortex-A57 server Opteron chip (which is rather boring), or a Project Skybridge SoC with a custom-designed ARM CPU. Hopefully it’s the latter, though that new ARM CPU isn’t due until 2016.

Over the last six months, Nintendo has made a few hints that it was working on some new hardware. Back in May, the company said it was, rather intriguingly, working on a cheaper console for emerging markets. Now, in an interview with Associated Press, Shigeru Miyamoto said, “While we’re busy working on software for the Wii U, we have production lines that are working on ideas for what the next system might be.” In the same interview he said he wants to see Mario lead the way on the next console, likening the bearded plumber to Mickey Mouse.

If Nintendo does indeed go with a conventional x86 CPU/GPU, it will mark the first time, a) Nintendo hasn’t used some kind of crazy, non-conventional hardware, and b) that all of the console makers are using the same architecture. This might seem like a fairly dramatic move, but don’t forget that the last three generations of Nintendo console (the GameCube and later) have used an ATI or AMD GPU, paired with a Power architecture CPU custom designed by IBM. With x86 holding such a dominant position in the gaming market, and IBM mostly getting out of making chips, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Nintendo join the x86 bandwagon.

Of course, there is one other interesting possibility: Given ARM’s dominance in the mobile world, and the fact that almost all of Nintendo’s portables use ARM CPUs… maybe Nintendo’s new console really will go for AMD’s upcoming custom ARM CPU, paired with a beefy GPU.

 

http://gadgets.ndtv.com/games/news/nintendo-nx-game-platform-announced-may-replace-wii-u-console-671451

At the press conference announcing DeNA and Nintendo's partnership, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata put to rest speculation that Nintendo's future is completely mobile. He stated that the company is working on its next piece of gaming hardware codenamed NX.

"Nintendo has decided to deploy its video game business on smart devices, but it is not because we have lost our passion or vision for the business of dedicated video game systems", he said.

"On the contrary, because now we have decided on how we will make use of smart devices, we have come to hold an even stronger passion and vision for the dedicated video game system business than before."

"As proof that Nintendo maintains strong enthusiasm for the dedicated game system business", Iwata adds, "let me confirm that Nintendo is currently developing a dedicated game platform with a brand new concept under the development codename 'NX'."

More information on the new game platform will be announced next year. The prime candidate for a replacement is the Wii U (pictured above), Nintendo's home console that has not been doing as well as the company had anticipated.

Furthermore, both companies outlined their plans to develop a multi-device membership service similar to Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.

"Nintendo and DeNA expect to develop a new core system compatible with a variety of devices including PCs, smartphones and tablets as well as Nintendo's dedicated video game systems, and are to jointly develop a membership service utilising this system, with a launch targeted for the fall of 2015. The companies expect to further enhance their customer relationships through the membership service," reads the press release.

[OWA]

Nintendo need to make a new F-Zero game.

[HeadClot]

Nintendo need to make a new F-Zero game.

 

They really do

[Jerad2142]

My only question is, will Nintendo finally make a console more powerful than my laptop with integrated graphics? Or do they plan to forever stick to their cartoony graphics?

[Killing_You]

I do hope that they stick to their art style. It really sticks out from the rest on the games in a good way.

[OWA]

Nintendo's games actually look like games to be honest.

[Enduar]

Because they're not trying to be ~*~Cinematic~*~

[Killing_You]

Not that Cinematic is a bad thing, but it's nice to have an escape every now and then.