Indie developers talk about what they want to see from NX
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 143 Comments
Nintendo first made the NX known last year. Little information has been shared about the system since, though we do know it’s due out in March 2017. Everyone is anxiously awaiting to see what Nintendo has in store because of the lack of details surrounding the system – including many developers.
GamesTM spoke with a few indies in its latest issue for a chat about the NX. The magazine caught up with Black Forest Games co-founder Adrian Goersch, DrinkBox co-founder and CEO Graham Smith, CTO Rebellion co-founder Chris Kingsley, and Zen Studios VP of publishing Mel Kirk.
GamesTM first started out by asking each developer about how they’d like NX to improve upon Wii U as a platform to make games on. Each of them responded with the following:
The Wii U was actually a great platform to develop on. With Guacamelee, having the second screen on the GamePad was a perfect place to put the game’s mini-map, and made the game a great fit for the platform. Having the ability to play games right on the controller itself was an amazing feature for times when someone else in the household was making use of the television. While this was never a problem for Drinkbox, I believe that the limited power of the system made it difficult for some third parties to bring their games from PS4/Xbox One to the Wii U, causing the system to have less than ideal third-party support. – Smith
More: Adrian Goersch, Chris Kingsley, Graham Smith, indie, interview, Mel Kirk, top
Kimishima comments on Nintendo movies, mobile, NX
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Mobile, News, Switch | 107 Comments
A few hours ago, we posted some tidbits from a new Asahi interview with Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima about the company’s movie plans. The outlet’s complete interview has now been translated in full.
We have Kimishima’s complete comments on movies, plus remarks about mobile and NX. Continue on below for the translation, courtesy of GSR.
-You’re currently working to invest your IP in new fields. In April Nintendo sold its stake in the Seattle Mariners; are you putting the income from that to use?
We aren’t looking to make money simply by directly licensing our characters, but we must invest heavily in new areas such as film production going forward. When we’ve finalized that sale, we’d like to use part of the proceeds in these areas.
-By film production, you mean movies?
The most common meaning is films, but there’s a variety of opportunities such as video content. We’re currently talking with a number of partners, and I think we’ll be able to finalize something in the not-too-distant future.
More: interview, Tatsumi Kimishima, top
Rumor: Nvidia Tegra chip to power Nintendo’s NX handheld
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Rumors, Switch | 106 Comments
What we’ve heard thus far about NX – both officially and unofficially – has been about Nintendo’s upcoming console plans. But yesterday, prominent technology news site SemiAccurate published a report with claims pertaining to an NX handheld.
A subscription is required to read SemiAccurate’s full piece. However, we do have a couple of tidbits from the article.
Here’s one excerpt:
It’s new console time again and SemiAccurate brings you news of Nintendo’s NX silicon. If you recall our past guesses were pretty spot on and this time should be the same. You might also recall we made some pretty surprising calls on the console silicon front too, and this one will probably make most of you pick your jaw off the floor.
SemiAccurate goes on to say that the Tegra chip is being implemented in the NX handheld. After losing out on gaming contracts this generation, the Nvidia team was told to secure a console win or “go home.” Nintendo apparently made off well, which has SemiAccurate questioning if this is actually “win” at all for Nvidia. In fact, Nvidia is rumored to be taking a loss with the Nintendo deal after support, software, etc.
It goes without saying, but always take these reports and speculation with a grain of salt.
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Rumor: NX not using x86 architecture, power talk
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Rumors, Switch | 177 Comments
Emily Rogers has posted a brief article regarding the NX’s hardware. You can read it in full here.
Rogers writes that claims of the NX using x86 architecture are false after talking with “seven different people”. Instead, the system is rumored to have “special, custom-made chips and the overall design of the hardware is very modern.” We’ve heard that the NX is using industry leading chips, which is because “they are very modern chips”. But Rogers cautions that “having modern chips doesn’t necessarily mean Nintendo is aiming to create the most powerful hardware on the market.”
NX is supposedly closer to the Xbox One than the PlayStation 4 in terms of pure power. Although comparisons may be difficult given hardware differences, Rogers does not believe that the console “will compete directly with PS4 (Neo) / PS4K in raw power.”
RCMADIAX not moving forward with Project Fist
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in New Nintendo 3DS, News, Switch, Wii U eShop | 0 comments
Back in February, RCMADIAX teased a new project with the tentative title “Project Fist”. It was tentatively slated for Wii U, New 3DS, and NX as a 2018 release.
RCMADIAX has now announced via its Twitter account that Project Fist has been cancelled. The explanation simply states that the indie developer has “decided not to go forward with a project of that size.”
Beta art and details will be released at some point in the future to share what could have been.
— RCMADIAX [+=••] (@rcmadiax) May 10, 2016
More: indie, Project Fist, RCMADIAX
EA will have games on NX “if it makes sense”
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 31 Comments
EA will make games for NX “if it makes sense” for the publisher to do so, according to executive vice president Patrick Soderlund.
In an interview with with BBC, Soderlund had this to say about supporting the new console:
“I personally and the company are huge fans of Nintendo, they’re the reason why I started making games. We’re in constant communication with them and when they come to market something – and if it makes sense for us – we’ll be there.”
Many remember when EA appeared on stage at Nintendo’s E3 2012 media briefing to announce an “unprecedented partnership” between the two sides. That relationship fizzled out soon after the console’s launch. EA’s final Wii U game was Need for Speed: Most Wanted.
More: EA, interview, Patrick Soderlund
GameStop CEO says “Wii U was disappointing to everybody”, NX excitement, mobile talk
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News, Switch, Wii U | 47 Comments
Yesterday, [a]listdaily published a new interview with GameStop CEO Paul Raines. When it came to Nintendo, Raines discussed three topics: Wii U, NX, and mobile.
Regarding Wii U, Raines said that the system “was disappointing to everybody” – Nintendo included. However, he was quick to point out that Nintendo has strong franchises.
Raines’ full comments on Wii U:
“Wii U was disappointing to everybody, including them. They made some bold bets, and maybe some of them didn’t work out. But they have a lot of creativity there. They’re a very innovative group of people, so we never count out Nintendo. Even now it’s incredible how strong some of their IP is—Pokémon, for example. We could have a Pokémon weekend this weekend at GameStop and we would break sales records just because every time they put out a new game they have a very loyal fan base. Super Mario, Zelda, all those IPs have a huge, loyal fan base.”
More: CEO, interview, Paul Raines
Kimishima’s official comments on not selling NX at a loss, importance of software, more
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 79 Comments
Last week, we posted a number of comments from Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima from the company’s investors briefing mainly pertaining to NX. This included questions/answers about the price, the need to have a steady stream of games, and more.
Nintendo has now put up a translation of the investor briefing Q&A. You can find a roundup of the official comments below.
For the fiscal year ending March 2017, projected sales of Wii U hardware is set quite low, due in part to the timing of the launch of NX (development code name for the new-concept dedicated video game system currently under development). During this planning stage, what was the thinking about the effect on the Nintendo 3DS system?
By setting the projected sales of Wii U hardware for the fiscal year to 800,000 units, we do not see that there would be any negative effect on the Nintendo 3DS business. We have major titles for Nintendo 3DS for the fiscal year ending March 2017, as I mentioned in the presentation, and there is a solid lineup of titles. That should greatly contribute to the sale of both the hardware and the software. The positive aspect of lowering the projected sales of Wii U hardware to 800,000 units is that it allows us to focus on the Nintendo 3DS system.
More: Tatsumi Kimishima, top
[Let’s Talk] This week’s big Nintendo news
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Let's Talk, Switch, Wii U | 76 Comments
In just a matter of minutes, Nintendo made major announcements about the NX, the new Zelda game, its E3 2016 plans, and next mobile titles on Wednesday. Now that the dust has settled, it’s take to look back on the news and talk about it all.
Here’s a recap of everything:
– NX: not releasing this holiday as many expected, but will instead launch globally in March 2017; unveiling later this year
– Zelda: the new game is coming to both NX and Wii U; delayed to 2017 for a simultaneous launch on both platforms
– E3 2016: no NX at E3, Zelda will be the only playable title
– Mobile: Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing games coming this fall; the latter will connect “with the world of Animal Crossing for dedicated gaming systems”
Now it’s time to talk about the big news! How’s everyone absorbing the various announcements? I think for me, the most surprising thing is that Zelda is the only playable Nintendo game at E3. We’ve never really seen anything like that before. I do sort of wonder why Paper Mario: Color Splash isn’t going to be there, and we won’t be seeing anything on 3DS which seems slightly odd as well.
Kimishima on 3DS focus plus NX software lineup, profitability, missing the holidays
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Switch | 166 Comments
Nintendo just put up the Q&A portion of its latest investors briefing. An official translation will likely be posted next week, but Cheesemeister has provided a summary for some of the topics discussed.
In what’s been translated, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima touched on how Nintendo will be focusing on 3DS in the near-term. For NX, he touched on the need to build up NX’s software lineup, profitability (what that means for pricing), and how Nintendo will be missing the holiday season. Head past the break for the translation.
Q: It seems the great reduction in the Wii U hardware sales forecast is influenced by the timing of the NX release, but how about 3DS?
A: This fiscal year, the 3DS has big titles as previously presented, and in sufficient quantity. Both hardware and software will make large contributions to sales. Also, while Wii U sales are forecast to drop to 800,000 units, the upside is that we can focus on the 3DS.