Massive leak reveals new information on the Nintendo NX

[Shawn Knight]

Nintendo itself has said that its upcoming NX console would be unique and different. Earlier leaks and patent applications have provided some direction but the latest exclusive from EuroGamer seemingly lets the entire cat out of the bag (and it’s quite a unique cat).

Multiple sources tell the publication that the NX is a fully portable console with a centrally-located screen and controls on either side (think Sega Game Gear). What’s unique here is that the two end controllers can be detached from the system. While at home, the whole assembly connects to your television via a docking station.

As has been previously rumored, the NX is said to use game cartridges as its physical media. Nintendo has reportedly recommended carts as large as 32GB which, in today’s world of gaming, isn’t all that much. Could Nintendo be repeating its past mistake (the Nintendo 64 used physical carts at a time when everyone else had moved on to discs)?

That said, digital downloads are also expected to be a thing so the system won’t lean entirely on cartridges.

Given the major shift in strategy, the NX isn’t expected to be backward compatible with existing platforms. The latest report also clarifies that the system will run a new operating system from Nintendo, not a fork of Android.

Curiously enough, sources say the system will be powered by Nvidia’s Tegra mobile processor. That’s not entirely surprising considering its mobile-first approach although predictably, it’ll limit the console’s overall graphical processing power at a time when Sony and Microsoft are prepping 4K-compatible, VR-ready systems.

Nvidia's X1 has been available for some time now but as EuroGamer notes, it could simply be a placeholder for the X2. From what they've heard, the X1 in the current iteration of the NX is actively cooled with audible fan noise which doesn't seem like a great recipe for a mobile console.

Amittedly, we don't know very much about the X2 at this point (this document pretty much covers everything). If Nintendo were to use an X2 and the same Pascal architecture from Nvidia's new GPUs, it could be a surprisingly powerful combination that'd be quite efficient thanks to the 16-nanometer FinFET process. Underclocking the combo could further result in efficiency boosts, critical for a mobile machine that relies entirely on battery power.

Again, going head-to-head with Neo and Project Scorpion isn't Nintendo's goal. Purposefully sacrificing power in the name of portability is, well, the name of the game.

Sources say Nintendo is planning to unveil the NX this September ahead of its announced March 2017 launch.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/65725-massive-leak-reveals-new-information-nintendo-nx.html

 

[robb213]

Could Nintendo be repeating its past mistake (the Nintendo 64 used physical carts at a time when everyone else had moved on to discs)?

I wouldn't call it a mistake back then. The N64 sold well last I recall, and it had a lot of good selling and hit titles compared to the PSX. So it seems like a null point.

The mistake this time could be the cost to produce the cartridges. I assume they're being specially made for Nintendo? I mean cartridges, of that size, don't strike me as being very common at all. And it'll be interesting to see how the product fits the market between mobile phones, more efficient laptops, and the other Nintendo handhelds.

 

[Patrick Laramee]

Could Nintendo be repeating its past mistake (the Nintendo 64 used physical carts at a time when everyone else had moved on to discs)?

I wouldn't call it a mistake back then. The N64 sold well last I recall, and it had a lot of good selling and hit titles compared to the PSX. So it seems like a null point.

The mistake this time could be the cost to produce the cartridges. I assume they're being specially made for Nintendo? I mean cartridges, of that size, don't strike me as being very common at all. And it'll be interesting to see how the product fits the market between mobile phones, more efficient laptops, and the other Nintendo handhelds.

Could the "Cartridge" be an SD card ?

 

[Puiu]

If it's like this then it pretty much failed before it even launched.
If people want mobile games they'll just use the phone. Nobody is going to carry a large, tablet like, console with them.

 

[psycros]

If it's like this then it pretty much failed before it even launched.
If people want mobile games they'll just use the phone. Nobody is going to carry a large, tablet like, console with them.

Right, because you never see kids carrying tablets around in public everywhere.

/facepalm

 

[oldikes]

I really want to like Nintendo products but they make it so hard

 

[Kibaruk]

If it's like this then it pretty much failed before it even launched.
If people want mobile games they'll just use the phone. Nobody is going to carry a large, tablet like, console with them.

Not sure if you were being sarcastic, if not then you dropped the ball, a lot of people actually do that.

Could Nintendo be repeating its past mistake (the Nintendo 64 used physical carts at a time when everyone else had moved on to discs)?

Oh yeah, the loading time of discs was awesome... I would stay with cartridges all the way. When bought a PS2 and got that KoF game, the load time for each game was awful to the point I didn't even want to game on it. The screen changes in PSX where really bad if you compared it to the seamless transition the N64 had. Also they could receive some beating, remember how bad it was to drop one of those disks back then? Sure... disks are cheaper but... disks are cheaper.

I loved to play on the Wii with the family and friends, it's a great machine with that purpose in mind but, lack of blockbusters besides the usual suspects is a bit tough on the console, and at the same time it will be backed by it's loyal fanbase.

 

[J spot]

I've always been a fan of cartridge base systems. I remember that the PS1 killed my "drive" to play with loading time. But that’s not really the reason, I'm just an efficiency freak, and the extra storage led to somewhat spoiled programming. Much less need to use the hardware in a much more creative manner, since they can always just use up more memory. Look at this 4 kilobyte video

from 2008. Better yet, download the file and run it. It's amazing.

 

[J spot]

Here' the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlRoOqRs0bs

 

[HonestTony]

I have bought every Nintendo system since the SNES. But this time it seems I will not be supporting the NX system. I was hoping Nintendo would of made the NX on par with the Sony PS4 Neo and or the upcoming Microsoft's Scorpio game system. Using 32 GB cartridges and using a Nvidia Tegra CPU will cripple the graphics compared to the before mentioned systems. I am sure that many like myself have lost hope with Nintendo. Sony and Microsoft I am sure are super happy the NX may not be a threat to them or their upcoming game console's. I will save my money and invest in a Microsoft Scorpio game console instead. Sorry Nintendo but this is my sad good bye to you as a former customer.

 

[ManuelV]

It looks like nintendo wants to survive with mario games since they keep making plattaforms unfriendly with the major videogame franchises. Someone should make miyamoto play some call of duty and gta.

 

[HonestTony]

I have bought every Nintendo system since the SNES. But this time it seems I will not be supporting the NX system. I was hoping Nintendo would of made the NX on par with the Sony PS4 Neo and or the upcoming Microsoft's Scorpio game system. Using 32 GB cartridges and using a Nvidia Tegra CPU will cripple the graphics compared to the before mentioned systems. I am sure that many like myself have lost hope with Nintendo. Sony and Microsoft I am sure are super happy the NX may not be a threat to them or their upcoming game console's. I will save my money and invest in a Microsoft Scorpio game console instead. Sorry Nintendo but this is my sad good bye to you as a former customer. I have a strong feeling this will be Nintendo's last attempt at building hardware for video games. Sadly,

Nintendo may become a full software company for cell phones.

 

[darkzelda]

If this is the actual console, I'm really sorry, but I'll pass, I really love Nintendo Games, but they make it really hard for me to buy their consoles.

 

[risc32]

Does this docking station contain some graphical horsepower?
yeah, lame. too bad. that title shot does show about the only thing nintendo has going for it. well, mario and link, the others, not so much. shame I have to buy a new console every few yrs just to get another mario/link game.

 

[Tekkaraiden]

Well considering how accurate sources have been so far I'm just going to wait and see.

 

[gamerk2]

As I expected, it's a tablet. Nintendo is basically killing off their console line, and going full mobile now.

 

[Emexrulsier]

Remember these are leaks and to be taken with a pinch of salt. For all we know they may use the X2 in a quad sli configuration that plays 8K resolution @ 250Hz whilst also beaming the images directly into the brain so no need for a tv! Also 32Gb cartridges, yes thats smaller that a bluray but still ample for some great graphical games. The wii u uses proprietary 25Gb discs and that could play great games so an extra 7Gb could add a lot to that. The problem you find now is that many game developers have become lazy, they dont need to worry about optimising game content cause they have an abundant amount of storage space. Just because games like GTAV are 50Gb on the PS4 doesn't mean it couldnt have been halve that size if they wanted to. I will try and find a game I used to have, the compressed file was about 100kb big, uncompressed it was around 4Gb with full music and graphics just an example of what can be done.

 

[Nesmaniac]

I don't like the idea of combining home console with handheld because basically it just cripples both from doing what they can do best in one way or another. It cripples the home console the most because it will have to be very lightweight & operate on low power (and most likely be ugly with detachable controllers) so these are obvious. With the handheld it will be a bit more cumbersome to carry around no matter how you cut it with spots for detachable controllers and such. Nintendo just over complicates things instead of giving us what we want. They will spend all this money developing a hybrid system & end up with most of the cost in research & tech which would be much better spent on a traditional console with great controller & great game library. I'd love to see Nintendo simply make a PS4 level power console with a cool look, great controller, an accomplishment system of some sort (possibly based off stickers or stamps with albums that the world can see) & launch with a great Mario game alongside the new Zelda. All this built in screen stuff for a home console has run it's course with the Wii U (which I have had since day one and enjoy overall) but it's time to give Nintendo fans what they want not try to reshape gaming in some bizarre way.

 

[Mavrickx888]

If it's like this then it pretty much failed before it even launched.
If people want mobile games they'll just use the phone. Nobody is going to carry a large, tablet like, console with them.

Not sure if you were being sarcastic, if not then you dropped the ball, a lot of people actually do that.

I think his point is more to the tune of proprietary/purpose-built devices. From what I've seen, yes it's true that a ton of people carry around tablets and similar devices, but they are not purpose built devices (ie. strictly for gaming). They carry around Android or iOS based devices that fill a multitude of roles which also happens to include gaming. With that being said, I own a 3ds and I do like it. However, I don't carry it around with me because it's just too damned big and useless for anything other than playing 3ds games on it. I do, however, have emulators and the like on my phone which I spend much more time on than my 3ds. It's just simply more convenient and doesn't require me to carry around multiple devices.

What I don't understand is despite dwindling sales nearly across the board for their proprietary mobile consoles for the passed 5 years (http://www.statista.com/statistics/276768/global-unit-sales-of-video-game-consoles/) and the astronomical rise of the mobile gaming market, why does Nintendo insist on making more consoles - especially mobile ones? Why not focus more attention to the pure software side of the company, since most of their staying power appears to reside with their big IPs like Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, etc? You'd think with smash hits like PokemonGo (Yes I know, Nintendo didn't make it nor profit from it in any spectacular fashion) would prompt them to take a more serious look at it, but it appears to me they're content with seemingly letting the rest of the world pass them by.

 

[mbrowne5061]

Honestly, I think they're right to ignore 4K gaming this time around. 4K TVs are still too expensive, and will be for another 5yrs. Once 4K is actually the standard, and everyone has one - like 1080p really only just became in the last couple of years -then I think Nintendo will go for a 4K console.

In the mean time, the this seems... interesting. Not sure if it will catch on, but I suspect that if it does, it will do so at the expensive of Nintendo's future handheld-dedicated devices.

 

[Forebode]

I will try and find a game I used to have, the compressed file was about 100kb big, uncompressed it was around 4Gb with full music and graphics just an example of what can be done.

please do.

 

[robb213]

Could the "Cartridge" be an SD card ?

I have no clue at all. Being a modern gaming device, I assume you'll be able to view photos, play music, and so forth. It'd make sense that they go with an SD card, but since "cartridge" has been tossed around a bit, I have my doubts it'll be an SD card or else that would've been said perhaps. I wouldn't be shocked to see them create a new form factor for the device.

 

[Emexrulsier]

please do.

Though I couldn't find the game I remember, linked is an example of what can be done with just 64Kb of data. Something other software developers are doing but with Gbs. Please note to run in high resolutions you do need a pretty beefy pc (which maybe the reason technics like this aren't used as they would only be available to high end users)

https://files.scene.org/view/parties/2014/revision14/intro_pc64k/hg_the_timeless_final.zip

 

[Forebode]

Though I couldn't find the game I remember, linked is an example of what can be done with just 64Kb of data. Something other software developers are doing but with Gbs. Please note to run in high resolutions you do need a pretty beefy pc (which maybe the reason technics like this aren't used as they would only be available to high end users)

https://files.scene.org/view/parties/2014/revision14/intro_pc64k/hg_the_timeless_final.zip

Doesn't this contradict the capabilities of the NX? So you can compress the game. Are you implying it would decompress it as needed from the media (requiring power just for decompression)? Or would it decompress to install it to the system (either requiring power or just a lot of time)?

 

[JWSViper]

Could Nintendo be repeating its past mistake (the Nintendo 64 used physical carts at a time when everyone else had moved on to discs)?

I wouldn't call it a mistake back then. The N64 sold well last I recall, and it had a lot of good selling and hit titles compared to the PSX. So it seems like a null point.

The mistake this time could be the cost to produce the cartridges. I assume they're being specially made for Nintendo? I mean cartridges, of that size, don't strike me as being very common at all. And it'll be interesting to see how the product fits the market between mobile phones, more efficient laptops, and the other Nintendo handhelds.

Could the "Cartridge" be an SD card ?

EXACTLY!!!! Could be a thumb drive too. USB 3.0 is quite fast for data transfer!