NX: Tezuka Says Nintendo Wants To Create Something “In Sync With The Times”

The one little thing Tezuka said about the NX seems to be interesting. This might be good news for the NX.

NX: Tezuka Says Nintendo Wants To Create Something “In Sync With The Times”

Bloomberg recently had the opportunity to meet up with Nintendo game designer Takashi Tezuka to talk about Nintendo’s mascot, Mario. Obviously the publication couldn't help but ask about the company’s forthcoming NX platform. Tezuka wouldn’t say anything, but he did mention that they’re creating something that is in sync with the times. I’m afraid that’s all they managed to get out of him on the subject of NX.

“We feel quite strongly about creating things that are in sync with the times,” he said with a smile

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-12-21/modernizing-super-mario-how-nintendo-has-reinvented-its-star

So microtransactions, DLC, season passes, and half-baked games?

@Gaming-Planet: I hope not but they are already doing DLC. Microtransactions and season passes need to go away. If a game is half-baked just add DLC like Splatoon or delay the game.

this is going to be interesting.

lol we can only hope not. But as far as power goes, the system should be the market leader on that front to assure 3rd party support going forward.

Indeed, OR at least make the system upgradeable. Sony is already doing it with the PS VR extra processing unit.

Right away I was thinking, "So they're gonna make a smartphone thing with no buttons..."

Is it bad that whenever I think of what qualifies as being a technological advancement these days, it always seems like a downgrade to me?

Why does this even need to be stated? Is Nintendo actively trying to remain stuck in the past?

The NX is simply going to be a VR system. Then again those controller patents make me think maybe it's a portable and system in one.

I don't think they'll do a VR system again (Virtual Boy). The stuff from the controller patents might actually happen.

If that happens, well it will be One Step Closer (as put by Linkin Park) to a "modern" Nintendo everyone wants.

That's a rhetorical question, right?

The first is, the second is half/half.

I'm not sure what to take from this. Hopefully he means that it will be a powerful system with the same architecture that gets the lazy 3rd party to their new console.

I think if the NX is a portable/home console hybrid it will solve a lot of the problems Nintendo has been having. It will not need to be exceedingly powerful to get lots of gamers to buy it, or get 3rd party developers on board if it resembles one of Nintendo's handheld consoles. The NX will not need to be as powerful as the Xbox One if it is as competent as the 3DS, and can dock to the TV. If the NX is as powerful as the Xbox One that will be a bonus. If the NX is a hybrid, Nintendo's fan-base will be in in sync, and the game development will be in sync for everyone. Price point and marketing will still matter, and games will still matter. There will be no need to worry about first party exclusives because Nintendo does that well. It would be nice to have as many 3rd party developers as possible, but if NX only gets the same amount of support that the 3DS gets they will be fine. If the NX is priced right Microsoft and Sony fans will probably buy it too to have all of their bases covered. The Supplemental Computing Device (SCD) concept sounds almost too good to be true, and it would be a another Wii level history-making event if Nintendo actually pulled it off. The official statements Nintendo has made and the patents they have filed made me feel like they have looked at the problems and are fixing them.

Nintendo in sync with the times? They have not tried that since the Super Nintendo. It would seem that the SNES CD ROM add on debacle has scarred Nintendo more than anyone considered. The Nintendo NX is unlikely to be up to date with the times, 2016 or whenever the NX debuts it will just be another disappointment.

its a statement that means very little really.

it could mean a PS4 clone.

it could mean nintendo will focus more an mobile app style development instead of big titles like xenoblade or 3d mario platformers.

it could mean they will go the x86 route or they could be using beefed up mobile hardware for their next console.

so they used words to say nothing.....nintendo really do know how to keep things hidden.

NX needs to be at least a bit beyond PS4 in terms of power. If it's only on par with XBone, it'll have a tougher time.

Nintendo isn't going to get 3rd party devs and gamers excited about NX in 2016 or 2017 with something equal to XBone,

Once NX launches, it'll have just a couple of years on the market before the next Xbox and PS5 are out (in 2018 or 2019).

Eh, I won't pass judgement or even speculate based on PR speak.

@scrollinglayers: You're only assuming that the successor to the PS4 and XBO are coming out that soon, though. I mean idk, I feel like last gen most people liked being able to not have to rush out and buy a brand new system for 10 years. Sony and Microsoft could easily release some VR headset in a few years and extend the life of their consoles that way, if they need to do that to draw more interest in the existing systems.

I guess I don't know what changed, maybe it's that I'm older? But it seems like 5 years is way too short for the life of a game system anymore. Maybe it wouldn't be if developers were still making a wide variety of original, innovative games.

@Ovirew: It's not as if the next Xbox and PS5 are right around the corner, they're not. I personally don't expect 9th gen consoles to launch in the west before November 2019, and the rest of the world until 2020. While there is a chance Microsoft could force the start by launching Xbox One's successor in 2018, the more likely situation is neither Microsoft nor Sony will launch until 2019, which is still 4 years away.

Right around the launch of PS4 and Xbox One in Fall 2013, some of the the biggest third party companies, their CEOs, said they expected this generation to last 5 or 6 years before another generation of consoles would come. EA boss in particular, as well as Ubisoft. And even PlayStation UK boss said it was possible this generation could be a bit shorter than last gen. Also, in 2014 and this year, we've heard AMD's brass say they are working to win semi-custom chip contracts from Sony and Microsoft in advance of when AMD thinks it would need to have to work on designs for future consoles.

Regarding what consumers and gamers should expect as far as support for the current PS4 and Xbox One, it's probably going to be a total of 10 years. However, as we've seen before, with Xbox 360, PS3 and PS2 before that, 10 years does not mean 10 years without a successor coming out in year 6, 7 or 8.

Again, PS4 and Xbox One came out in 2013, but that doesn't mean, even with a decade of support, there won't be next gen consoles until 2023.

Last gen, PS3 and Xbox 360 went 7 and 8 years, respectively, before new systems came out. I feel that this generation will only be slightly shorter, by about 1 year. So by 2019 or 2020, I'm pretty confident next gen consoles will be launching, with North America and Europe getting them first, Japan and the rest of the world in 2020.

Back to Nintendo and the NX. They have this window during 2016-2017 to reveal and launch the NX, and it probably will be more than one system given that Iwata said the aim of merging their handheld and console R&D divisions was not to make a single game machine but make transferring software/games between handheld and console much, much easier. Lets assume that any and all NX-based hardware gets released between Q4 2016 and Q4 2017. That would give Nintendo more time than Wii U had before Sony and Microsoft launched PS4 and Xbox One. That was only 1 year. Nintendo is likely to have 2 or 3 years this time which is two or three times as much time, before PS5 and Xbox One's successor.

Think everything I'm saying is pretty reasonable given history, as well as the current situation of Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft.

@scrollinglayers: Yeah, I guess I'd have to say you make a good point Scrolling.

I guess maybe I'm just bitter about things. We go through this consistent cycle of releasing systems and following them up, like clockwork, and sometimes I wonder if we - developers, gamers, everyone - appreciate each console and game enough.

2020 is a ways away though, that's true. Four years, lots of life to live until then. Still, it doesn't take long for that amount of time to pass.

Well, there's always the chance that the consoles WILL be obsolete by 2020 and NX will in fact be just a service for Nintendo.

Chances of that are slim to none.

@LauriAJ - There will always be a home console. Yes, the technology has gotten to where you can buy an app based full game. Digital downloading and storage are showing that. The next wave will be mass storage for the console and streaming to the portable and playable on the console. We are seeing that revolution of things now. The Wii U's game pad allows playing off main tv screen, there are times I was sitting in another room and playing a Mario game. The PS Vita is a second controller to the PS4, I can stream my Xbox One games on my Windows Laptop. Microsoft's app games are full video games. I will use Six-Guns and Asphalt 8 as examples. Six-Guns is ever bit as big as Gun and Red Dead Redemption, Asphalt 8 is on the level of Forza Horizon 2 - Fast & Furious.

But home consoles will be different in the future, they will work more like the Modem/Router setup we have now. House the way of portability. Most people use phones, tablets, hand helds and that's how gaming and tech is going.

Oh baby wait & see...so I'll just wait & see. Just hope NX will actually be a great Nintendo console like SNES. :P