It'll probably use Tegra X2 in the main mobile unit, plus another Tegra X2 in the docking station. I'm also imaging that the cartridge port will be some bastardized version of a PCI-E interface for high-bandwidth transfer rates between the games and the CPU/GPU cores. Which could also act as a dumbed-down version of PC SLI when you slap the handheld into the docking station via the cartridge port. All just speculation, but that's the only method I can see as providing a usable boost of power.
It's a nice gesture. I remember fuming when I first heard about the 512MB restricted memory "feature", and I was sorely tempted to buy an R9 390X. But the GTX 970 was still probably the best all-around 1080p card of it's day. I upgraded to a GTX 980 TI since they're so heavily discounted now with the new releases of the 1070 and 1080.
@kazeswen: Exactly! $150 per year for Xbox Live isn't a bad deal at all for offsetting the initial purchase price of a new high-end console. We're talking a hypothetical $12/month for the chance to affordably own a new Scorpio and get all the benefits that come with Xbox Live. So my answer is, yes - I and probably several other people would be more than willing to pay $200 up front and $12/month for Xbox Live with a 3 year contract for a new Scorpio.
The faster cadence will result in a better gaming experience with higher frame rates and graphical fidelity benefiting from the updated technology, that's indisputable. But I think the console retail model will also need to adopt the mobile phone retail model if it intends to move to a similar upgrade pace. That's to say, I shouldn't have to pay $599 for an Xbox Scorpio when it gets released - I should only have to pay $199 for the console, and sign a 3-year contract for Xbox Live with the remaining balance of the console amortized for the remaining period of my contract.
I guess Nintendo execs just can't get it. People only want to carry one smart device - their phone. How many people go into work or into town with their phone in one pocket, and their 3DS in the other? The answer to that is not many at all when you look at the overall smart device user group. And for those people who aren't really in to mobile gaming, that's the purpose that consoles always served. You have the option of buying a powerful, long-term gaming box that can stay in your living room and give you entertainment for years.
There's a very old saying, "The jack of all trades is the master of none". It'll also be true in this case if this hybrid system abomination comes to fruition. Casual users will once again eschew it's mobile gaming aspect for the convenience and comparable capabilities of a smart phone or tablet, as they did with the 3DS (yes, the 3DS only sold 1/3 of the original DS - and the original DS only sold that well because smart devices were in their infancy). And why would a console gamer opt for a system that's less powerful than the existing systems that launched several years ago? Which also happen to be getting a mid-cycle hardware refresh.
The only hope I can see for NX is if it offers the basic functionality of a smart phone. Give people the option to exchange an iPhone or Android for another portable touchscreen device that supports 3rd party apps, texting, and mobile networks. Combine those features with Nintendo exclusive IPs, and you might have a viable product on your hands.
Okay... So the main unit is a portable device - what's the architecture, x86? Because Intel attempted that with Atom and failed miserably. x86 is too power hungry for mobile devices, regardless of FinFET processes. And if they go with ARM why even bother to make console at all? iPhone and Android phones are top of the line already with mobile processing and graphical capability. All Nintendo would have to do is design their proprietary controller to attach to an iPhone/iPad, and a few select brands and models of Androids. If they do that, their potential user base starts off at well over a billion.
But this is Nintendo we're talking about here, so adios to logic and bienvenido to worthless gimmicks.
This is the biggest disappointment since NVidia did their paper launch of the 1080. 40% more performance than the 1080 for twice the price? At the very least, they could have shipped it with HBM2.
Nintendo already attracts casual players with mobile apps. As evidenced by Pokemon Go. They really need to concentrate on the mobile market - not consoles. Pokemon Go doubled Nintendo's value in the space of a week. That only highlights that their philosophy of hardware is nothing but BS, and their true value lies in software IP. Smash Bros, Zelda, Mario, Star Fox, and Pokemon will be as much fun on Xbox, Playstation, iOS, Android, and PC as they are on Nintendo consoles. The only difference is that more people will play them on those other platforms.
A full-fledged Star Wars Jedi Knight game would actually be a system seller for the HTC Vive. I wish someone would hurry up and solve the VR movement issue though. Walking around a room in VR is great and all, but all VR games released for the Vive's motion-tracking capabilities fall into one of these three categories: 1) you are stationary in your current position, and can only move to the extent of the room tracking area for the entire game e.g. Jobs Simulator (more of a demo than a game), 2) you stand on a mobile platform without having to move yourself e.g. Hover Junkers (limits open-world aspect of VR games), or 3) you can move around, but only by teleporting to a new location (breaks immersion).
It's not as easy as simply using an analog stick/trigger to move yourself in VR - it almost always causes motion sickness. Infinadeck is the only solution I've seen so far, but that beast is still in development. Guess VR will continue to be limited to driving/piloting simulation genres for the time being. I just hope we get a platform soon before VR goes the way of the 1990s.
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