Decline PS4 wins the console war against XboxONE, yet it is a hollow victory as Consolesdämmerung is upon us

[MicoSelva]

 

[Tehdagah]

Seems like Nintendo is giving up on consoles (at least partially):

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/07/report-nintendos-nx-is-a-tegra-powered-hdtvportable-hybrid/

As we approach the planned March 2017 launch of Nintendo's still-mysterious NX, a new report adds weight to some earlier rumors that the system will be a standalone portable with the ability to plug into an HDTV.

Eurogamer cites "a number of sources" in reporting that the system will have a built-in screen that is "bookended by two controller sections on either side, which can be attached or detached as required." The brains of the portable system can then reportedly be plugged into "a base unit, or dock station" for display and play on an HDTV.

Eurogamer's sources suggest the system will be powered by Nvidia's mobile-focused Tegra line of processors. Development kits are reportedly built around the Tegra X1, which powers tablets like the Google Pixel C and Nvidia's Shield Android TV console. That kind of hardware should be capable of decent 1080p HD graphics, but it definitely won't be a match for the kind of performance found on the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 (not to mention the upcoming hardware refreshes announced for both of those platforms). On the other hand, the power-sipping Tegra chip should be effective at extending the system's battery life when it's being used as a portable and should help keep costs for the system relatively low.

Eurogamer also echoes earlier reports that the NX will eschew disc-based media in favor of some sort of solid-state "cartridge." While that term brings up nostalgic visions of bulky, plastic-encased ROM chips, it could just as easily refer to some sort of flash memory-based cards, like the DS or Vita. In any case, Nintendo is reportedly recommending 32GB as the standard physical game size, a bit smaller than the 50GB capacity of a standard Blu-ray disc. The system will also reportedly support downloaded games, presumably stored on an SD card (like the 3DS).

The new report lines up with a Wall Street Journal rumor from last year suggesting that the system contains "at least one mobile unit that could either be used in conjunction with the console or taken on the road for separate use." However, it's counter to other rumors saying that Nintendo was looking at an x86 AMD processor as the basis for its new system (though more recent rumors had pointed toward Tegra).

The reported design incorporating two detachable controllers differs quite a bit from a Nintendo patent revealed last year, which incorporated a set of physical controls on top of a rounded touchscreen.

 

[Xor]

Sean Malstrom did what I think is a pretty good analysis of what Nintendo is doing with the NX:

https://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2016/07/26/did-eurogamer-reveal-the-nx-cartridges-hybrid-oh-my/

The big problem Nintendo was facing, aside from rising development costs and needs for handheld and home console, was the global market was being split on the two. In Japan, handhelds were the craze. In the West, home consoles still dominated. According to Game God Iwata, Iwata believed Japan was several years ahead the trend. In other words, if I can seance Iwata’s thoughts into today, he would think that the future trend is handheld, not home console not just for Japan but for the entire world. Japan’s present is the world’s future. Nintendo does not see itself as abandoning the home console. The market has already abandoned the home console, Nintendo is just going to where the future market is. Since Microsoft cannot make a handheld, they will be entirely eliminated from the console market (Microsoft is already making moves to get out of the Xbox). Sony will find it harder and harder to compete as the home console market closes up (as Sony reveals they cannot make a handheld as the PSP and Vita failures show).

The Wii U seemed to be in many ways an attempt to solve the handheld and home console divide… which utterly failed. Did people stick to handhelds and not to home consoles in Japan because home consoles hogged the TV? Wii U tried to fix this. But the problem wasn’t the symptoms but the ground being removed from the home console’s feet.

The Home Console is to Handheld Console today as the Arcade was to the Home Console thirty years ago. The arcades came out first. They were giant. They had to be. As technology improved, the arcade hits found their way into a smaller package of the home console. PONG. Space Invaders. Donkey Kong. You name it. With the handheld, we are seeing a similar migration of home console hits move over. Nintendo putting Donkey Kong Country Returns and Hyrule Warriors on the 3DS told me where this was going.

Nintendo is Japan orientated. Japan is handheld focused. Therefore, Nintendo will be handheld focused. Handheld is the future in large part due to that is where the technology revolution is occurring. The gap between handheld and home console is rapidly diminishing.

Nintendo thinks way ahead. Nintendo is not going handheld because ‘it cannot compete with Sony’. The market is moving handheld only. It is Sony who cannot compete with Nintendo in the handheld space (two failed handhelds). Generation 10 or 11 could be seeing the PlayStation becoming mobile too. Generation 12 would then be a Nintendo Monopoly of the console space.

The smartphones/tablets would be to the NX as PCs are to the homeconsoles today. Iwata agreed with this line of thinking BTW as well.

 

[Jaesun]

So hand held units will be the future of consoles? I just can't really see that, but who knows.

 

[Hobo Elf]

It's full of shit and wishful thinking. The only reason handhelds dominate in Japan is because the only time the average Japanese person has time to consume pop entertainment is when they are commuting, and using a console isn't really possible in a situation like that. Unless the west goes full hive-mind like Japan and we give up all our free time for nothing in return, consoles and PCs will always be the dominant force in gaming, not handheld devices.

 

[The Decline]

So is the NX going to be less powerful than the WiiU?

 

[DosBuster]

So is the NX going to be less powerful than the WiiU?

No.

 

[Siobhan]

One thing I don't understand: the idea with a portable + TV-dock only makes sense if the dock has some extra hardware that guarantees decent performance at 1080p (whereas the handheld can run in 720p, doesn't matter on a small display). But a Tegra is already top of the line for ARM, no? So what could the dock possibly add over a simple screencast feature or an HDMI cord with MHL? Putting a more powerful x86 CPU in there is impossible, but maybe a proper nvidia GPU with a few gigs of dedicated video ram for AA and some other post-processing effects that do not hit the CPU?

In all other respects it looks like a sound business plan to me. Unifying handheld and console means that Nintendo no longer has to split its resources between two platforms, which is very important given their tradition of lackluster 3rd party support since the N64. Their core audience of children, pre-teens, casuals and retro gamers is better served with a handheld than a console anyways, in particular if they throw in some augmented reality stuff. Add the dock for local multiplayer with the whole family and some limited support for cross-platform titles, and you've got a package that should work for anybody who doesn't fetishize AAA.

 

[Great Deceiver]

I don't think it's going to be fully portable like say a 3DS, I would expect something more akin to a WiiU pad screen size (i.e. tablet). I think they'll still maintain a fully portable line.

Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but hey, I'm an old guy and Nintendo hasn't made sense to me since the Wii. But I respect them for developing games that run at 60fps during these shit fucking times.

 

[Higher Animal]

Nintendo leaving the home console market is not so much visionary as it is logically reactive. There is no need for home consoles in 2016. Nintendo has a lot of good tech development IQ which I would expect they pour into augmented reality toy-game experiments. Aug might be twenty years away, but I can see Nintendo facilitating a lot of good early prototypes. (I mean, Pokemon Go is aug)

Sony, at this point, is IP and brand recognition. They can continue to make all purpose entertainment devices even as that market collapses to mobile. They, Steam, and maybe Samsung will be selling 20 in 1 classic entertainment boxes for a $100 a pop in 20 years, and it will likely be the only way to get a functional dosbox working to play old RPGs.

I thought Microsoft had the best idea this generation with that super processing online system promised with cloud computing servers. I also thought the Kinect was a great piece of camera tech. Microsoft should be doubling down on the whole console business and trying to pump life back into the industry, but they really don't seem interested. I see them in the classic entertainment box business for another five years. After that they do server software.

 

[Makabb]

 

[Hirato]

You should take it back; they clearly sold you one without a controller.

 

[Morgoth]

https://www.engadget.com/2016/08/17/microsoft-aaron-greenberg-qa-project-scorpio-vr/

Seems like MS isn't interested in doing another console after Scorpio. Future Xbox will probably be in the cloud.

 

[A horse of course]

https://www.engadget.com/2016/08/17/microsoft-aaron-greenberg-qa-project-scorpio-vr/

Seems like MS isn't interested in doing another console after Scorpio. Future Xbox will probably be in the cloud.

They said the exact same thing about Xbox One

 

[Morgoth]

Who cares anyway. Games on average just become shittier. VR will just make the shittiness appear more immersive.

 

[Makabb]

Two New PS4 Models to Be Revealed In September


http://www.gamespot.com/articles/two-new-ps4-models-to-be-revealed-in-september-rep/1100-6442858/

 

[Black]

http://www.operationsports.com/news/887421/playstation-plus-is-getting-a-10-price-hike/

The price of PlayStation Plus is rising by a Hamilton. Beginning on September 22nd, the yearly fee will increase by $10 — from $49.99 to $59.99.


The new price won’t impact current subscribers until its time for renewal. So, if you’ve been considering PlayStation Plus, it would be cheaper to join this month for the next year at the lower rate. If you’re a subscriber already and would rather not continue with the new price, Sony’s blog recommends you turn off auto-renewal in your account setting by September 22nd.

4 the good goyim.
Imagine paying for your internet access, then paying for being able to play video games online and then when they charge more
And sonyfags will eat dat shit up.

 

[GrainWetski]

It's the dumbest shit ever. Can't blame Sony and Microsoft for taking advantage of all the fucking idiots paying, though.

 

[Tehdagah]

http://www.operationsports.com/news/887421/playstation-plus-is-getting-a-10-price-hike/

The price of PlayStation Plus is rising by a Hamilton. Beginning on September 22nd, the yearly fee will increase by $10 — from $49.99 to $59.99.


The new price won’t impact current subscribers until its time for renewal. So, if you’ve been considering PlayStation Plus, it would be cheaper to join this month for the next year at the lower rate. If you’re a subscriber already and would rather not continue with the new price, Sony’s blog recommends you turn off auto-renewal in your account setting by September 22nd.

4 the good goyim.
Imagine paying for your internet access, then paying for being able to play video games online and then when they charge more
And sonyfags will eat dat shit up.

Also most games have no dedicated servers.

 

[Makabb]

Meanwhile at MS

'Xbox onesie'

 

[Azalin]

I would

 

[tuluse]

Meanwhile at MS

'Xbox onesie'

 

[DramaticPopcorn]

http://www.operationsports.com/news/887421/playstation-plus-is-getting-a-10-price-hike/

The price of PlayStation Plus is rising by a Hamilton. Beginning on September 22nd, the yearly fee will increase by $10 — from $49.99 to $59.99.


The new price won’t impact current subscribers until its time for renewal. So, if you’ve been considering PlayStation Plus, it would be cheaper to join this month for the next year at the lower rate. If you’re a subscriber already and would rather not continue with the new price, Sony’s blog recommends you turn off auto-renewal in your account setting by September 22nd.

4 the good goyim.
Imagine paying for your internet access, then paying for being able to play video games online and then when they charge more
And sonyfags will eat dat shit up.

And here is why...
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2016...pc-dualshock-4-usb-wireless-adaptor-unveiled/

We’re excited to announce that PlayStation Now is making the jump to Windows PC.

 

[Hirato]

 

[Tito Anic]

^
You got me