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StarTopic Future Nintendo Hardware & Technology Speculation & Discussion |ST| (Read the staff posts before commenting!)

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Concernt said:
No they wouldn't. Disk based consoles have had this "problem" from the start and it's never really been an issue. As long as the branding is clear and they don't cause an electrical fault. I can't say I expect cartridges to change shape at all.
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Yeah, the Game Boy Color route of displaying a message saying your system isn't up to snuff is feasible.
LiC said:
Believing in an early 2024 launch is believing in a holiday 2023 launch that got delayed. And that could be the case, but I don't know why anyone would predict that over the default/normal launch timing that nearly all Nintendo consoles have used.
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Marking the months that have had a launch of one of their major platforms in Japan, there's not much normal. December has only a slight lead over March. Splitting the year into quarters you get 3, 2, 2, 4.
R6ay3hQ.jpg
 
Bosintang said:
Sustainability. An argument which I put above everything else, including the preservation of media and games.
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Today, removing physical videogames would make them noticeably less affordable, as it would strengthen the publishers' control over their pricing.

If it happens, I hope it is after the EU or somebody else breaks the console market's walled gardens and puts competing storefronts and keys on them. Maybe at that point we'd even get rid of the ridiculous extortion that is paid online access
 
JoshuaJSlone said:
Yeah, the Game Boy Color route of displaying a message saying your system isn't up to snuff is feasible.

Marking the months that have had a launch of one of their major platforms in Japan, there's not much normal. December has only a slight lead over March. Splitting the year into quarters you get 3, 2, 2, 4.
R6ay3hQ.jpg
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The Japanese release date is not "the" release date, and in several cases before simultaneous (or even close by) global launches began, the overseas launches were in November/holiday that aren't shown here. The scattered nature of these data points also pretty much goes away if you limit it to systems launched in this millennium.
 
robertman2 said:
The sustainability benefits are extremely small, if not outright nonexistant. (you can tell this by the fact no corporation tries to push digital as being greener!)
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yeah, I'm not totally convinced there's some huge sustainability gap between enormous global data centers that must be kept constantly powered and the myriad small plastic nubbins that fill a drawer in my home.
 
Boxle said:
I'm a little amazed I'm seeing a fairly wide dismissal of Holiday 2023 despite that being both arguably the ideal launch timeframe for a new console, and not having meaningful information to rule out Q4 2023.


FY24 seems likely at this point, but ruling out Q4 2023 and accepting Q1 2024 when we're still in Q1 of 2023 is pretty silly.

Unless this is just one of these "I'm gonna say It's not happening so I'm excited when it does" situations.
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I believe it’s revisionist history at play, “Switch and 3DS launched early of the following year after announcement therefore it means it’ll happen again” line of thinking

However people forget the 3DS and the Switch were delayed out of the time of launch, they were never intended for the February and March release, respectively.

The Wii, the DS, the Wii U, the GCN, released holiday/second half of the year.

GBA was middle of the year (for reasons??)

But 3DS and Switch were early in the year.

Numerous times they’ve aimed for a holiday, and when they don’t hit the holiday it is due to unforeseen circumstances that pushed their hand.

And this weird desire to beat the PS2, obsessive even.
 
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LiC said:
The Japanese release date is not "the" release date, and in several cases before simultaneous (or even close by) global launches began, the overseas launches were in November/holiday that aren't shown here.
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If we change it from Japanese to first-in-the-world, then November gobbles December's dates. Otherwise, I don't think it's very valuable to worry about the old times when North America got more late releases in fall/winter and Europe got more even later releases in spring/summer.
 
Quoted by: LiC
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kvetcha said:
yeah, I'm not totally convinced there's some huge sustainability gap between enormous global data centers that must be kept constantly powered and the myriad small plastic nubbins that fill a drawer in my home.
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The energy required to run the machines and transmit the data from the data centre to your Switch is a tiny, tiny fraction of the energy used to manufacture plastic game cards.

Game Cards aren't single use plastic, there is a finite number that can realistically ever be produced, they're not really "A" problem in the whole climate crisis... But digital definitely uses less energy and is far more amenable to the use of renewable resources.
 
L_esson said:
Is this real? It’s almost never brought up in physical vs. digital discussions
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They're rated for 20 years, actually.

Flash degrades such that you can no longer reliably read the bits encoded. Flash degrades faster if you write to it. Switch carts use a proprietary solution that combines flash with maskrom (Mask lasts as long as the physical media does) which makes it unwritable, which extends the life.
 
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ReddDreadtheLead said:
I believe it’s revisionist history at play, Switch and 3DS launched early of the following year after announcement therefore it means it’ll happen again.

However people forget the 3DS and the Switch were delayed out of the time of launch, they were never intended for the February and March release, respectively.

Numerous times they’ve aimed for a holiday, and when they don’t hit the holiday it is due to unforeseen circumstances that pushed their hand.

And this weird desire to beat the PS2, obsessive even.
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It's easy to beat the PS2.

Simply count Switch [REDACTED] sales as "Switch platform" sales, like they did with GBC.
 
Concernt said:
The energy required to run the machines and transmit the data from the data centre to your Switch is a tiny, tiny fraction of the energy used to manufacture plastic game cards.

Game Cards aren't single use plastic, there is a finite number that can realistically ever be produced, they're not really "A" problem in the whole climate crisis... But digital definitely uses less energy and is far more amenable to the use of renewable resources.
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The game cards get manufactured once. The data centers are online 24/7, whether people are downloading or not.
 
kvetcha said:
The game cards get manufactured once. The data centers are online 24/7, whether people are downloading or not.
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...and whether people buy the Game Card or not.

Nintendo stores their games somewhere, always have, and always will. Letting people access them digitally does not substantially increase the carbon footprint.

The carbon footprint of your Game Card is small, yes, and a data centre's is large, yes, but your Game Card serves 0-1 people, while the data centres serve over 100,000,000. The carbon footprint per user is definitely lower for digital games, and that's before you consider the transport emissions for a game card the size of a cheezit. They could sell them in paper envelopes the size of a matchbox, but they don't, and there's good reasons why they don't, but it definitely isn't carbon neutral.
 
JoshuaJSlone said:
If we change it from Japanese to first-in-the-world, then November gobbles December's dates. Otherwise, I don't think it's very valuable to worry about the old times when North America got more late releases in fall/winter and Europe got more even later releases in spring/summer.
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  • GameCube: September JP + November NA
  • DS: November NA + December JP
  • Wii: November NA + December JP
  • 3DS: Planned before the end of the year,¹ delayed to February JP + March NA
  • Wii U: November NA + December JP
  • Switch: Planned for November,² delayed to March
This is a pretty clear pattern. The only times since 2001 that a new system didn't launch in November, it was planned to, but got delayed. Which (like I said at the start) could happen to the next hardware, but it's still an unlikelier prediction than presuming things go as planned.

¹ "At first we thought it would be desirable to launch the 3DS within the year, so we made our forecasts on that basis. At this point it is clear that if we launch within the year, we will not be able to supply enough units," Nintendo President Satoru Iwata told an analysts' conference.

² See gigaleak slides I've posted before.
 
Dizzle said:
Well if we're getting pedantic, there's likely some kind of auto-scaling setup so resources are tied to traffic.
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No doubt, but it never powers down completely.

Anyway, I guess we're arguing without a lot of data, so it's mostly just shouting.
 
LiC said:
  • GameCube: September JP + November NA
  • DS: November NA + December JP
  • Wii: November NA + December JP
  • 3DS: Planned before the end of the year, delayed to February JP + March NA
  • Wii U: November NA + December JP
  • Switch: Planned for November, delayed to March
This is a pretty clear pattern. The only times since 2001 that a new system didn't launch in November, it was planned to, but got delayed. Which (like I said at the start) could happen to the next hardware, but it's still an unlikelier prediction than presuming things go as planned.
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Since we seem to have evidence production lines are ready, yeah, September to November seems extremely likely.

If they have the parts, which it seems they do, the factory space, which it seems they do, no point in holding out unless they've seriously bungled the software lineup, which I doubt.
 
kvetcha said:
No doubt, but it never powers down completely.

Anyway, I guess we're arguing without a lot of data, so it's mostly just shouting.
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Well, they use servers as a service, so when it's not being used for Nintendo, some other service is using it. Pretty standard practice.

Those games have to sit on harddrives SOMEWHERE anyway, so having them sit on servers isn't really having an impact, energy consumption wise.
 
Concernt said:
Well, they use servers as a service, so when it's not being used for Nintendo, some other service is using it. Pretty standard practice.

Those games have to sit on harddrives SOMEWHERE anyway, so having them sit on servers isn't really having an impact, energy consumption wise.
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I mean, that's like saying you can't count the energy put toward making the plastic for game cards, because those materials would have been made for something else instead.

But I'm fine dropping the topic if you are. 😅
 
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LiC said:
  • GameCube: September JP + November NA
  • DS: November NA + December JP
  • Wii: November NA + December JP
  • 3DS: Planned before the end of the year,¹ delayed to February JP + March NA
  • Wii U: November NA + December JP
  • Switch: Planned for November,² delayed to March
This is a pretty clear pattern. The only times since 2001 that a new system didn't launch in November, it was planned to, but got delayed. Which (like I said at the start) could happen to the next hardware, but it's still an unlikelier prediction than presuming things go as planned.

¹ "At first we thought it would be desirable to launch the 3DS within the year, so we made our forecasts on that basis. At this point it is clear that if we launch within the year, we will not be able to supply enough units," Nintendo President Satoru Iwata told an analysts' conference.

² See gigaleak slides I've posted before.
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And if I remember correctly, it is also said that Switch was delayed due to the lack of games in its launch catalog, having distributed the development kits too late.
 
Dark Cloud said:
Remember when Eurogamer put out a drawing of what the NX looked like in summer 2016?! I think it was Eurogamer who did that. I want that again.
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Yeah and I said I’m not buying that but when Nintendo showed it in October I was blown away then I stayed up all night on the January conference so I could pre-order it
 
Concernt said:
Eh, with Tears of the Kingdom coming out so soon before the next console, and said next console being backwards compatible, Tears of the Kingdom probably WILL be the 3D Zelda for the next Switch for quite some time. As others have mentioned, I'd expect it to yet a graphics patch. Maybe a re-release with all the DLC and the update all on the cartridge some time in 2024.
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Yes but as I've told, it won't be the same. By the time that Switch 2 is on the market, I'll have finished TotK. So... Replaying the game in better conditions won't be as amazing as the first time.

It will be fun however.
 
Eos said:
Yes but as I've told, it won't be the same. By the time that Switch 2 is on the market, I'll have finished TotK. So... Replaying the game in better conditions won't be as amazing as the first time.

It will be fun however.
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I'm sure you'll find reason to play the DLC, or Master Quest, or just a plain ol' replay on the next console. 🧑‍🔬
 
I think I may have mentioned this before but it looks like DLC for late-gen Switch games will play into their strategy for next gen (Xbox One to Xbox Series X|S did this too.)

Splatoon 3, Pokémon ScVi, TOTK, maybe PIKMIN 4, all of these games have their support lifespans stretch beyond what seems to be the launch window for the new Nintendo console. Probably helps to keep them in the spotlight, get people to buy the new console to pick up these games, etc.

Seems smart to me, personally.

A big reason I think this is ScVi and Splatoon 3 both have "wave 2" DLC packs launching "at a later date" with very little clarity on what that date is. Given they were able to give a release date to Legends: Arceus so quickly, I don't think this is because they don't know when it'll be finished, but because those dates might reveal something a little bigger. Otherwise why obfuscate?

Same with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe having its last DLC wave undated other than "by the end of 2023".

I'd say with moderate confidence any games still within their "support" cycle will get next gen patches as part of that support, plus maybe some evergreens like Odyssey and BOTW to sweeten the deal for the new console for existing console owners.

It would form a sort of three pronged approach. You attract new players with all this new content and all the Switch content playable on the device, if they never had a Switch. You bring in players that fell off with sequels, DLC and graphics enhancements for games they already have. You appeal to the hardcore demographic by integrating the marketing of the new device with the release of new content for major games.

4K Inkopolis, yes please!
 
SnowydayUK said:
Wonder if Zelda Wind Waker and Zelda TP are still coming to Switch or next gen switch
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I'd say cross gen next year, after TOTK DLC wraps. 1080p on Switch, 4K60 on Drake. Nothing mind-blowing, just something nice.

Outside of games made with Drake in mind I don't expect DLSS, but most Wii, GCN, N64 games, Drake will have no problem hitting 4K native even with other enhancements, and even Wii U games that hit 1080p on Switch could push 4K on Drake.

Retro games might be about to get a whole lot prettier, given Nintendo has no qualms running any 3D game from a previous console at the highest internal resolution they can get it to go at.
 
i was thinking there is something fishy with Nintendo why would you not go to E3 and Can somebody please help me on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Pre-Release Discussion Thread
 
D36 said:
What's going on in that thread?
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I posted Does anyone know how the Register my interest works on My Nintendo Store I pre- ordered a standard copy on Game Spain so I can change my version to the special edition the day came and Game Spain sent my e-mail out late but they all sold out so I registered my interest with My Nintendo Store Spain
 
SnowydayUK said:
I posted Does anyone know how the Register my interest works on My Nintendo Store I pre- ordered a standard copy on Game Spain so I can change my version to the special edition the day came and Game Spain sent my e-mail out late but they all sold out so I registered my interest with My Nintendo Store Spain
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Oh, I don't really use that store all that often, so I'm not sure how I can help. Sorry 😐
 
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Nintendojitsu said:
I was originally against the idea but it seems like Nintendo is determined to ride out 2023 with remasters and DLC. I wouldn't be surprised if that 'new' Mario Switch bundle replaces the MK8 Deluxe Holiday bundle this year. Any concrete news on new Switch hardware will most likely be after the Holidays.

Essentially, the outlook for Team 2023 is bleak.
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We are just beginning march lol
 
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