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

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GamerJM said:
The more cynical opinion is that the rumor about the digital SKU not having even digital BC is true.....because Nintendo's BC solution is to basically include Switch 1 hardware on board for their physical model. I mean, that's sorta how they've handled BC in the past, right? I don't think they've ever used complex translation layers before.
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If BC is achieved through a physical X1 chip we can forget about enhancement patches or any other goodies. It would run about the same as a regular Switch and it's Joever.
 
ns156 said:
A digital SKU just makes no sense to me. What space is Nintendo saving by not including a tiny card reader? Does the card reader really cost that much to include? Do they want to abandon their toy company philosophy and end up digital only?
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It wouldn't be about the space.
Nor would it be about the cost of a card reader. It'd be about selling a unit where your guaranteed more money from each game purchase, while also laying the seed for a digital-only future which is happening sooner or later.

It's pretty easy to see why a company would want a digital-only SKU.
lemonfresh said:
im curious for digital only users how do you handle the storage space problems do you buy big sd cards or something?
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Personally, I have a 256GB card in my Switch which is more than enough for the few exclusives I buy in a year but I can also just delete and download games.
 
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Hermii said:
Whatever DLSS version was used at Gamescom is not interesting imo.

Drake is just like any other ampere SOC, just customized for lower power consumption. Which means it will support the latest dlss version minus framegen.
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Huh what? I didn't post that comment (that I've since edited out btw cuz I misunderstood ILikeFeet's question) because I thought DLSS 3.5 was interesting part or anything like that?

When I posted that originally (before I edited it out), I thought IAmFeet was asking whether Nate mentioned RR only vs DLSS 3.5. But when I re-read, I understood his question to be more of "was DLSS 3.5 mentioned by Nate, there we're assuming RR is included, or was RR mentioned explicitly by Nate?". Because it's possible for DLSS 3.5 to be supported at the same time as NOT using RR, so I deleted my reply.
 
ItWasMeantToBe19 said:
"near or toward the end of something:"

dictionary.cambridge.org

latter

1. near or towards the end of something: 2. the second of two people, things…
dictionary.cambridge.org dictionary.cambridge.org

What?
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Look at the two definitions, and re-read the latter

Think about two halves of a year. Which part of the year does July 1 fall in? The latter part
 
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ns156 said:
Nintendo is the most traditional of the big three—they see themselves as a toy company, not an entertainment business. The physical model would continue existing right up until digital sales gobble the market (because obviously it is cheaper as an upfront system cost) and then they slowly abandon physical.

But it comes back to the point where we have to realise a cart reader is not costing Nintendo $50, so a digital only model is completely pointless unless it has a better screen or something.
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That part about being a "toy company" seems to be slowly changing, though. Doug Bowser specifically made an statement claiming they're morphing into an entertainment company, so that doesn't really tells us anything. Neither Nintendo or Sony are going to abandon physical until PS7 is right around the corner and at that point it'll be totally justified, Bluray is reaching its limitations regarding storage and manufacturing extremely high capacity cartridges will turn out expensive at that point. Physical is leaving whether you like it or not, but you can be sure it's not fading until then.
 
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Dark Cloud said:
I think Nate’s words hold a lot more water compared to a private video or whatever research people are doing.
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Not that I don't think it'll be h2 2024 but he's been wrong on the release date multiple times before. H2 2024 makes sense but with how unreliable everything to do with when this thing is actually releasing has been, I don't think anyone's word holds water in that regard.
 
ns156 said:
A digital SKU just makes no sense to me. What space is Nintendo saving by not including a tiny card reader? Does the card reader really cost that much to include? Do they want to abandon their toy company philosophy and end up digital only?

I could see an LCD/OLED SKU, or even a more docked like one that has much better cooling to slam up the clocks on the GPU, but digital only?
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Nintendo isn't a "toy" company really anymore, they are transitioning into becoming a global media powerhouse through movies too.

They will be digital only eventually like everyone else because it makes more money for them at the end of the day to not have to share game profits with a retail middle man.
 
Machrider said:
Nintendo isn't a "toy" company really anymore, they are transitioning into becoming a global media powerhouse through movies too.

They will be digital only eventually like everyone else because it makes more money for them at the end of the day to not have to share game profits with a retail middle man.
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Lol, Nintendo better pray they don't have another Wii U situation, because the store advertisements aren't going to save them then.
 
ns156 said:
If BC is achieved through a physical X1 chip we can forget about enhancement patches or any other goodies. It would run about the same as a regular Switch and it's Joever.
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We already know that's not going to be the case, they demo'd an enhanced version of Breath of the Wild for devs
 
Joy-Boy said:
We already know that's not going to be the case, they demo'd an enhanced version of Breath of the Wild for devs
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We don't know any details of that enhanced version—whether it was ported straight to the 2 or if it was BC with enhancements on top.

So we can't say for certain either way what it means.
 
Joy-Boy said:
We already know that's not going to be the case, they demo'd an enhanced version of Breath of the Wild for devs
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That was likely a "native" running version, using features ReDraketed games will have access to, and not BC.
 
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darthdiablo said:
Huh what? I didn't post that comment (that I've since edited out btw cuz I misunderstood ILikeFeet's question) because I thought DLSS 3.5 was interesting part or anything like that?

When I posted that originally (before I edited it out), I thought IAmFeet was asking whether Nate mentioned RR only vs DLSS 3.5. But when I re-read, I understood his question to be more of "was DLSS 3.5 mentioned by Nate, there we're assuming RR is included, or was RR mentioned explicitly by Nate?". Because it's possible for DLSS 3.5 to be supported at the same time as NOT using RR, so I deleted my reply.
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My point was just that whatever Nvidia officially supports on Ampere, will be on Drake to. So there isn't a question wether Drake will have this or that feature.
 
Video games to me stopped being "toys" in the 90s anyway (if not earlier frankly). I don't consider the N64 or Playstation as "toys".

Nintendo's been a video game company, and are now becoming a gaming + entertainment (movies/TV?) company.

If Nintendo was a toy company they'd make the Mario action figures and Mario LEGO stuff themselves, but they're not, that stuff is licensed out to actual toy companies. The only actual toys I'd say they make are Amiibos and that is a tiny part of their business.
 
Dark Cloud said:
Digital only makes a lot of sense because it’s more money for Nintendo. Having no BC in the digital only system makes no damn sense.
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It's also Nintendo adopting to market realities. They still have the largest ratio of physical to digital globally, but even they see the trends in countries like the US and UK where digital has accelerated rapidly. Offering a digital only device for those markets in particular is fairly sensible in 2024.
 
Leo said:
Nintendo will not drop physical media this generation (and not on the next one either, imo). That would alienate a lot of their audience, especially in Japan.
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+1.

I know a successful Nintendo is a foolhardy and greedy one historically, but this would be very bone-headed all in the name of greed.
 
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Leo said:
Nintendo will not drop physical media this generation (and not on the next one either, imo). That would alienate a lot of their audience, especially in Japan.
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Yes they will because a physical Switch 2 would exist. One physical and one digital. This isn’t 2005 anymore or 2012. Kids are growing up with digital all around in their lives.
 
Hermii said:
My point was just that whatever Nvidia officially supports on Ampere, will be on Drake to. So there isn't a question wether Drake will have this or that feature.
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It's still a diver feature that needs support built in to NVN2 and then to Nintendo's GFX library. So not everything should be assumed by default, or at least, it shouldn't have been prior to the confirmation of RR. That confirmation does indicate that Nintendo is interested in keeping up to date with new Nvidia features, but it still shouldn't be taken as an automatic/absolute thing.
 
BassForever said:
It's also Nintendo adopting to market realities. They still have the largest ratio of physical to digital globally, but even they see the trends in countries like the US and UK where digital has accelerated rapidly. Offering a digital only device for those markets in particular is fairly sensible in 2024.
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Ironically enough, Nintendo physical stuff is so popular still (even in these countries), because they're greedy af with online pricing and never giving decent discounts, Physical is just the sensible choice for bang-for-buck (especially in this economy now).

The convenience factor does not outweigh paying 20 quid more per game. Nuts to that.
 
What i don't get is how would Nintendo save money with a digital SKU?

I doubt the costs of that little cart reader part, even when talking about a millions amount, would save them that much.

Though Nintendo could opt for a smaller built-in-storage for the physical SKU compared to digital to hit a notable amount of savings.
 
ns156 said:
Ironically enough, Nintendo physical stuff is so popular still (even in these countries), because they're greedy af with online pricing and never giving decent discounts, Physical is just the sensible choice for bang-for-buck (especially in this economy now).

The convenience factor does not outweigh paying 20 quid more per game. Nuts to that.
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Sure and I'm not denying that. It's partially why Nintendo has both a voucher program and a generous reward program for digital purchases. They can afford to take a bit more of a cut on digital revenue because they still have much stronger physical sales compared to their competitors.

Bonejack said:
What i don't get is how would Nintendo save money with a digital SKU?

I doubt the costs of that little cart reader part, even when talking about a millions amount, would save them that much.

Though Nintendo could opt for a smaller built-in-storage for the physical SKU compared to digital to hit a notable amount of savings.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's trying to save money (unless the rumor of no digital bc on digital only switch 2 is true), I think it's just Nintendo looking at market realities in 2023/2024. There are far more consumers who hold no value for physical then those who hold no value for digital, making a product for that growing market is logical. It feels weird cause normally we view Nintendo as old fashioned and slow to adapt.
 
Machrider said:
Video games to me stopped being "toys" in the 90s anyway (if not earlier frankly). I don't consider the N64 or Playstation as "toys".

Nintendo's been a video game company, and are now becoming a gaming + entertainment (movies/TV?) company.

If Nintendo was a toy company they'd make the Mario action figures and Mario LEGO stuff themselves, but they're not, that stuff is licensed out to actual toy companies. The only actual toys I'd say they make are Amiibos and that is a tiny part of their business.
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It doesn't really matter what you perceive Nintendo as. The Japanese branch has always considered themselves as a toy company, and they base a lot of their decisions on that concept.

Doug Bowser's statements may be the beginning of a change, but ultimately unless NoJ agree then no, still a toy company.
 
BassForever said:
It's also Nintendo adopting to market realities. They still have the largest ratio of physical to digital globally, but even they see the trends in countries like the US and UK where digital has accelerated rapidly. Offering a digital only device for those markets in particular is fairly sensible in 2024.
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Agreed, the issue isn't whether Nintendo wants to stay physical....it's that when a consumers movies, music, playstation, xbox, pc games, and all other media are all digital...why would they stay physical for Nintendo? Especially when it's a handheld so you have your entire library with you on the go.

the physical to digital ratio is high right now for them.....but with everyone else going all digital at a rapid pace, that ratio is going to drop off a cliff
 
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ziggyrivers said:
No, no! I’m asking because everyone is saying and interpreting different stuff about what Nate said concerning the two SKUs bit
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Nate said the 2 SKU’s came by him, but it was from someone he was unfamiliar with. So it’s not like he’s hard on board with it because it wasn’t from his usual sources. He did hear it though from someone
 
BassForever said:
Sure and I'm not denying that. It's partially why Nintendo has both a voucher program and a generous reward program for digital purchases. They can afford to take a bit more of a cut on digital revenue because they still have much stronger physical sales compared to their competitors.
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Their points system sucks IMO. Points expiring after a year is crap if you don't buy often, the points should last indefinitely.
 
Dark Cloud said:
Yes they will because a physical Switch 2 would exist. One physical and one digital. This isn’t 2005 anymore or 2012. Kids are growing up with digital all around in their lives.
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When I said "drop", I meant going exclusively digital, with no option for physical, as it was also speculated. They won't do that.

I could see them offering a digital only SKU, though, but I still think it's more likely the different SKUs are just different storage space options like the Wii U.
 
Leo said:
Nintendo will not drop physical media this generation (and not on the next one either, imo). That would alienate a lot of their audience, especially in Japan.
Click to expand...

I think they will by next gen. This is a lot like the "Nintendo will never use optical discs!" line of reasoning.

Making $10-$15 more per copy of each game sold will be a huge money windfall for them.
 
Hermii said:
My point was just that whatever Nvidia officially supports on Ampere, will be on Drake to. So there isn't a question wether Drake will have this or that feature.
Click to expand...
As I've explained already, I misunderstood IAmFeet's question. I initially thought he didn't realize having RR inherently means 3.5 (you cannot have RR unless you have 3.5 or above, and yes, I'm already aware DLSS version can be bumped, it's not "fixed"). Then I removed my reply when I realized that's not what he was asking, he was asking if RR was specifically mentioned (as opposed to simply mentioning 3.5)
 
Bonejack said:
What i don't get is how would Nintendo save money with a digital SKU?

I doubt the costs of that little cart reader part, even when talking about a millions amount, would save them that much.

Though Nintendo could opt for a smaller built-in-storage for the physical SKU compared to digital to hit a notable amount of savings.
Click to expand...
Theoretically the higher digital margins would probably be reason enough to do it. They could slot it into a lower price bracket and make up for the upfront losses with the digital margins.

But I dunno if they'd risk it.
 
Mr Swine said:
So he and MVG haven’t heard anything on Switch 2 during TGS, that sounds like that Switch 2 is not a early 2024 release
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Or... Japanese developers either saw it beforehand in person at Nintendo, because they're headquartered in Japan, or saw it, but won't talk about it, or those that would, don't communicate with western sources.

We can't really jump to any conclusions based on a LACK of evidence.
 
Machrider said:
I think they will by next gen. This is a lot like the "Nintendo will never use optical discs!" line of reasoning.

Making $10-$15 more per copy of each game sold will be a huge money windfall for them.
Click to expand...

That assumes people would buy games at the same rate as they do physical by forcing everyone to digital. It's a big risk and Nintendo don't do risks unless they have no choice.
 
ILikeFeet said:
they're not custom by definition. anyone can make them once Drake is out and is using them
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I mean at that point you might as well just make them proprietary.

100 million systems sold, lets say 80 million cards sold at a $10 profit margin = $800 million in profit, that's not a bad chunk of change at all.
 
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Leo said:
When I said "drop", I meant going exclusively digital, with no option for physical, as it was also speculated. They won't do that.

I could see them offering a digital only SKU, though, but I still think it's more likely the different SKUs are just different storage space options like the Wii U.
Click to expand...

Okay, the storage SKUs completely slipped my mind.

It's definitely that IMO.
 
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Skittzo said:
Theoretically the higher digital margins would probably be reason enough to do it. They could slot it into a lower price bracket and make up for the upfront losses with the digital margins.

But I dunno if they'd risk it.
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Sure, but couldn't they achieve pretty much almost the same by just increasing their offerings like the Vouchers?

Iirc, Sony actually makes (or made) more money from the disc based PS5.
 
ns156 said:
Their points system sucks IMO. Points expiring after a year is crap if you don't buy often, the points should last indefinitely.
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Compared to what though? Not getting anything back for your digital purchases like what happens on PS, Xbox, or Steam? Even if you only sporadically every few months buy games digitally, that year restriction is a complete non factor.
 
I could see them making 2 SKUs, one with a physical game slot and one without, and then simply not selling the digital SKU in Japan where physical sales still massively outweigh digital sales (iirc)
 
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