Some of the negativity I'm seeing regarding the Eurogamer speculation is astonishing. First, THIS news isn't *really* news. Anyone who has been reading about the NX to date knows that this was a very likely and reasonable direction for the next Nintendo hardware. I don't think any Nintendo player put much credence into those rumors that the NX would shoot for power parity with Sony and Microsoft. The primary motivation behind people who wanted the NX to be uber-powerful were those 30-somethings who pined for the days when Nintendo was "king" of the video game industry.
This notion that powerful consoles win console wars is just false. We know that this is the first generation in a long time in which the exception became reality, but whatever you believe, power alone is NOT why PS4 is outselling the Xbox One. There are a lot of other poor marketing/technical problems with the Xbox One that has led to the huge sales divide. Power is just one factor.
Last gen, the Wii cleaned up; the gen before that, the PS2 won; and before that, the PSX. In every one of those instances, the competition had stronger consoles. Heck, that even plays out in handheld. PSP and the Vita were always stronger machines, but neither could do much to steal market-share from Nintendo's GBA, DS and 3DS.
I view this move as a smart (and natural) one from Nintendo. People/critics have to understand Nintendo has *never* cared much for third parties. Unlike Sony or Microsoft, Nintendo is first and foremost a SOFTWARE developer. It makes the most money from its software. In other words, Nintendo is far more interested in making a system for ITS games, not companies which are effectively its competition. Does Nintendo need some third-party support? Sure. But do we REALLY need a THIRD PlayStation or Xbox? No. Two consoles on that front are plenty enough. I honestly have no doubt that if Nintendo tries to compete on power, that the NX will be a flaming disaster. Nintendo's aim is to re-capture young players and appease its core base; merging the handheld and the home console into one platform is the best and most effective way to set about accomplishing that goal.
The Wii U's principle offense was not a lack of good software, but a lack of timely delivered software. There were too many release deserts. With game development costs and complexities rising, this generation showed Nintendo is UNABLE to support two platforms. Had games like Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon and Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds been on Wii U, there is no debate that the system would have done better.
Nintendo's approach has *always* been to make compelling software on its system such that it essentially forces third parties to make games for it. The Wii was, IMHO, an atrocious console (honestly hated it), but when you sell 100 million machines, there is no way third parties can NOT make games for it. The same goes for Gamecube. During the 360 generation, Square Enix had little desire to make games for the system, but given the 360's penetration in North America, business sense (as it often does) overpowered time-honored allegiances.
Unifying Nintendo handheld studios with its console game makers *should* mean a LOT more games for the NX. A steady diet of releases will ensure the NX has more Mario, more Zelda, and just more of all of its usually stellar games.
We should expect the NX to be competitively priced for young gamers to sign on, and if Nintendo can migrate even a fraction of the DS/3DS audience (which, face it, we KNOW it will), and can get the core Nintendo players (~10 million based on Wii U sales) to come back, the NX should be fine. Will it be Wii-level success? Time will tell, but the Wii was lightning/alchemy; no one should expect the NX to be that. The NX should easily be able to sell through 10-20 million in its first 2-3 years. It should, if Nintendo plays this right, do far better than the Xbox One.
Microsoft's messaging with Scorpio/Slim has been a muddled fiasco. It's not clear how well Sony will communicate/handle the upcoming NEO and VR platforms. Nintendo seems to have learned to stick with a SIMPLE, CLEAN message. A handheld/home console with games like Metroid, Mario, and Zelda out-of-the-gate will sell well. If it is a Spring 2017 launch, it will be a slow burn, but so was the DS/3DS.
Those who keep insisting Nintendo go full third-party need to take another look at what the success of Pokemon GO ultimately means. Nintendo's stock took a nosedive because as successful as games like GO might be, the lion's share of those profits end up going to the platform distributor (e.g. Apple got $30 million of GO's revenue). In terms of using mobile to give a "small" taste of Nintendo brands, that makes sense, but the realities of the mobile business show why a Nintendo proprietary machine almost assuredly the more lucrative option for the company (at least for now and the near future).
Bottom-line: The unified platform for Nintendo makes a whole lot of sense, and is welcome, smart news. All the doom and gloom over it is largely misplaced. The industry panned Nintendo's DS and Wii, and we know the Big N proved the so-called experts and pundits wrong. The Wii U, on the other hand, didn't work - but that's in large part because even Nintendo never quite grasped what the heck that gamepad was meant to do.
For all the "gimmicky" accusations being leveled at the NX, if you think about it, the console sounds VERY simple. It is essentially a traditional console you can seamlessly carry around. That's a SIMPLE message. Hardly the confusing "new way" to play like the Wii or Wii U.
Marketed right, the NX will do fine. I actually hope Nintendo does nothing more crazy than what we've seen from Eurogamer. If I can play the next amazing handheld games at-home on TV, and take the next awesome console game on-the-go, the NX may finally deliver that simple dream many gamers have been wanting for some time.
As you can tell by now, I'm pretty excited
