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Nintendo's NX Will Surprise and Innovate, Iwata Says

"If you only expand upon existing hardware, it's dull," Satoru Iwata says about the upcoming system.

By Eddie Makuch on March 24, 2015 at 11:08AM PDT

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GS News Update - Iwata Offers New Nintendo NX Details

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In a new interview with Japanese business publication Nikkei, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata spoke--albeit briefly and in vague terms--about the company's mysterious new platform, codenamed "NX."

Although he did not offer specifics, Iwata suggested that the NX aims to catch gamers by surprise and offer meaningful innovation.

"If you only expand upon existing hardware, it's dull," Iwata said in the report, as translated by Kotaku. "In some shape or form, we're always thinking about how we want to surprise players as well as our desire to change each person's video gaming life."

Iwata officially announced the NX during a presentation in Japan last week, where the company also revealed plans to finally enter the smartphone market. Revealing the NX project was a means to demonstrate that Nintendo remains committed to gaming hardware.

"As proof that Nintendo maintains strong enthusiasm for the dedicated game system business, let me confirm that Nintendo is currently developing a dedicated game platform with a brand-new concept under the development codename 'NX,'" Iwata said at the time.

More details about NX are set to be revealed in 2016. GameSpot's full report about the NX is available here.

Though concrete information about Nintendo's NX is extremely light at the moment, one retailer is already accepting preorders for the device.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

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greaseman1985

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greaseman1985

Maybe I'll finally look at a Nintendo console again. The current gen has been nothing short of disappointing. Come on Nintendo!

Upvote • 9 years ago

Nightrunner0007

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Nightrunner0007

<< LINK REMOVED >> What is disappointing about a console that offers local coop, backwards compatibility, cheaper games, more promised 1080p by 60fps experiences, and a tablet controller that allows you to do something entirely different than someone who wants to watch TV?

3 • 9 years ago

greaseman1985

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greaseman1985

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> The Wii U needs more games. More third party support. Its not hard to hit 1080p and 60 fps on a Mario game.....

I need Nintendo to make a console that can have both serious and fun games. It needs to be a true successor to N64.

Upvote • 9 years ago

iandizion713

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iandizion713

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> The Wii U has more awesome games then both competitors put together but you want more?

So you want GTA5, CoD, etc, it will never happen. They will never support Nintendo. Even if Nintendo made a more powerful system then all they would still only produce games for Sony and them like they did when PS2 was the weakest console. Game companies see Nintendo has the worst competition, they dont want Nintendo to succeed for the same reasons they dont like making games for PC.

Upvote • 9 years ago

rolla020980

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rolla020980

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>

Nintendo will never make it on first party alone. Their FP games are rehash after rehash... its worse than Halo.

What Nintendo needs is a fresh image. They are nothing but the cheap console anymore. It is the console people get who want something to play until the next PS4 or XBOX One game releases, or they want a party system.

Nintendo really screwed up on the New 3DS... how cheap can you be to not even include a power adapter?

Upvote • 9 years ago

iandizion713

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iandizion713

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> What Nintendo needs is a bigger fan base that cannot be ignored.

Upvote • 9 years ago

rolla020980

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rolla020980

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>

For what? Another Mario rehash? Zelda? SSB? Mario Kart? The only fresh game they have is Bayonetta 2. All of those games are fun, but they need to be n addition to others.

Don't get me wrong, I don't wish Nintendo would fail, quite the opposite, but the WiiU is a seriously disappointing system.

Upvote • 9 years ago

iandizion713

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iandizion713

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> same can be said for all systems, they all rehash the same titles. Nintendo does it the least.

Upvote • 9 years ago

rolla020980

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rolla020980

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>

True, there are always rehashes, and there always will be, but there are new, fresh ideas coming out for the other two, albeit most of them third party, but that brings me back to why Nintendo needs that third party support. I am bored with the same old same old on Nintendo with nothing new,

Upvote • 9 years ago

iandizion713

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iandizion713

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> yeah, from 3rd Party. 3DS gets a little 3rd Party support, but only from RPG companies and ones who make different games then Nintendo.

Upvote • 9 years ago

rolla020980

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rolla020980

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>

Exactly my point.

Upvote • 9 years ago

ethanm1834

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ethanm1834

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> I don't think that's fair. I have a wii u and I have a PS4. I spend more of my time on my PS4. I don't play COD, or games of the like. Third party support or lack there of is killing them. Let's be fair and put away the bias.

Upvote • 9 years ago

iandizion713

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iandizion713

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Nintendo gave 3rd Party a full year to make games, they promised 3rd Party they would not release AAA games for the system, and 3rd Party still screwed Nintendo over. It cost nintendo BIG to give them that respect.

Upvote • 9 years ago

rolla020980

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rolla020980

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>

I think it is the other way around. The XBOX One, PS4, and PC architectures are very similar, making it easy to make multiplat games. The WiiU is not only different, but significantly weaker. Games that seriously stress out the Sony and MS consoles will never run on WiiU,

Upvote • 9 years ago

iandizion713

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iandizion713

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Wii U is stronger then 360 and PS3 but yet GTA5 or MGS5 will not go near it. Its the principal they do not like. They dont like Nintendo for which she stands.

Upvote • 9 years ago

Prats93

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Prats93

So it's pretty much an admission of failure. The Wii U is dead.

Upvote • 9 years ago

Nightrunner0007

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Nightrunner0007

<< LINK REMOVED >> Nope...it's still very much alive.....perhaps you should jump out of 2012 and come hang out with all of us in 2015

3 • 9 years ago

Megavideogamer

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Megavideogamer

I hope the Nintendo NX is a great console. So at this point I have to give Iwata a chance. History says otherwise as Nintendo has made mistakes with the N64, Gamecube, Wii and Wii U. But Nintendo did manage to "win" the 3rd, 4th, 7th generations of games. The NX could be Nintendo's greatest console or could be it's worst. But for now Iwata will have to be taken with salt until more about the NX is known.

Upvote • 9 years ago

superbuuman

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superbuuman

c'mon hybrid handheld-console. :P

Upvote • 9 years ago

neowarrior793

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neowarrior793

this will be an all or nothing console, it need's to be super amazing if its hardware is not better then the ps4's. its selling point need's to have some type of uniqueness that people haven't thought up before. a gimmick with backwards compatibility is not going to work this time, people aren't going to spontaneously buy the console like with the wii. hopefully its a great console which will get those third party games, have better specs and will have something that will get people to buy. Nintendo has been stuck with making first party only games and you can only remake those games so many times.

Upvote • 9 years ago

k9kal85

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k9kal85

<< LINK REMOVED >> It's hardware is going to have to be to compete with Sony and MS's next system as well .I predict this thing to come out in 2017-18.

Upvote • 9 years ago

smackdowner360

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smackdowner360

Leave it to nintendo to give us all a good laugh.Its hard to believe that anyone would be dumb enough to but a new nintendo console after the Wii U was a flop and dead in 3 years .I said the Wii U was gonna be gone off the market by the end of 2015 and it looks like it might happen.Plus they are also screwing the 8 million people that bough a Wii U.We all know the new console will have another gimmick to try and find dumb people to buy it.

Upvote • 9 years ago

superbuuman

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superbuuman

<< LINK REMOVED >> oh don't count them out..they might be stubborn and stuck in the past..but they are also weird & quirky...they may come up with another hit again like Wii...& make billions. :P

Upvote • 9 years ago

k9kal85

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k9kal85

<< LINK REMOVED >> Says the guy who has never played any of Wii U's first party games.

Upvote • 9 years ago

Nightrunner0007

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Nightrunner0007

<< LINK REMOVED >> The fact that you think the Wii U is dead in 3 years clearly shows that you know nothing about the console. Most people (particularly the ones who have all three consoles) would agree that Nintendo pumped out some fantastic games last year. Not sure what console you prefer and with your bias, I'm not sure I care.

4 • 9 years ago

Charlton2

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Charlton2

<< LINK REMOVED >> The Wii U is my console of choice. It's an excellent system.

4 • 9 years ago

Charlton2

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Charlton2

The D Pad, Rumble, Wireless (bluetooth) controller, Motion, touch screen. What do they all have in common? They were all introduced (and made popular) in the gaming world by Nintendo.

2 • 9 years ago

Elranzer

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Elranzer

Don't forget L/R triggers and (very primative) VR in the form of VirtualBoy.

Upvote • 9 years ago

lostn

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lostn

I just hope the new gimmick, sorry innovation doesn't once again come at the cost of horsepower. If you want to go beyond expanding system hardware, good. But please still expand it. Whatever else new you're doing, do it on top of expanding the hardware.

If they release another underpowered console I'll be disappointed.

Upvote • 9 years ago

motopramaus

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motopramaus

<< LINK REMOVED >> 2016 PS4 and X1 spec'ed hardware will be super cheap, both consoles running low end PC hardware from 4 years ago so this time Nintendo has a very good chance to come out on top performance wise.

What they need to do is have good third party support, that's key.

Upvote • 9 years ago

lostn

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lostn

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Yes, in 2016 PS4 and X1 specs will be cheap. But that doesn't mean Nintendo should adopt those specs (or even slightly better). They have to do a lot better or else they will repeat the past. If they want to keep third party support, they need to release hardware that makes it easy to port over from the other consoles, otherwise they will do a cost benefits analysis and decide as they have been, that the software sales on Nintendo's console won't justify the expense needed to get some porting house to do the port for us.

You have to be fair, publishers have given the Wii U its fair chance. Ubisoft released AC and WD on it. EA released Battlefield. Activision released COD on it. It took some effort to do this, unlike porting from X1 to PS4. If these games don't sell (and they haven't), that's going to be the end of 3rd party multiplatforms on Wii U.

NX needs to correct this by making the process easier.

Upvote • 9 years ago

motopramaus

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motopramaus

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Yep i agree with that in some respect, certainly the ports.

But Nintendo have a chance to tap into Sony's and Microsofts space if the console is higher spec, this is how they can really take over again. Imagine all 3rd party games come to NX and they're all 1080p/60fps, they can market it as the most powerful console. Then add to that their "new way of gaming" and their excellent 1st party lineup and you have a killer console.

It has to be tailored more to the western market this time around as Japan not going the console route anymore. So i think it will have a portable element for the japanese market and power for the US and Europe market.

I tell you what would get me most excited though, just finally giving Nintendo developers a powerful console to work with, imagine the game worlds they would create with a powerhouse console, would just be a very exciting time IMO

Upvote • 9 years ago

lostn

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lostn

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> That's kind of what they did with the Wii U but it was too little too late. They had a slightly more powerful console than PS3 and 360 but they only had a one year head start before the other two got their next gen consoles in.

Whether this strategy would work depends on how soon the NX will release. If it's get 2 or 3 years head start, it could give them a big advantage, and they'll definitely get at least all the games the PS4 and X1 gets. However, that would mean the console needs to release soon, maybe late 2016 at the latest, assuming Microsoft and Sony go for 7 or 8 year cycles again. But seeing Nintendo beat them to the next gen might accelerate their launches.

If Nintendo does this, the problem will be that their Wii U generation was so short and they abandoned it. Just conceded defeat and gave up on it. Wii U owners will then have to question if Nintendo is truly committed to their consoles or if they will abandon them quickly again like they did last time.

I think it's unlikely Nintendo will release a next gen console years ahead of the competition with better specs. Nintendo has prided itself on not competing on muscle but on 'innovation' or whatever you want to call it. To me that's a concession that they can't compete on that front and have to look for other niches.

What's more likely is that their next gen system that's better than PS4 and X1 will only release a year ahead of their competitors, and then the power advantage they have will be short lived and we'll be back where we started. If it achieves parity with those systems, it will be fine. But if it's a Dreamcast scenario where they were out the gate first but the later consoles were significantly more powerful, it will struggle.

Nintendo hasn't given up on the gimmick idea. It worked well for the Wii, but not for the Wii U. They are banking on finding the next Wii. They caught lightning in a bottle with that console and are hoping, expecting, depending on the next console catching lightning once again instead of being the next Wii U (a failure). I'll wait and see what they come up with, but I'm going to temper my expectations until then.

Upvote • 9 years ago

Charlton2

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Charlton2

<< LINK REMOVED >> It's about gameplay, not gfx

Upvote • 9 years ago

lostn

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lostn

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Why not stick to the NES then? Plenty of great games on that system.

Upvote • 9 years ago

motopramaus

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motopramaus

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> It's about both to most people, they need to make it for most people not just you.

Upvote • 9 years ago

zrex2metagor

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zrex2metagor

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> the ps1 easily outclasses the new gen systems, the ps2 brutalizes any competition with its game library, stuff like chrono triggers on the snes creates the heart of gaming for a lot of gamers, the Wii was way underpowered compared to the competiotion, but still held its own against the ps3 or xb360 and none of them have graphics that are anywhere close to the remasterstation4 or the remasterBox 1. :) Yeah graphics aint everything, I'm sure a lotta people would agree

Upvote • 9 years ago

motopramaus

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motopramaus

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>

Then why is the PS4 outselling the X1 almost 2:1 when the X1 has a better games library and better online service. It's purely on the fact it can hit 1080p more often, that's it...........

At the time PS2 was cutting edge, the PS1 was technically awesome at the time, those consoles impressed people visually. You think you release PS2 graphics now with games of that calibre it would sell well ? Come on, it would die an early death.

Upvote • 9 years ago

criosmusic

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criosmusic

<< LINK REMOVED >> If you are sold on graphics and power, good for you. The hype of awaiting greatness, has stopped. Sony itself didnt even know why they had sold that much in so little because they know as a company they have very little to offer. X1 was doomed to start an agonizing start because of the bad PR prior to its release. Sales only mean that the consumers are only buying what is trendy...trends=lack of innovation. Let Nintendo do its thing. They always have and always will.

Upvote • 9 years ago

motopramaus

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motopramaus

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> No i'm not sold on just graphics and power but the public are, you're right Sony has very little to offer but the PS4 is outselling the X1 2:1 and seriously outselling the Wii U which has 12 months on it, that's based purely on power and if Nintendo want to make a comeback they need to understand this needs to be part of their new console.

If the console doesn't have enough power and isn't easy to develop for they will lose third party support again.

I own a X1, PS4, Wii U and PC, the PS4 is the worst of all platforms IMO but it's the biggest selling, because it's perceived to be this almighty powerhouse console (which it's not) and that's why it's selling like crazy.

Upvote • 9 years ago

Charlton2

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Charlton2

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> tell that to the millions more people who play games without killer gfx.

Upvote • 9 years ago

motopramaus

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motopramaus

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>

Come on, there is one reason why the PS4 is outselling the Xbox One, the X1 has better games and a better online service but just the hint of the PS4 having the resolution edge almost doubles it's sale over X1 one. It's purely graphics.

Look at the WiiU, killer library of games but it's not selling because it's last gen.

Then look at PC gamers, they're all about getting cutting edge graphics and why not, it's part of the excitement of gaming, exploring new realistic gaming worlds. And extra power doesn't just mean better textures, it means larger more dynamic game worlds which affects gameplay.

Upvote • 9 years ago

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