New console in 2016 or 2017: How Much Horsepower You'd Like

I've been thinking about it and I could see Nintendo releasing a new home console in Fall 2016 at the earliest, probably 2017 holidays. And if they make it out fall 2016 you better believe they'd have a Super Mario 64 20th Anniversary HD remake ready for launch.

But anyway, we all know Nintendo likes to focus on innovative control schemes over hardware power but with the Game Pad being so costly ($80+ to make) do you think Nintendo will move away from introducing expensive new control types with their Wii U successor in a few years? Satoru Iwata has said that "maybe the days of selling hardware for 20,000 and 30,000 yen are over", meaning that Nintendo is considering not releasing $300 consoles in the future but making them cheaper at launch.

So if they release a new console in 2016 or 2017 and aim for $300 or less, they'd probably only give us something like what we've got now from other consoles, just with a bit more under the hood? Like 8GB RAM, 6-8 Core CPU around 1.4-1.7GHz, 1.2-1.8 TFlop GPU, etc. That should be pretty cheap by 2016 or 2017.

Or do you guys think Nintendo should release a very powerful console in 2016 or 2017, in the middle of this generation? Imagine something with a 12-core CPU around or greater than 2Ghz, 12GB-16GB RAM, 3-4TFlop GPU, etc. That could come in at $300 in a few years but probably at a loss per unit, if not $350-$400.

So what do you guys think Nintendo should do next-gen? Make a console that is affordable and not much more powerful than what we've got today or make a somewhat expensive (300-400) console that is much more powerful than consoles today?

Also, I'd like to think they will ditch PowerPC but Iwata has said they working on something to "absorb" the Wii U's architechure so that probably means Power 7 or Power 8 based next-gen console. God forbid they add more cores to the Wii U Esspresso CPU. Or do they do what other console makers have done and jump to AMD for their processor and use off the shelf PC parts (or similar to off the shelf) that devs are more familiar with?

I know it sounds crazy but it would be awesome if in 2016 they released a new console with a 4KTV compatible Super Mario 64 remake though I'd imagine the console would need like 16GB RAM to run decent 4K gaming and that's if 4KTVs are even popular by then.

2016?

Two more years and it's time for a new system?

I'm not liking 2014s lineup for the Wii U (I know others love it, but It's not what I'm into), that leaves just 2015 and maybe 2016 as killer years before Nintendo drops the Wii U for the next machine.

Geez, a lot of pressure.

2017 seems to be a more plausible year for Nintendo to release a new system, but I wouldn't be surprised if they waited til 2018 to release something.

Nintendo shouldn't shoot for the stars with specs. Consoles can afford to have lower specs, as they have less overhead to deal with than PCs. I don't think it's out of the question that Nintendo will continue working with IBM and have a system without x86 architecture - but it won't be anything PowerPC 750 based. They may take advantage of IBM's last gen chips, such as the Power7. I'd like to see something like a custom tri-core IBM Power7 CPU(12 logical processors, two threads dedicated to the OS) clocked at 2.2GHz with GPGPU support.

I'm pretty sure we shouldn't expect a new console till 2019 or 2020, that seems to be the best time to do it to me. By then 4k tvs will be more affordable to the common masses

@Celsius765: The WiiU is essentially an Xbox 360. You really think Nintendo is going to be rolling with that in 2020?

Oh look, one of these. It's really not(this has been done to death), but that's a discussion that belongs in SW.

Knowing nintendo, they will release a console with the same specs as an xbox one, it will probably be a handheld that can also be plugged into the tv.

It's pretty wild to see how short new gen consoles lives are until the next gen drop in. The gap is usually 5 to 7 years at most. The biggest gap would be the Gameboy to the Gameboy Color I think which is 8 or 9 years apart. The Color to the GBA was even shorter just 3 years apart, haha.

Whatever it is, please just make a proper console with a proper controller Nintendo! I miss the Gamecube days.

Boy, oh boy, let's get subjective!

I think they should make a powerful console in 2016.

Wii U + steroid (repeat of Wii = GameCube + steroid) ...probably having Power7 running at its starting speed at 2.4Ghz & improve the gpu...*all* games will run at 1080p at 60fps. :P 4K? till that actually takes off ..Nintendo won't go near it.

2016 is waaay to early for new console and even 2017 is kinda cutting it short.

Releasing a console in 2016 or 2017 would be suicide for Nintendo. PS5 and Xbox no.3 will come out in 2018 or 2019 with much greater "horsepower".

Wii U is what Nintendo decided on. Like it or not, they need to make it last. Hardware is not an issue. PS2 lasted a ridiculously long time despite being technically obsolete since 2005.

But loyalty is an issue. Wii already disappointed me. If Wii U is cut short as well, that would destroy my reputation of it.

@YearoftheSnake5: If it's been done to death, then you should realize that yes, a WiiU is technically similar to an Xbox 360. That's not to say that it isn't slightly more powerful, but not by any significant margin. Sorry to break it to you bud, but your precious WiiU is never going to be as powerful as his two younger brothers. Cry and move on.

I think nintendo was onto something with the wii U even if it hasn't caught on yet. I'll be the first to admit it has it's faults.

1. Battery Life - All future models should include stronger battery

2. Price Point - Nintendo has to lower the price point. Nintendo is a younger generation, family friendly, fun console, parents don't want to pay top dollar, so something their young child can easily break.

3. Gamepad can only go 25 FT from console - Maybe the gamepad needs to be optional to lower the price point. Maybe it needs to be more to be more like a standalone tablet.

4. Lack of games at launch / first year of release. third party games. I think NIntendo is improving with the games.

That being said.... you adjust these faults and they should be heading in the right direction. I think Nintendo might want to re-introduce a basic model of a Wii U either without the gamepad, or somehow find a way to make it much cheaper, but all the value was in the deluxe model, that people were willing to pay more for. The base model needs to be 139$, and the Deluxe can hoover around 200-240$ with games. These price points would ultimately make the Wii a attractive mate for the PS4/Xbox 1 owns, thus selling many more units, and making profits on the games.

But building a more expensive system, with better hardware is NOT in nintendo business model for affordable family fun. Nintendo is not out to compete with the other systems.

I am not sure about horsepower, but I would like to see them create another control that makes use of a pointer. I thought that was, by far, the Wii's best feature.

Aside from being practical, it also allowed for some really nice gameplay implementations. Differently from the Gamepad's touch screen, it is relatively simple to come up with creative uses for the pointer.

@mwright469: yes I do, it could last that long and if not then a new console shouldn't launch till 2018 at the earliest. Looking at some of the games on Wii U I feel like its more of a middle console. not as good as ps4/xb1 but graphically better than ps3/360. Not to mention Wii U's sales rate is slow, so if you just bought one this year or next you'd be so pissed to see a new console coming out already

i think it depends on whether nintendo are going to take 3rd party (especially the big ones like EA and activision) support seriosuly not (given a number of factors i dont think they should).

if they want the big players then nintendo should wait it out until closer to the next gen (i will try to keep SW talk to a minimum). start planning now of course and aim for something roughly 10X as powerful as a PS4 for a release in 2019-2020. go with X86 hardware and more off the shelf components. sell the hardware at a break even point. even if the others decide to move away from x86, developers are still not going to be as pushed since they will be making PC versions of the vast majority of games anyway. it would be a better situation than where they currently are hardware wise.

make it easy to port games to the console and keep it as developer friendly as possible.

so we are looking at something with roughly 32GB of ram for games (could be more in the box for OS stuff...but 32GB for games), a 12 core CPU at around 2.5GHz (probably from AMD) and a graphics chip with the power of 3 titan blacks combined (also from AMD.). It will be a fairly big console at launch (PS3 fat size...probably nintendos biggest console).

assuming the support is there and the hardware and tools are well thought out this should keep 3rd parties happy. well happy in so far as it wont be a pain to get games running on nintendo hardware. whether the market will be there for those big 3rd party games is another matter.

if we are looking at a 2017 launch then i think it would be a bad idea for nintendo to try and get 3rd parties back. sure the hardware might be better but by then the damage will be done. i think it would be better for nintendo to focus on streamlinging their internal development processes so that they can get up to speed faster on new tech and maintain a better flow of content across all their platforms. also make hardware thats easy for smaller developers to work on (and have a business model to match).

one way to do that is to use ARM cores in their next console. they did it before with the N64. they use ARM in their handhelds of course so by making the next console ARM based they can use those same tools. it also means it can be easier for them to move content between handheld and console. this doesnt mean the console will be portable or only as powerful as a 3DS. the processor would have 8-10 cores clocked at a pretty high clock (unlike a phone or tablet, the processor will be actively cooled in a console so they can be clocked higher compared to other devices). but it removes one obsticale between sharing handheld and console content.

i would still pair this ARM cpu with a laptop GPU though and have it use GDDR6 or whatever is available. power wise the GPU would be around 2X as powerful as the PS4 GPU and there would be 6GB of ram available for games. basically itll be easier for nintendo and other developers to hit the 1080P@60FPS mark.

if i was nintendo i would be looking to nvidia for the GPU for the simple reason that they have solutions that would work for the new console and would also have hardware available to make porting to the next handheld a more straightforward task....tegra. the handheld wouldnt be a 1080P@60FPS rendering beast of course...itll be a 960X540 handheld thats a bit more powerful than a vita (but with more tricks up its sleeve).

by having a handheld and a console with a more similar base (and support for the same types of technology) nitnendo can share more content accross the devices without having to spend as much time porting and tweaking.

sure some games are better suited to a handheld or a console but for something like animal crossing or mario kart 7 there is no reason why they couldnt be shared accross devices. nitnendo could even have a crossbuy system (buy the game once and play it on any nintendo device the game has been released on).

@bonesawisready5: No your assumptions are wrong, they will not release super mario 64 hd. Would make no sense on a system with as much power as it will have. The solution is software not hardware imo.

Nintendo wont toss out a new Home Console then, more like 2018. And the next handheld is more likely to come out in 2016 or 2017.

I just want a console that isn't too weak compared to its competitors, but is also affordable. However, they definitely have to change the architecture to something more friendly for third party developers. Not sure how that'll affect backwards capabilities, but I hope there's a way to make Wii U games playable on it.

Threads you can always count on consistently showing up in the Nintendo Forum -- "Nintendo is Doomed 2014 Edition," "Why I Broke Down and Bought the Wii U When I Didn't Want One," "A Teenager's Thoughts on How a Multi-Billion Dollar Company Can Fix Their Decline by Copying the Practices of Their Competition," and finally "Predictions for the Console That's Going to Replace One That Hasn't Been Out for Two Years With Technology That Doesn't Exist Yet."

Well there's not much to discuss is there..since there's no new games on Wii U to talk about...when MK8 gets release then you will see threads on it. Nintendo themselves are already talking about a new console & new something something QoL. Don't see anything wrong with it. :P

@mwright469: Perhaps I need to provide a link, since you didn't get it the first time. System Wars.

Want to discuss that subject? Go there. This isn't difficult.

I think it's way too early to discuss any of this. And who knows if Nintendo will even decide to make another game system? Maybe they will go an entirely different route.

Personally, I think it's unfair to lay every ounce of the blame on Nintendo when the entire game industry has changed and isn't like it used to be. Now there's services and DLC, and every other game is expected to be pretty much like other games that already exist, and yet people want something new. It's confusing, and it will probably just continue to be confusing since nobody knows what is going to happen with the game industry a few years from now. In the meantime, the libraries of all of the consoles will grow, and we can only decide how we feel about Wii-U and everything else with time.