The Nintendo NX; The Mystery Console
The Nintendo NX; Nintendo’s next games console to be released mid-late 2016 is rumoured to be an amalgamation of the previous design, and a whole new design concept. In addition to this there are rumours that the next controller design will be an amalgamation of the GameCube’s twin-stick design, and a combination of the Wii U’s touch screen gamepad. This design is said to be unlike any other console design currently on the market.
Why did Sony gain ground with their console; why Wii U console not do so well?
The success of Sony has primarily been due to the mass release of simple easy to complete games upon the first release of their consoles, to cater for a wider audience of simple gamers; in conjunction with more serious and complex games that target hardcore gamers. They have made a name for themselves and it’s hard for users to shake this and think about something different. It’s usually the mistakes that Sony have made that have shifted the balance of gamers buying their consoles across the market to other games consoles, as well as the revolutionary motion controller design of the Wii, that left other competitors struggling to follow.
How are Nintendo going to get ahead and gain ground over Sony?
If we look back at what happened to Sega and use that as an example; many of the hardcore gamers were not interested in anything to do with Sega, even though they brought out a revolutionary design with the Sega Dreamcast that was more advanced and powerful than the PS2.
The other gamers (older generation gaming and family gaming) did not exist back then as there were no games or consoles that targeted the games they wanted to play; neither did they pay attention to their gaming style. When Nintendo changed their design and brought out the Wii console, they essentially opened gaming to a whole new breed of gamers across the scale; though their childlike games had no real appeal to the hardcore gamers, even if there was a release of games targeted at them.
Because of this Nintendo have to really pull a rabbit out of the hat, so to speak and perform some sort of magical miracle that will grab the attention of the serious gamers. So whatever magical miracle Nintendo have to do now, it has to be something that will target the whole market of gamers across the scale, with a design that gamers just can’t resist!
Nintendo have made a reputation from taking big risks, and paving the way forward with totally new designs that their competitors have tried to mimic and follow; expect to see this pattern repeat with the Nintendo NX, and see Sony take a backseat.