Could The NX Be Nintendo’s Last Roll of the Dice?

nintendo-nx

Rumours are abound that Nintendo will unveil their new “NX” console on Friday and it certainly seems, well, interesting.

If recent reports are anything to go by, Nintendo have taken the unusual step of making a cartridge based system. For our younger Cultured Vultures out there, they were from a time of our lives when the summers were longer, Saturday night TV was better and the air was so dewy sweet that you didn’t even have to lick a stamp.

The cartridge will certainly be more expensive to produce, however it does have some benefits – the standard size for the cartridge is expected to be 32gb and will be coupled with digital downloads, however a modern cartridge can hold up to 1tb – equal to the the entire system memory of a premium model PS4 or Xbox One.

It also seems that console will have a Gamepad screen, much like the Wii U, with two sets of controllers attached to it, meaning that games can be played on the go – almost a throwback to the 90’s when you would take your entire console round to your friends to play a new game because they perhaps didn’t have the same console as you. It’s certainly brings back fond memories, and just maybe, that’s the kind of emotions that Nintendo are looking to engage, particularly among older gamers, which brings me to my next point.

Nintendo All-Stars
Image Source: DeviantArt

In recent years, Nintendo has struggled big time to attract adult gamers and have constantly rehashed old franchises – Mario, Mario Kart, Zelda, Super Smash Bros and Pokemon. Whilst these games are fun to play and brilliantly designed, they’ve become very predictable.

Nintendo will need to bring on far more developers. Both the Wii and the Wii U really struggled with this. Granted, there were a few standouts – MadWorld, which was a Wii exclusive, was a fantastic gaming experience. There were, however, several woeful ports, such as the abysmal Wii version of Dead Rising or Alone in the Dark.

The Wii U also came boxed with ZombiU as a launch title which was average at best and wasn’t the killer app that made people rush out to buy a Wii U. The console struggled to make it off the shelves and sales outside Japan have been very stagnant.

I have hopes for Nintendo. Despite recent success with Pokemon GO, it’s no secret that they’re living off money in the bank and their investors are going to be asking some serious questions if the console turns out to be a flop and failure of the NX could very well see Nintendo going down the software-only route of Sega, whilst Sony and Microsoft would be more than happy for Mario games to be appearing on their consoles.

I’m looking forward to seeing what the NX has to offer. It’s make or break time for Nintendo. My heart wants them to succeed, but my head says that their console may struggle to find a market share.

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