Unity on Nintendo NX

Any word on how soon it will be before Unity is ready for whatever the NX is?

I'm guessing the NX is going to be an OS, but whatever.

When it does come out and the new market opens up I'm betting there's going to be a LOT of people wanting to have a game ready to go up.

I mean, there's going to be millions of units sold in a month and most likely only a handful of titles in the store.

Would be nice to be one of them, you know?

Strike while the iron's hot and all that.

 

Wishful thinking at best.

Odds are we won't know what Unity's status on the NX is until we get word of what Nintendo's indie strategy is, which itself is wishful thinking as their usual strategy is that there is no strategy.

 

It will probably happen. I'd imagine that Nintendo will be working with Unity pre-release to have it integrated... I think we'll see "every NX is a devkit" but yeah, I don't know anything about it.

They do have a strategy, such a dumb post.

 

I've noticed the Nintendo hatred is strong in this one.

 

I spoke to a rep from Nintendo at Unite last year.

He was there to encourage Unity devs to sign up to the Nintendo Indie program.

He was very reluctant to provide any details of the next console's release window (at first he wouldn't even confirm that a new console was being fast tracked), but he did tell me that Nintendo was committed to include Unity support on all consoles and handhelds going forward.

He recommended that I sign up to the Nintendo Indie dev program sooner than later to get in line for dev kits.

I don't think the retail consoles will work as dev kits.

In fact, I asked if the retail "new 3DS" (the one that Unity will support) would work as dev kits and he said "No, because retail devices only run code signed by Nintendo."

 

Just a guess but because the New 3DS was based on the original 3DS it pretty much was just a much more powerful version.

The thing is now it's really easy to become a Nintendo developer, at least for Wii-U. I think that because of how easy it is(IE anyone could do it) it doesn't make sense not to just have every NX is a devkit... atleast for Unity and the web stuff they have. The only thing that limits developers entering the Wii-U space is the cost of devkits.

 

@Murgilod has a good point though, and dismissing it only being naivete. I bet Unity doesn't even know what NX is or what Nintendo's indie strategy is.
When is the last time EVER Nintendo actually had a plan for indies at launch time for a new system? Um never.
And when is the last time a Nintendo hardware launch included any indie titles, same answer - never.

Prepare to wait half a year at best after launch before we know anything about Nintendo's indie initiatives.
And I might be in the minority as a critical, unapologetic fan of Nintendo, but please (Nintendo) stop trying to innovate with control schemes. I'd really like to play the next Zelda and Metroid with a controller that is common and enjoyable, opposite of what the past two generation have been.

 

Chasing Aurora, Little Inferno, Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition, Nano Assault Neo and Puddle were all there for the Wii U launch.

 

huh - I stand surprised and corrected, unfortunately do to the turn off of the control schemes nintendo insists on forcing on users of there systems - I've never ever heard of any of these games - ever.
Thats unfortunate - they all look like quality games.

 

The gimmick-ware has gotten old indeed. Nintendo & Steam are my sources of gaming and I've got to hand it to Nintendo for the Wii U. The gamepad makes no sense seeing as there's only one, but I definitely love it. I would kind of hate to see it go with NX, but I'm sick of 'Classic Controllers' connected to Wiimotes. I want a unified system too. Something neat. The pro controllers should do just fine.

How much do the 'New' 3ds dev kits go for? 'New' 3ds is the best portable gaming experience I've ever had. I play smash bros on 3ds version primarily. Weird ik, but I love that device.

 

All of those games were from "Big Indies" though. Like, Shin'en Multimedia comes off working on a long list of licensed games, same with Wayforward. Neko Entertainment is more of the same. The closest thing to an exception here is the Tomorrow Corporation, who were coming off the pretty wild success of World of Goo.

Not only that, but having an indie strategy is more than just the titles on the store. Discoverability and promotion is a major issue as well, which is something that Sony had to learn the hard way after years of half-hearted initiatives like PS Mobile and Microsoft had to learn (and still hasn't learned from enough) from failures like their XBLIG initiative. However, now indie devs are a cornerstone of the PS4 and Microsoft is... well, they're kinda trying.

 

What I am expecting from Nintendo with the NX is another under powered console with goofy, non-standard controls and no indie strategy.

Honestly, I get the feeling Nintendo is only interested in building a slightly improved console in order to sell existing Nintendo IP such as more Mario and Zelda titles. I never get the feeling that Nintendo wants other developers to be part of their ecosystem.

For example, look at all of the popular titles available for PS4 and XBox One, and then look at how few of those are offered for any Nintendo console. When some of the block buster games won't run on a Nintendo console, lots of gamers avoid the Nintendo console.

Will the Nintendo NX seriously change that issue, or will Nintendo continue to build yet another generation of consoles merely to sell more Mario and Zelda?

 

Kind of my sentiment also, though I'm skeptically rooting for nintendo to come around and deliver something that is fun to play with solid traditional controls.
Maybe I've out grown nintendo, mario titles hold little interest for me, and there are very few games beyond a modern day, more mature delivery of zelda and metroid I'm interested to play. Two franchises that come out every 5+ years really doesn't justify a complete 'other' console purchase for me.

I expect nintendo to have something like a hybrid, dedicated console / handheld gaming device that can be 'synced' to a small home console unit for home gaming on the tv. The handheld will be the controller and all games will be handheld/mobile and home console compatible. Just a guess though.

 

I don't know any specifics but the Nintendo guy said "its about the price of a new gaming PC."

I've heard that phrase a few times before for other dev kits, too.

I don't know what that means in real dollar terms because the price range of a gaming PC can be very large.

 

I'm thinking that there's a distinct possibility that no dev kit will be needed at all.

Since we're in speculation mode here, I'll reiterate that I'm betting that the NX is going to be an OS much like Android made for consoles and for portables alike with one unified store and one unified account.

If so, I'm also betting that Nintendo will offer their own hardware as a standard and allow third party developers to use the OS to make their own variations.

Then to compete with the cellphone market I'm betting they'll do something with the controls that you can't do on devices as they are now.

I also think that Nintendo may have been dipping its toes in the water with Mario Maker and may seek more user generated content and may even try their own game making stuff.

Okay, but enough speculation. When can we find out about Unity on the NX?

I notice no one from UT has said anything...

 

You might be on to something - it seems there is hints buried within Nintendo's announcement to go mobile with there IPs. http://www.wired.com/2015/03/nintendo-mobile-analysis/

 

Almost certainly under NDA.

 

Exactly. We need to assume that Unity knows exactly what is going on with the Nintendo NX, but is under NDA and cannot publicly say anything at this point. That makes the most sense.

 

Well, yeah.

Hence my "".

 

Those are largely why people buy their consoles, right?

 

Then they could say something like "Hey, we know what's going on, but can't say because of NDA. I'm sure you'll understand" at least. Because otherwise we actually can't know which one is true:

- Unity has no idea what's going on so decides not to post because they can't say anything useful
- Unity knows but they do not post because of NDA.

 

No they can't, that's the point of a NDA.

 

They can't say WHAT they know, not IF they know.

 

Unity is the most widely use game engine on the market.

I assure you that they're not out of the NX loop.

And yes, NDA's often include all mention of something at all.

 

I know of at least one instance where you were forbidden by the NDA to tell that NDA exists and you signed it. So...

 

I'll be sorely disappointed with the big N if they go the complete opposite route they've taken all these years. I'm cool with a highly modified version of Android. I'm cool with a mobile/console hybrid. But please for the love of god, do not let 3rd parties dictate the hardware. Could you imagine a 3rd party swooping in and making their own 'NX' with better specs? Doesn't seem like a good move.

 

Not to mention that the first third-party systems would undoubtedly undercut the price while finding some other way to subsidize the cost, leading to a whole host of problems reminiscent of Apple's disaster in the 90s with the Mac clones. Considering that in Nintendo's last earnings report they said the NX was to be sold at a profit, as well, this is just a terrible idea all around.

 

I think the fact that they make it a point to reiterate that they will not sell the console at a loss only reinforces the idea that they could allow third party hardware developers.

Wouldn't be the first time:


Also, it's working for Google so why not?

 

It works for google because google isn't in the hardware business primarily, they are a software company that periodically makes reference hardware. They make their money from the analytical data and ad revenue that comes from their software having such a wide reach. You can't compare Google and Nintendo because they're doing fundamentally different things.

Also, the Panasonic Q? Seriously? The thing was on the market for less than two years and only existed because of a deal formed from Panasonic's parent company manufacturing the GCN's optical drive. The idea was that it'd fill a niche since the GCN was the only system on the market at the time that couldn't play DVDs.

 

IIRC Nintendo has always followed the idea that they entertain people, primarily through games and in order to make the best games possible they need to control everything from hardware to software. Nothing about that means that they couldn't have someone else build the hardware instead of them only they want to control what it is.

 

Except that, as a hardware manufacturing company, this would end up costing Nintendo more overall.

 

I'm pretty sure they outsource manufacturing and have stated multiple times that they only make new hardware when they need it to move games.

Nintendo does hardware out of necessity and barely makes a profit off of the hardware sales. Most of their revenue comes from software.

 

This is like saying "Well technically it's the Foxconn iPhone."

 

You haven't explained why it would cost money for Nintendo not to make the console so it's hard to have a point of reference.

I think they could do it, but it would probably not save a whole lot of money(Nintendo would sell the most anyway and the quantity would drive prices down) or make a low quality device(Something Nintendo and consumers don't want).

 

Can we keep this discussion professional? The Nintendo bashing is ridiculous and uncalled for

At such an early stage only the biggest of publishers and developers would be getting NX info. And I doubt many companies outside of Nintendo's own first-second party family. But NX Unity is inevitable. Unity works on Wii U and recently New 3DS so there's no reason to not expect an NX version. Just don't expect to hear anything on it until next year

 

I'm 99% sure we're going to see what NX is in two months when E3 rolls around.

The console is coming out next May after all.

 

Nintendo already said that they won't show off nx on e3...

 

What calendar are you using? E3 2016 is in one and a half weeks. I'm all hyped because Bethesda is showing off again.

 

Not only that, but the NX is coming out in March, not May.

 

Even when Unity gets support for NX, I imagine that Nintendo may have its own developer program to filter out the crappy games.

 

Huh, I thought it was in July!

 

I'll just leave this here: Rumor: Nintendo NX Production Delayed To Add VR Functionality

 

Zelda VR would be so good. IMO Nintendo entering the VR space is the best thing that can happen because it would mean we'd get a bunch of great AAA VR games.

Releasing a VR headset next year is probably a good idea as well, due to drops in component costs, upped investment in research and better components.

 

It was delayed by four months. I highly doubt they're going to be adding in a competitive VR addition in four months.

 

I cannot imagine why Nintendo would delay the NX a few month to add VR support. Nintendo has bet on slower, cheaper consoles in recent years. To be competitive in the VR space, Nintendo would actually need to design the NX with some horsepower, but that would increase the price. Would the world really want an expensive Nintendo NX with VR support? I am guessing the Nintendo NX would need to sell for $1000 if it shipped with a VR headset and enough horsepower to drive the VR experience properly.

I realize that would be less than a complete VR based PC, but I am again assuming Nintendo would try to drive a lower powered experience as a low cost VR platform to sell more Mario and Zelda rather than a high performance solution that could drive other 3rd titles like Doom or CoD. Even at the somewhat low price of a $1000 for a complete VR solution (headset and console), the price would still be considered very high for the typical console buyer.

In addition to that price point being too high, there would be the issue of isolating the player with the VR headset. Nintendo has historically done well when they released products that encouraged people to interact while gaming together. The VR experience tends to be isolating. Since a single console would be unlikely to be able to drive two VR headsets at once, Nintendo would expect each player to buy their own Nintendo NX VR to play together. If the price was $1000 per VR console, then very few people would have the systems and very few people would game together.

 

IMHO They would go for a cardboard set up, ie gamepad with a screen adaptable with extra plastique for the helmet, they already have all the tech component in their pad, they need to increase their tracking tech though.

You can also do a cheap AR helmet using the same principle but with a reflective glass that would reflect the screen back to the eye, sold separately.

 

No way Nintendo's aiming for VR.

For one, that rumor sounds really dubious and with VR being the big fad right now it's inevitable that the rumor would eventually come about.

For two, it's just so counter to Nintendo's business model.

Nintendo has always been about a living room experience with friends and family. They make local co-op and party games. Why would they ever abandon all of that just to chase a bandwagon?

And better yet, why would the walk away from being number one in local play games so that they can go and compete with Google, Valve, Sony, Microsoft, and Facebook?

This is one of the silliest rumors I've heard so far about the NX truth be told.

 

They renewed the virtual boy brand recently, something that didn't happen since its original failure. I'm not saying anything, just pointing to that.

 

Well the GB, GBC, GBA, DS, DSi, 3DS, new 3DS and Virtual Boy would kind of disagree. Also new mobile stuff.

I don't think they'll do it, but I do think they would delay to at least have the hardware have the potential. Like maybe a slightly different GPU with some added features and stuff like that. High powered USB ports etc.