My memory is not what it used to be, but as unreliable as it is I feel like I can still remember on giant bomb podcasts or streams at least least two years ago, maybe as far back as three or four, the guys (Jeff specifically) talked about how Nintendo's next console could/should consolidate their handheld and console devices into one platform. I don't remember seeing that speculation anywhere else at the time, and it was before the NX had even been formally confirmed. Over the years this eventually turned into relative certainty, but at the time they made it sound like speculation. Now that it is officially announced I want to know to what degree this was an unknown and what information they had.

Was nintnedo responding to Jeff's instincts or the overall mood of consumers? Has this been in development for long enough that the duders had information about it that long ago? Was it a safe bet that this would be their next move or is this a cosmic coincidence? Does anyone have the oldest reference that the guys made to the new nintendo platform on hand?

Are they just psychic?

Am I just stupid?

I think it's one of those things where they've been talking about videos games for so long, and say so many things about them, that eventually they're going to be right, and the more time passes, the more times they're right.

People remember when that happens because it seems like they predicted the future, but they don't remember when they get it wrong, which probably happens more often. And that can lead to the impression that they're psychic.

Hm? You meant just in this specific case? I dunno, probably.

I'd guess that planning on this system was beginning while Wii U's development was still ongoing. Considering the sort of external variables that need to be in place before a console can be fully developed (CPU, GPU, screens, etc.) it only makes sense that console developers try to start way, way early so they can plan on factors that, at the moment, are not yet viable, but will be when it's time for them to release a new system.

i think Jeff has just been working in video games long enough to get a good sense of where things are going.

@mooseymcman: In this particular case it seems like something that they talked about so persistently and for so long that they just willed it into existence. I am trolling through old videos to see if I can find an old reference they made.

@kcin: It's totally possible that they heard some information through the grape vine that they didn't want to disclose on air but if there had been any hardware leaks, especially that long ago, I would think they would have brought it up.

They've been gradually combining their home console/handheld console dev teams or making the home experience of a series similar to the handheld experience of a series in some ways for a while, mostly starting in the DS era.

• Mario Kart Wii was very much a pretty direct sequel to the handling and style of game that Mario Kart DS was. This is in contrast to how Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA) and Mario Kart Double Dash (Gamecube) have pretty much nothing to do with each other, and F-Zero GX (Gamecube) had nothing to do with F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (GBA).
• For a long time, the handheld platformer series was Super Mario Land (2 games, Game Boy era) which morphed into Wario Land (a buncha games for the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and GBA), and they were doing their entirely separate thing from the home console Nintendo Mario platformers. The beginning of New Super Mario Bros. as a series on the DS eventually bridged its way onto consoles, and the experience of that series is pretty interchangeable on handheld or console, aside from the multiplayer on consoles.
• Mario Kart 7 (3DS) and Mario Kart 8 (Wii U) may as well be the same game from a design standpoint (normal road driving, underwater driving, cars that glide through the air) with only some minor item changes and different tracks and hardware power differences.
• Smash Bros. for 3DS/Smash Bros. for Wii U are the same game, with some minor stage differences and hardware power differences.
• Further cementing the platformer unification of handheld and home console, the design of Super Mario 3D Land (3DS) directly led into the design of Super Mario 3D World (Wii U).
• Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS) directly led into Paper Mario: Color Splash (Wii U).
• Like Smash Bros., Super Mario Maker is getting versions for both Wii U and 3DS.
• Like Smash Bros., Hyrule Warriors has versions for both Wii U and 3DS.
• Like Smash Bros., one or more of the Monster Hunters (sorry, not my specialty, too lazy to look up) has versions for both Wii U and 3DS/Wii and DS/Wii and 3DS. Only some of them get localized outside of Japan, also technically not a Nintendo developed game, but they often publish it internationally.

It's a trend with Nintendo that has gradually been gaining steam, so I wouldn't say Jeff is some kind of prophet for noticing that they're been gradually shifting towards that way of developing games. I don't think it is at all likely that Nintendo is responding to any particular game industry figures or demand from the public, so much as they just want to consolidate their efforts and find a middle of the road piece of hardware that appeals to both types of gamers (home and handheld) while making their software available universally in either situation. Putting out two different pieces of hardware is costly, and occasionally one of them underperforms (pretty sure the GBA wasn't the runaway success that the Game Boy and DS were, and the Gamecube and Wii U were never great sellers).

If I remember right the Switch concept was speculated on after Nintendo announced that they merged their handheld and console divisions 2 or 3 years ago.

It's a result of two things: 1) people have wanted all of Nintendo's games in one place for a long time, and as sales and player-bases have dwindled, the split has seemed more annoying over time. 2) with the rumours of what the NX was aiming to be, it seems obvious that a console that can go portable should be the sole Nintendo hardware going forward. The Switch was the announcement that just made those rumours a reality.

Also, I think as soon as people saw the aims of linking the Vita with the PS4, people just questioned why Nintendo hadn't done it to a greater degree than the limited GBA-Gamecube and DS-Wii functionality. Vita-PS4 streaming is a stop-gap that got everyone thinking about an Switch-like platform. It seems inevitable that the Giant Bomb crew would also think about it.

Why? I wouldn't think they would do that, especially if the situation was very unsafe for the sources, or the sources were numerous but totally unproven due to their concern for the legality of what they are disclosing and to whom. Maybe a friend confided in them that this is how it is? Said friend might say, "you didn't hear this from anyone." To which I would likely say, "No problem," and then I would go on to say in public, "I bet it's like this." It's the most you could do without explicitly saying "someone told me this, but I can't say who or what they do, and I can't prove it." That sort of thing might be enough to endanger the source, especially that early.

Giant bomb also aren't the only ones who have been talking about Nintendo doing this. They would have had to have been working on this for years and that means many opportunities for the idea to leak out and become rumour. Also, based on DidYouKnowGaming's videos about nintendo hardware in the past, current consoles often have their roots in R&D for several console generations before they decide to fully go for it.

@kcin: I was talking about leaks that were published elsewhere, I acknowledged that they could have heard info from somewhere and decided not to disclose it. But that is partially my question, do they have direct access to that kind of information about hardware that early into development?

It's more just a curiosity than anything, but I remember thinking the concept sounded like a pipe dream before it just gradually morphed into reality.

I like to imagine that Nintendo had a fucking crazy and stupid idea, like a gaming exosuit or something, then they heard all the internet rumors and thought "well that makes way more sense." and just did that.

Edit: THE X STOOD FOR EXO ALL ALONG

I'm going to quote this Venturebeat article:

Nintendo’s unit sales numbers for fiscal 2016 are out today, and the Japanese company updated its sales of consoles sold as well.

Here’s how the numbers look: To date, Nintendo has sold 58.85 million Nintendo 3DS handhelds. It has sold 101.63 million Nintendo Wii consoles, and it has sold just 12.8 million Wii U systems. It has sold 274 million copies of 3DS software, 914 million copies of Wii software, and 84 million copies of Wii U software.

Credit: http://venturebeat.com/2016/04/27/nintendo-by-the-numbers-58-5m-3ds-handhelds-and-12-8m-wii-u-consoles-sold-to-date/

The numbers speak for themselves.

I've listened to several other video game podcasts over the years, most recently, Cheap Ass Gamer, 8-4 Play, and Super Best Friendscast. Literally EVERY SINGLE ONE of those podcasts have all stated the same thing. "That Nintendo should, or likely will combine their handheld and consoles into a single product." This is not unique to Giant Bomb.

I'm not sure what you are trying to say or what question this is trying to answer, but to me, these numbers show that consumers very clearly don't want a combination of the 3DS and the Wii. Fortunately, the numbers aren't the only things 'speaking', and we know better than that - we just know the Wii U wasn't the right execution of that idea.

From what I seem to remember about the rumor cycle Nintendo was extremely conservative with Switch info. I think I remember third parties saying that hadn't gotten any info about the NX as late as this E3. I doubt it was a leak. It was just pure speculation that didn't take that much figuring out. Here are some of things that that lead pretty much everyone predicting this move.

1. Nintendo handhelds have always outperformed their consoles. Yes including the DS which outsold the Wii by 50% more units.

2. Nintendo announced they were working on a console successor but no mention of a handheld successor when the 3DS was older and about on schedule for a new handheld.

3. The WiiU's dualscreen with a touchscreen design is a DS. Remote play also turned the system into a pseudo-handheld device.

4. Software parity between the 3DS and WiiU was much greater than any other generation. Also 3DS tended to be the lead platform for designs. 3D Land lead to 3D World. Mario Kart 3DS is identicle to WiiU. Smash came to 3DS first. A link between worlds was the first major departure from the Zelda formula and likely heavily influence breath of the wild.

5. They know and we all know the Wii was a fluke and a one time thing. Otherwise Nintendo console sales have been trending downwards since the NES and with the WiiU it is a completely unsustainable business.

Combine all those together and you get a successor to Nintendo home console makes literally zero business sense unless they found a way to infuse the success of their handheld offerings. The WiiU was a half step in that direction but they needed to go all the way with it to see if it could work.

I think a reasonable person could deduce this as a logical direction, if you just look at the Wii U, its feels like a feature that should have been present, and clearly Nintendo did too.

Arguably they hold last bastion of the portable games market if you exclude phones, so this makes perfect sense, and I think Nintendo deserve kudos for making this smart move.

I completely agree on your first point. Nintendo's Wii U lets you play games on a TV through the console or on the Wii U gamepad wirelessly through the console. The only next logical step would be to remove the console and integrate the hardware into the gamepad. It's not some mystical prophecy foretold by Giantbomb staff members.

@rejizzle said:

This is the real reason. It's been pretty clear for the last couple of years that this was going to happen when they did some pretty major corporate restructuring.

It's the best way to sell a console to both Japan and the US, it's what both regions want.

I remember talk like that when the wiiu came out, i thought it was pretty predictable.

Nintendo's Wii U GamePad prototype revealed: Two Wii remotes, a display and some tape - December 7th, 2012

Pretty much this. I listen to Bombcast Rewind every once in a while and there's multiple times where the guys, specially Jeff, predict something before it happens and now, listening to them years later, it's impressive the amount of stuff they get right.

In one episode Jeff predicts that Blizzard's next games would be a card game and some kind of character based multiplayer games. This was years before Hearthsone, Heroes of the Storm and Overwatch were even teased. There's also an episode where they talk about how they believe the PS4 and Xbox One could have middle-of-the-road upgrades like we're now getting with PS4 Pro and Scorpio.

@bones8677: Was just going to mention the TBF one.

Yeah, it definitely seems like this was not an isolated case. Whether because they were reading the game market/conditions properly, had informed knowledge or were simply talking from their ass, it seems a lot of people either guessed or hoped that Nintendo would go hybrid long before the first leaks even happened.

It came to Jeff in a drug induced trance, during a pilgrimage to the summit of video game mountain.

I think...and I don't want to put words in his mouth, but Jeff noted three things

- The Japanese are less into consoles and more into handhelds and smartphones...that did not appear to be changing direction at all...it was getting stronger.
- Nintendo has done very well with handhelds, they certainly did better with them than consoles (Sorry, folks as well as Wii sold, it was software attachment was abysmal.)
- One system that does both functions (console/handheld) would simplify Nintendo's production expectations for providing enough software.


My own thoughts
With that said, Nintendo has enough money to do anything they want, but they are far too conservative with cash on hand. They could have easily doubled they number of development teams six years ago. As soon as Wii started raking in money they could have bulked up teams and by now those teams would be experiences hard-core developers ready to make great games. Moreover, they could have set up a teams like Sony has for 3rd party development liaisons and indie liaisons. They have the cash on hand, they have the cash to do that for a decade without earning a dime. People say Nintendo can't compete with Sony and Microsoft with this or that, but they is hogwash. We all know it is hogwash, we all know they have enough money on hand without need of a loan to make a proper systems properly powerful enough for 3rd party software, to supply such systems with a proper amount of first party software and give the green light for the correct amount of 3rd party software.

The fact they have not done the above is why they are in their current situation. They have painted themselves into a corner of not really have the resources to support a console and a handheld effectively anymore. It is their own fault, and it is not because they can't, it was because they didn't/wouldn't. They are starving themselves like a frighten elderly hoarder. What's the money for if not to increase the size and scope of their business?