Nintendo Pitched The NX To Third Parties During E3
Still bummed out that Nintendo never spoke a word about their mysterious next-gen console, codenamed the NX, at E3 2015? If you are, someone really should’ve told you beforehand that they specifically said they wouldn’t be talking about it. In a way, though, they did break that promise. Somebody at E3 got to hear all about the NX, but it was head honchos from the leading third-party companies.
According to Fortune magazine, in an article that was not posted online but was reported by Nintendo Life, most of the reactions to Nintendo’s NX pitch were “positive.” Fortune also interviewed Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo’s development manager Shinya Takahashi. Miyamoto said he would not be quite as involved in the development of this console as he normally is, deciding to focus on games:
I’ve pulled myself back out of some of the hardware section and I’m really focused on some of the software that I’m involved in — for example, the new Star Fox game. Of course I am observing and looking at the hardware, but I am not actively participating and making decisions.
Takahashi discussed his strategy in approaching development of the NX:
For us, the next step is to think about what is going to be that element that is really going to catch the attention of a large number of players again and get them excited.
We’re constantly thinking about this idea from the perspective of the players and the needs of the players in terms of what can we can do with our ability and our technology to capture that excitement and passion.
The fact that Nintendo went to third parties so early in the production process, and that they cared so much about their feelings, is a good sign. This normally insular company has historically been happy producing its own content and caring little about whoever else wants to get on board. They’ve had to learn a hard lesson from this generation, and for a while there, I thought it didn’t sink in. But it did.
Nintendo’s next console WILL need to do better than the Wii U if the company is to save face. Robust third-party support, or at least better offerings than the zilch they get now, is crucial to their comeback. That and Splatoon 2.