Earlier today we reported that Nintendo has finally sent software development kits to the first third-party publishers for the NX, allowing them to create software for Nintendo’s upcoming system. The system is rumored to be a hybrid handheld/console system, but according to a rumor that’s circulating, the kits received by developers were much more powerful than Nintendo’s previous efforts with hardware.
Nintendo has something of a reputation for using underpowered hardware in all of their recent console launches, spanning from the GameCube, Wii, and now the Wii U. Each of these consoles was less powerful than competitors, which is one of the reasons third-party developers began to abandon Nintendo.
While we don’t have exact hardware information and the source for the following remains unknown, if this is true it could be Nintendo seeking to turn around their image as a company that doesn’t produce cutting-edge hardware.
one software demo included with the kit crunches so many polygons that it’s currently impossible to run at 60fps using a current-generation Intel (we’re assuming a Core i7 Skylake) CPU and a nearly top-of-the-line graphics card (no specifics provided, but they probably used a single graphics card).
The biggest hurdle for Nintendo is likely making sure their next console uses x86 architecture, as game developers everywhere have neatly abandoned the last generation of hardware still using PowerPC architecture. Many games announced as cross-gen for the PS3 and Xbox 360 eventually had their last-gen versions cancelled, as x86 architecture is much easier to develop for.
[via MyNintendoNews]
