News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Release by sspiff on Friday May 12, 2023 @03:24AM (#35913067)
I think it would make more sense for Nintendo to make a more powerful console on a compatible platform that isn't handheld, kind of like the Sega Master System/Game Gear or Sega Mega Drive/Nomad consoles.

So you can enjoy the same titles on the go as you can on the TV, and you could still use the Switch on the TV, but there would be an alternative for people who want a more high fidelity, fluid experience on a TV or a monitor.

It doesn't even have to be that much more powerful. Even when sticking to the same vendor, a 2018 Nvidia ARM chip had roughly 3-4x the CPU power and 10x the GPU power of the Switch, in a 15-60W power budget. This would be fine for a console that's always plugged into the power mains.

Going to more midrange vendors like Rockchip or Mediatek, or - and this is a long shot - striking a deal with Samsung for using their Exynos chips would probably yield a lower cost device but still net a 4-5x increase in gaming performance.

Emulation has proven that the games are not tied so tightly to their hardware platform for switching to a more modern architecture while maintaining compatibility to be an issue. Even without first-party involvement people have been running Switch games on mobile Android devices with a good processor.

Re:The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Release by zimpenfish on Friday May 12, 2023 @03:45AM (#35913211)
> striking a deal with Samsung for using their Exynos chips

The fantasy world where they do a deal with Apple for M2 SOCs (or even just get bought wholesale by Apple.)

Re:The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Release by Cthulhu_ on Friday May 12, 2023 @04:22AM (#35913454)
> (or even just get bought wholesale by Apple.)

This is a crazy idea but... it might end up becoming reality. I don't see Nintendo selling any time soon though, it's been very independent for a very long time, to the point where it was huge when they released some things for smartphones (pokemon go, super mario jump, etc).

That said, Apple's been trying some things with gaming (they pushed gaming as one of the use cases for the Apple TV), but then I realize they already have one of the biggest gaming platforms in the world with the iphone.

Re:The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Release by peanuty1 on Friday May 12, 2023 @04:54AM (#35913645)
Apple seems very uninterested in gaming on Mac.
Re:The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Release by lrvick on Friday May 12, 2023 @06:35AM (#35914337)
You just gave me chills. That would 100% be the thing that would push me to piracy so I never give Nintendo money again.
Re:The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Release by dmonitor on Saturday May 13, 2023 @01:53AM (#35925972)
Making a deal like that would probably cause the singularity, and Japan would never let Nintendo be bought by an American company.
Re:The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Release by sspiff on Saturday May 13, 2023 @05:37AM (#35926912)
That sounds more like a nightmare to me.