Nintendo NX: What do we know about the next console?
Nintendo NX: What do we know about the next console?
It was announced last year, but the new hardware won't be available for some time yet
Sony and Microsoft aren't the only companies with new games consoles on the horizon - Nintendo has something up its sleeve, too.
While the makers of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One revealed their plans in June, Nintendo announced its intentions last year.
Codenamed the NX, it was a no-show at this year's E3 expo, but a release date is now on the books.
The NX is launching next year
As TechRadar reports, it was revealed that the NX will arrive next year after Nintendo disclosed the release date in an earnings call. It will work off a "brand new concept" and will launch globally in March 2017.
While there's no firm release date for the PlayStation 4 Neo, some believe Sony's new console will arrive by the end of 2016, jumping ahead of the NX. As for Microsoft, its Project Scorpio Xbox isn't coming until Christmas 2017, so despite the NX being announced long before the other two consoles, it's likely to launch between them.
A console and a handheld?
Rumours have centred on the NX being some form of hybrid device, featuring both a home console and a portable handheld gaming system.
Trusted Reviews picks up the hearsay, highlighting patents filed by Nintendo detailing a system that "can draw additional processing from other computing devices". Such a structure would be a games console that mates to a handheld, boosting the power and experience once the two pieces of hardware are linked.
It could feature a new type of controller
Several months ago, a poster on the NeoGAF forum happened across a patent filed by Nintendo outlining a bold, oval touchscreen controller. Two grips sprout out of the bottom and two large buttons sit either end. The screen can display gameplay as well as additional buttons and prompts.
This corroborates rumours of the NX platform being both a console and a handheld device, according to Game Rant.
It might not use discs
The controller patent also mentions that the "example system is not provided with an optical disc drive". Alphr believes this indicates ether a download-only approach or, potentially, the return of game cartridges.
There are advantages in returning the cartridges, adds the site: flash storage is cheap, but also faster and more reliable than optical storage. In addition, Nintendo has a long history of using cartridges and still uses them for its handhelds.
It doesn't signal the end for the Wii U
Reports earlier in the year that Nintendo would cease production of its current console, the Wii U, to make way for the NX have been rubbished by the company itself, says GameSpot.
The Wii U has sold poorly compared to the likes of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, despite launching a whole year before either of its competitors. However, reports that it is to be canned are firmly on the backburner after Nintendo told Japanese media it is to stay in on sale and in production through the rest of 2016 and into next year.
This strongly ties in with the company's previous statement that the NX console is something completely new and not a replacement for the Wii U.
It could come with virtual reality
With Sony releasing its PlayStation VR headset for the PS4 and PS4 Neo later this year and Microsoft signalling its intent to make its Scorpio console VR capable, a recent report picked up by TechRadar suggests Nintendo could also be getting in on the virtual reality act with its next hardware release.
According to sources, the NX was pushed back to a 2017 release so Nintendo could develop a VR element for it. However, TechRadar isn't so sure, saying that a VR headset goes against the company's ethos of more social gaming. In addition, it continues, Nintendo has a reputation for forging its own path instead of following the trends Microsoft and Sony chase – although the evidence for it is "slowly mounting".
When will we get official information?
Nintendo decided not to reveal or discuss the NX during this year's E3 conference, but has said it would unveil it at some stage in 2016.
GamingBolt reports the reveal will take place sooner rather than later. Nintendo has been spotted on the exhibitors list at next month's Gamescom, Europe's biggest gaming show, leading many to think this could be the time and place.
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