Nintendo Next Gen Console Coming: Codename NX

Like most people my age, the original ‘Mario’ games have a massive appeal, both when they were released back in the day, and today as retro classics. Again, like most people, I was more than a tad annoyed at Nintendo’s decision not to advance their business model into the mobile field. To me, it seemed ludicrous that Satoru Iwata and the Nintendo team wouldn’t budge on this, as the mobile gaming industry is a massive field that was ripe for the picking.

So it came as a shock to learn that Nintendo IP is heading to mobile devices. Nintendo have confirmed they will be making the move to mobile game development as part of a new partnership with DeNA.

According to the statements released by the companies, new Nintendo intellectual property will be developed for smart devices and will be specifically optimised for those platforms. In layman’s terms, rather than porting games that have been specifically created for the Wii U or the Nintendo 3DS you are going to receive entirely new titles on mobile.

But what about their own line of hardware? Surely they are not going to drop everything and focus solely on mobile games? Don’t get me wrong, I do love past Nintendo consoles, but I think that there should have been more thought into how their business model should progress (#WiiUFail).

It was a relief then, that Iwata announced the company’s next “dedicated game platform” is in development, codenamed NX. 

Iwata made an attempt to play the mobile games move into a positive spin regarding dedicated hardware and games. The move to enter the mobile games business has made Nintendo more passionate about their own systems.

The NX is going to be a “brand new concept.” There was no further information given about the NX. This leaves us open to speculation about whether it is a 3DS or Wii U successor. But as it’s also a new concept, it could in fact be both, or neither.

Back at the start of 2014 there were lots of rumours about a Fusion Terminal and Fusion DS. These would have replaced both the Wii U and 3DS with a single piece hardware. The Fusion Terminal was the console box for your TV, and The Fusion DS was the two-screen handheld that you could play anywhere or you could use it to control games on the Terminal. Could the mystery NX be a combo of those units?

If that was the case, it would be a new concept, but to win sales Nintendo would need to keep the price down without sacrificing performance.

[Image via nintendoeverything]

SOURCE: Geek