It looks like the next console from Nintendo is going to be a portable, handheld machine with removable controllers.
The yet-to-be officially unveiled NX will primarily be a powerful handheld with its own screen, meaning you’ll be able to take gloriously high-def Zelda wherever you go.
According to a new report from trusted video game website Eurogamer, on each side of the console there will be a detachable controller, so you presumably don’t have to be physically holding the unit at all times to play. A concept illustration in the Eurogamer story shows the screen stood upright with the two controllers lying in front. Nifty.
Here's the Nintendo NX design (NB: not Nintendo's illustration, but useful pic of concept) https://t.co/zPMrglRVov pic.twitter.com/nZQuLj2DAH
— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsEG) July 26, 2016
The sources the gaming site references also say the console will connect to your TV via a dock, so you can seamlessly switch up to a big screen when the occasion calls for it.
We’d imagine there will be a big push towards purchasing games digitally, but the article claims that the NX will use cartridges for its physical media, as is traditional with handhelds. They were also told that there will likely be no backwards compatibility support, which isn’t surprising considering how radically different the hardware is.
It probably won’t come as a huge shock to anyone that Nintendo doesn’t appear to be chasing Sony and Microsoft in the graphical stakes; they pulled out of that particular race years ago, and comparisons make even less sense considering the portable nature of the console. Eurogamer’s sources report that it will use a powerful processor called Tegra, made by the visual computing technology company Nvidia.
There’s also no information on games in development other than the already confirmed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but we’d expect to learn more about the software in September, when the console will reportedly be revealed to the world. A launch date is pencilled in for March 2017, which means all of Nintendo’s marketing efforts at Christmas can go towards flogging that rather appealing NES re-release.
We’ll keep you up to date with any further developments, but we’ll say this now – if there’s one thing Nintendo know how to do well, it’s handheld consoles. The Wii U is pretty great but it’s hard to nail down what is actually is. This time the Japanese giant sounds like it has a clear message: play Mario wherever you are. We’ll take that.
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