Nintendo’s leadership just revealed that they are working on a brand new console to follow the Wii U. Codenamed the NX, this console is going to be something a little bit different from what they have seen in the past. Instead of replacing the Wii U, it’s apparently going to be made to exist aside the Wii U, or at least that’s what a lot of people are speculating. This is because Nintendo also announced a new “service” that will tie their products together, and the Wii U was listed among them.
Here is exactly what Nintendo had to say about the upcoming NX at a recent press conference.
“As proof that Nintendo maintains strong enthusiasm for the dedicated game system business, let me confirm that Nintendo is currently developing a dedicated game platform with a brand-new concept under the development codename ‘NX’. It is too early to elaborate on the details of this project, but we hope to share more information with you next year.”
It is currently not clear whether or not this new console will be a home console or a handheld. Both sectors are still fresh for the big N, with the Wii U only being two years old, and the New Nintendo 3DS only just released in America.
It’s this new service, however, that has people talking. Being developed alongside the NX, this new membership service (stepping up to take the place of Club Nintendo) will encompass, “the existing Nintendo 3DS and Wii U systems, the new hardware system with a brand-new concept, NX, and smart devices and PCs.”
“Nintendo will be the primary party to operate this new membership service. Unlike the Club Nintendo membership service that Nintendo has been operating, the new membership service will include multiple devices and create a connection between Nintendo and each individual consumer regardless of the device the consumer uses.”
As of now, it’s unclear what “make a connection” means. It’s possible that Nintendo is finally making it easy to have one account on all your devices, but the bigger question is whether this system comes with a cross-platform digital distribution service? If it does, does that mean we could finally see Nintendo games come to the PC?
Nintendo has recently revealed that they have made a deal with global mobile games publisher DeNA to use their IP in smartphone based mobile games. They will be targeting both iOS and Android, as well as a system that will allow these games to connect to other Nintendo devices and PCs. However, once again they have not mentioned how this system will work.
So what will the future of Nintendo be like? Perhaps Nintendo will be the first company to go into the “consoleless” generation. If this service really is a universal digital distribution service, then we might see the “core” of Nintendo be the service itself. Perhaps the NX will be a new piece of hardware that can play games from multiple platforms? Maybe it will be something like Nintendo’s version of the Steam Box?
What do you think? What will Nintendo’s new NX be, and what is this new service that they are teasing? Let us know what you think in the comments.