Rumors on the Nintendo NX

Nintendo is in the news yet again, this time for news dropped about their next major console, the Nintendo NX (major console as in comparison to the minor one, the Nintendo Mini-Nes).


Most of you already know my thoughts and personal feelings towards Nintendo, but I am actually looking forward to what the NX is and wondering if they can knock the launch out of the park. However… from the look at the device that we’ve gotten – things look a bit weird and probably trying too hard to be “innovative”.

What is the darn thing:

From what we’ve scene from sources like Eurogamer and Arstechnica it seems that the device will be a screen device backed with a kickstand (think Surface book) that’s flanked by controller bits…


This means that the console is “portable”. It’s not just a hand held device, but rather it can be put down and become just a full on stationary piece of tech. Exactly how it’ll work in terms of connecting to a TV or something else is beyond me.


To me, this just seems weird, as if they’re trying to take their Wii and WiiU idea and fuse them together while separating them. This is generally a “good” idea as both had great things working for it, however the issue that I personally have is the fact that the motion controllers are only great for “some” games. I would like to hear that the NX has a basic standard controller similar to that of the “pro controller”.


As such, the WiiU’s tablet controller was too clunky to use for most games, but was quiet useful in others such as ZombiU. So, to me, it would have been nice if they took these kinda of controls as “extra” for the NX instead of smashing them together to BE the actual console. This of course only holds if and ONLY if these design is to be the real console.


Generally, I have no idea if the design of the console will be something that draws anyone in – though the idea of a portable console is something going strong for it.

This is not an actual image of the cartridge…

It may come to no one’s surprise that Nintendo is still banking on that powerful POWER OF NOSTALGIA! They’re opting into using proprietary hardware to hold their games — wait, wait, wait — before you give me flak for giving Nintendo flak, I actually really like this idea…


They’re using “cartridges”! And not just any cartridges, but solid state cartridges! The idea seems cool, and may be able to do some fast performance even for games that may not be properly optimized. 


That being said, I think that a lot of people are going to enjoy the fact that they’re using “cool old-school styled cartridges” and be pulled in by that, so it’s also a great marketing point for Nintendo. We only need look at the Mini-NES or Pokemon Go to look at how people respond to nostalgia.


Does the Console even have some Juice?:

The Nintendo NX is reported to be sporting some nice tech from Nvidia, that being a processor from Nvidia’s mobile line that has specs close to the Tegra X1 processor (the same processor for the Nvidia Shield, and the Google Pixel C).


If true, then the NX will likely be a step up in power from the previous WiiU, though would likely still fall behind the XBONE and PS4. Maybe that’s not an issue though…


Nintendo as been shown to not stand toe-to-toe in terms of graphics with the other consoles, but that’s not their target. They could be trying to hone in on the mobile gaming department and introduce a new era of quality games. Imagine bringing Monster Hunter to a bigger scale graphically and mechanically – still not that of, say, GTA, but a massive improvement to the series that many should enjoy! 


This is only speculation though, and I feel they’re playing with fire with the innovative route, but I think it CAN work… but execution is everything. The NX will NEED to be backed with popular attractive games, a lot of them. Nintendo cannot afford of letting fans/customers/players down again by not supporting their system and excluding developers and in doing so creating a barren field of only a few good games to play.




Either way, it’ll be interesting in seeing how you all, the public, will react to the NX’s arrival, and if they do go this route of breaking away from competing with major consoles, exactly how that’ll play into their funds.