Nintendo NX leaked as cartridge-using portable console

According to a report from Eurogamer, Nintendo’s next console, the NX, will be a powerful handheld and portable device. Said report is based on leaks made by a number of reliable sources in communication with Eurogamer.

Eurogamer provided this illustration of the NX’s possible appearance. Photo: Eurogamer

The NX will also have detachable controllers. These controllers attach to the display’s sides, and can be detached whenever needed.

If you wish to play games using a larger screen, the NX can be connected to a TV via a docking station.

According to one other Eurogamer source, the NX will run on an operating system created by Nintendo, and not Android as earlier reports suggested.

The Nintendo NX will be powered by Nvidia’s Tegra mobile processor, which Android devices are known to have used. If previous reports are to be believed, the NX will prioritize maximizing its handheld technology over being able to create visuals on par with the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One’s.

Interestingly enough, the device will use game cartridges instead of game discs. As of the moment, it is uncertain how many gigabytes of storage these cartridges will support, although 32 GB is a possibility. In contrast, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 games can reach up to 50 GB—and this isn’t even counting the additional downloads said games sometimes install in the machines. The NX, however, is expected to support digital game downloads.

Unfortunately, because of the remarkably different changes in the design of the hardware, the Nintendo NX will most probably offer no backwards compatibility.

For a long time, Nintendo has been seeking to unify the hardware of its console and portable systems. In 2014, Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto told Kotaku:

“Certainly from a development standpoint there is some challenge to it, because if you have two devices that have different specs and you’re being told to design in a way that the game runs on both devices, then that can be challenging for the developer, but if you have a more unified development environment and you’re able to make one game that runs on both systems instead of having to make a game for each system, that’s an area of opportunity for us.”

Eurogamer approached Nintendo for more information about the NX, to which a company spokesperson responded: “Nintendo has not made any new official announcements regarding NX which is due to launch in March 2017. As such [we’re] unable to comment on the various rumors and speculations circulating.”

The new system is expected to be officially revealed this September, and launched worldwide in March 2017 as quoted above. — BM, GMA News