In a recent article, Eurogamer reported that the mysterious Nintendo NX will be a portable console with detachable controllers.Now, it goes without saying that everything in this article needs to be read skeptically. None of this has been confirmed by Nintendo, and a lot of it is still based on assumptions and inferences. That being said, Eurogamer does make a convincing argument, and the NX could be one of Nintendo’s boldest moves if any of this is true.
Let’s start with what we know. The Nintendo NX will have the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as one of its big games, possibly as a launch title, and the console is scheduled for sometime in 2017. That’s it. That’s all that we know about the NX.
Now let’s move into the rumor mill and find out what sounds plausible. Nvidia is supposedly providing the Nintendo NX with its Tegra X1 processor, which is currently found in the Nvidia Shield and Google’s Pixel C tablet. If this is true, then Nintendo is moving away from the industry standard of “make the graphics prettier” and toward mobile performance. This performance is essential if, as Eurogamer believes, the NX is a mobile console with a dock station that connects to TVs. Having a long battery life will be essential if the NX is going to launch into on-the-go gaming in this way.
The major drawback of the Tegra X1 is that it lacks the power of the current console generation, namely the Xbox One and the PS4, both of which will be upgraded relatively soon. While we won’t be staring at the world of The Witcher 3 at Ultra settings, Nintendo has been known for making the most out of less powerful tech. Even though the Wii U is a lackluster system compared to the Xbox One and PS4, it still has stellar games such as Smash WiiU and Splatoon. Then again, many developers skipped on the Wii U in favor of the other consoles, so it could go either way.
The other big prediction by Eurogamer is that the Nintendo NX will use game cartridges to store its games instead of disks. Digital downloads were said to be considered by Nintendo as the only way to get games, but it is now speculated to remain as an optional acquirement method for games. The big hint is that LoZ: Breath of the Wild’s trademark includes cartridges in addition to downloads and disks.
Again, all of this is speculation and rumor. Believe nothing until the full announcement of the NX. In the meantime, what do you think of the NX according to Eurogamer? Does their idea of the NX sound like something you’d get? What are the pros and cons of such a device? Let us know in the comments below.
