Console Corner: What’s NeXt for Nintendo?

It may be a fair few years away from reality but the big gaming news this week is that Nintendo has revealed it has a new “gaming platform” in production.
Nintendos chief executive, Satoru Iwata, unveiled NX plans Photo: Koji SasaharaNintendos chief executive, Satoru Iwata, unveiled NX plans Photo: Koji Sasahara
Nintendos chief executive, Satoru Iwata, unveiled NX plans Photo: Koji Sasahara

Last week’s announcement was sketchy to say the least, in fact it was so vague we don’t even know if it is going to be a home console or a handheld device.

It has been dubbed Nintendo NX – it’s development codename – and was somewhat amateurishly rushed out in a press conference in Tokyo as the gaming giant detailed its decision to take on the smartphone gaming market.

Nintendo’s chief executive, Satoru Iwata, unveiled NX plans to quash inevitable rumours that the move into mobile means Nintendo may stop making games machines.

During the press event in Tokyo, Iwata said: “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.”

Nintendo’s current home console, the Wii U, has not been as successful as its 100m-selling predecessor. Released in 2012, the machine, which comes with a touchscreen controller called the GamePad has sold around 10m units.

In comparison, Sony’s PlayStation 4, released over a year later, has already passed the 20m mark.

In other gaming news this week, The Xbox One’s April system update includes further improvements for the console’s party chat and achievement apps, Microsoft has detailed.

But these make up just the first half of April’s update with Microsoft set to detail its second wave update features next week.