Tokyo (AFP) – Japanese videogame giant Nintendo said Thursday it will offer gamers a sneak peek at a long-awaited new console that could be key to boosting its bottom line.
The Super Mario maker is planning to put a three-minute video about the “console with a completely new concept” on its website at 11:00 pm Japan time (1400 GMT) Thursday.
“It’s a short video but please take a look,” it said on Twitter.
The Kyoto-based firm, which successfully forayed into the smartphone game market with the release of Pokemon Go earlier this year, has not given any details about the new console, codenamed NX, except that it will be rolled out March 2017.
Nintendo shares soared 4.40 percent to 27,230 yen in Tokyo on the news.
Japanese gamers were caught up in the excitement.
“Finally it will be revealed. I must watch the video,” one Twitter user said.
The new console could be vital for Nintendo which is looking for a hit product to offset slowing demand for its Wii U console.
After years of pressure, Nintendo — which also created the Donkey Kong and Legend of Zelda brands — abandoned a consoles-only policy and entered into the smartphone game market this summer with the Pokemon Go app.
Pokemon has been popular in Japan since first being launched as software in 1996 for Nintendo’s iconic Game Boy console.
In March, the company released “Miitomo” — a free-to-play and interactive game that allows users to create “Mii” avatars — as it tries to compete in an industry that has increasingly gone online.
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