New Nintendo Console Rumored to Include Separate Mobile Device

The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Nate Church

Rumors are flying about Nintendo’s next console, but one group of analysts is pretty sure they know how things are going to play out.

Japan’s Macquarie Capital Securities is predicting that the release of Nintendo’s next console, the NX, will be twofold — a $200 portable unit predicted to launch in November 2016, with a “console partner device” to follow in 2017.

Hints about the upcoming console were provided to Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun via Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima, and although Kimishima did not mention a 2016 console launch date, he did confirm that the company’s first smartphone app would be released this March.

In a recent post on Twitter, Takashi Mochizuki of the Wall Street Journal shared speculation that the NX may work with other devices. Mochizuki acquired the information from David Gibson, Macquarie’s Head of Research.

While Kimishima has released an overview of the company’s plans for the coming year, Nintendo has “nothing to announce” on the NX at this point.

A major console release within the next year or two would make some pretty big waves in the industry, with Nintendo coming out of the gate years after entries from Microsoft and Sony in the current hardware generation. If it can present a compelling case for buying both a handheld and a home system, Nintendo may once again be positioning themselves for a Wii-like breakout launch.

If their hardware construction is sound, we could also finally see major releases getting full ports to a Nintendo console after years of third-party developer abandonment. Played wrong, however, and this could be very hard to swallow for Nintendo shareholders after the lackluster — to say the least — performance of the Wii U.

Follow Nate Church @Get2Church on Twitter for the latest news in gaming and technology, and snarky opinions on both.

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