Here is every rumor we’ve heard about the Nintendo NX

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http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/FpUWXoYZCQo9SSz2rB4sSw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3NfbGVnbztmaT1maWxsO2g9ODY7cT03NTt3PT EzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/homerun/digital_trends_973/a08b693251bfa92ff4a1f2ebce334170 (http://news.yahoo.com/every-rumor-ve-heard-nintendo-175631726.html)Sony and Microsoft have been in an arms race for whose gaming console can squeeze in the most graphical muscle, but for two consoles now Nintendo has taken a more creative approach to its hardware. Unfortunately, the Wii U has struggled to sell. After the breakout success of the Wii, the Wii U has had a tough time competing with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, despite a generous lead time on its release. Even so, Nintendo’s announcement that it would reveal a brand new console in 2016 came as a surprise to many. Updated on 10-16-2015 by Will Fulton:- Added-distribution of development kits. At this point, we don’t know a lot, for certain. Late Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata revealed the NX’s existence at a March 2015 press conference, alongside the announcement of its mobile game licensing deal with DeNA. Iwata described the project, code-named “NX” as “a dedicated game platform with a brand-new concept.” More details were promised for 2016. Related:- Mum’s the word: Nintendo won’t talk NX or smartphone games at this year’s E3 That is the sum total of what-Nintendo has officially revealed about the project so far. Below are the major rumors and our hopes and educated guess on what the NX will be. On track for 2016 As of October 2015, Nintendo has started to distribute NX software development kits to developers, unnamed sources “familiar with the matter” told the Wall Street Journal. Third-party developers can use the kit to create new games and adapt titles already released on previous platforms like the Wii U. These first kits going out will be for Nintendo to have a selection of games available when the NX launches. The dev kits going out now adds credence to suspicions that Nintendo may launch the console by the end of 2016.-“We are increasingly of the idea that Nintendo might launch the NX in 2016 because of the softness of 3DS and Wii U,” David Gibson, an analyst at Macquarie Capital Securities told the WSJ. Scroll wheel shoulder buttons Another interesting patent to emerge, shared on NeoGAF, describes replacing the GamePad’s shoulder buttons with clickable scroll wheels, like on a mouse. That sounds like a great way to maintain the functionality of a current design feature while also adding another dimension of utility. Particularly for games that use a lot of menus, scroll wheels could be a real boon. Thinking more outside the box, two scroll wheels isn’t something we can recall ever seeing before on a gaming platform, which opens up all sorts of new possibilities for unorthodox control schemes. The GamePad is already begging for designers to come up with innovative-was to interact with their games, so adding more interesting control functionality to it at no loss seems like a no-brainer. Achievements and sharing unlocked Nintendo has been the odd man out among its peers for not yet including a-metagame-of achievements or trophies to commemorate gameplay milestones. That may finally change for the NX, as Nintendo has filed a-patent (spotted by Nintendo Enthusiast)-for achievements and a system for sharing the gameplay that led to them. That would mean, for instance, that if you unlock an achievement after a particularly epic boss fight, you will be able to immediately share it with friends on Miiverse (or whatever social system replaces it). The company’s highly-publicized partnership with mobile developer DeNA-implied that we should expect more social and connected features just like this. Return of cartridges A patent filed in February 2015 suggests that Nintendo might be dropping optical drives and returning to cartridges like its consoles used in-the 80s and 90s (and its 3DS handhelds still does). Flash storage steadily grows cheaper and more capacious, while disc-based media retain harder limits to how much data they can hold-without increasing surface area, making a return to cartridges-one-logical solution to ballooning game file sizes. Cartridges also have the advantage of being more resilient to scratching. Another, more contentious way to interpret the filing, however, is that Nintendo is dropping physical media entirely-and instead shifting to digital downloads. While this makes a certain amount of sense for many people, it risks alienating gamers without consistent access to a strong internet connection. Handheld/Console hybrid Many have speculated that the NX will be a hybrid between a portable, handheld gaming device and a TV-bound console — like a Wii U GamePad that you could take anywhere, or a 3DS with a dock to hook it up to your TV. This rumor goes back to a January 2014 post on Nintendo News-(a generally reputable site), which shared an anonymous tip with specifications for the “Nintendo Fusion.” The specs detail two components: the Fusion DS and the Fusion Terminal. While the DS is a fully-functional gaming device, the Terminal also has its own processing power, implying that docking to the TV increases the system’s technical capabilities. Android More recently, the Japanese newspaper Nikkei reported a rumor-that the NX would come “loaded with Android.” The reason would be that third party developers, who are hesitant to create games for the Wii U, would be more inclined to make games based on an already-familiar operating system. While it’s unlikely that Nintendo would produce a console that strictly runs the Google-loaded regular version of-Android, it could build a console on an Android-derived OS, like the Ouya console, or support Android apps and games through virtualization. However, following the Android rumor, a Nintendo representative told the Wall Street Journal that there is “no truth to the report” that Nintendo is adopting Android for the NX. Dragon Quest As for particular games, the only official word from developers so far is that Square Enix is looking at the NX as a platform for the upcoming Dragon Quest XI and a port of- Dragon Quest X , which has still never been released outside of Japan.- XI is also currently under development for PlayStation 4 and 3DS, aiming for a release on the series’ 30th anniversary, which would place it around spring 2016. Zelda NX The delay of the upcoming Legend of Zelda game for Wii U has also prompted speculation that, at least in part, the delay is in order to simultaneously release the game for Wii U and as an NX launch title. The theory was corroborated even further when Zelda was conspicuously absent from a list of games scheduled for 2016, implying an even further delay. Nintendo did the same thing with- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess , which was delayed from its planned 2005 release to launch alongside the original Wii in 2006. Why we’re excited It’s easy to draw parallels between the GameCube and the Wii U. Both consoles followed immensely successful, gameplay-innovating predecessors (the Nintendo 64 and Wii, respectively), but had a difficult time competing against their more popular peers from Sony and Microsoft. Historically, Nintendo struggles when it tries to compete in the technological arms race with Sony and Microsoft. GameCube didn’t have a major differentiator from Xbox and PS2 aside from a new controller button layout, and Wii U has struggled to identify its target audience since launch. Nintendo’s greatest successes have come from it striking off on its own to create innovative hardware that encourages new types of play. Related:- Artist-rendered Smart Boy device predicts Nintendo’s mobile future We hope that the NX is a merger between handhelds and consoles. Handhelds have always been a strong suit for Nintendo. The original Game Boy more or less defined the category, and-the DS sits narrowly behind the PlayStation 2 as the most successful video game console of all time. Its successor, the 3DS has also sold remarkably well, particularly in light of smartphone’s rise as a gaming platform. In- The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses , game designer Jesse Schell contends that focusing on the particular platforms on which we play games might be less instructive than considering the venues in which we play them.-Bridging the gap between a portable handheld and a stationary console with games that exist fluidly in both is an interesting and untapped idea that Nintendo could explore. That’s all we can say for now, but bookmark this post. We’ll update it whenever we hear more about Nintendo’s upcoming console/platform.



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