Nintendo has been lagging behind its rivals for a while now. After rumours of the cryptic console only known as the NX first surfaced in early March last year, not much has popped up. And with the weak competitive performance of the Wii U in comparison to Sony and Microsoft, you’d think Nintendo would have been eager to set the bar for when the next generation of console wars begins in 2017.
So then when Nintendo didn’t show up on Day 1 of Tokyo Game Show (September 15), you can bet people started talking.
What is the NX?
To put it bluntly: we still don’t know. Nintendo has been eerily silent about the matter. Fans hope that the NX will be the console to bring Nintendo the victory it has not enjoyed since the commercial success of the N64 over the PlayStation in 1996. Until an official announcement is made however, we can only guess.
A clue!
A clue to what could possibly be the NX surfaced on June 29, 2016 in the form of three patents filed by Nintendo. The patent was not meant to be available to the public until August 11, but leaks do happen.
The NX?
The patent is fairly lengthy, and I’m no expert in the world of inventions and inventors. What it appears to be however, is some sort of lightweight, handheld, “information processing device” (ergo computer system), sporting GPS functions, vibration functions, audio functions, a touch screen, an infrared camera, an actual camera, radar, communication functions, and altimeter, and a geomagnetic sensor. Seriously, this sounds like something out of James Bond.
The device itself appears to be based off a standard touch phone, but with attachments that allow it to be controlled as a handheld game unit.
So it’s a handheld?
Well… yes and no. The specs on the patent definitely look like those of a revolutionary handheld device. However, if it was handheld, then Nintendo would not have had to make statements on how the NX would not replace the Wii U. Why would a handheld ever replace a full console?
This has led to the theory that whatever the NX is, it’s likely the first of its kind: a hybrid handheld/console device that can be played by connecting to a television unit, or brought around as a portable gaming system. The patent describes a unit with detachable features as well; a control pad that can be connected or disconnected to change certain functions. Perhaps these serve to transform the unit from a portable device to a standard controller? That definitely sounds lie a Nintendo gimmick, so it just might be the case.
There are also rumours that the NX will be paying tribute to Nintendo’s origins and will be making use of game cartridges rather than discs. As noted by IGN, the upcoming title Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is going to be available in both disc and cartridge format, and no modern console uses cartridges. It has to refer to an future machine.
Is it the right move?
At the moment, this is all speculation. This patent might not even be meant for the NX, and could just be a design Nintendo just wants to keep the rights for in the event they develop it. Here are two more systems designed by the same inventor that never actually hit store shelves:
Or maybe the NX will feature all feature ALL THREE of these systems. Who knows?
If these patents circulating the internet indeed refer to the NX, then I feel like Nintendo is trying to go back to its roots with the device: innovative thinking. The Wii U was the closest that Nintendo came to conforming to its rivals’ patterns, and quite frankly, it failed. That should tell the company what this new system should be.
We want to feel unique when holding a Nintendo product. We want to have that feeling of being the kid with the GameBoy when everyone else was playing on a brick game. We want to be linking handhelds to consoles and trading Pokemon when everyone else is button mashing mindlessly on Tekken. We want to be swinging air swords and strumming air guitars two generations later, when everyone else is still sitting on the couch, hands in the same position, and pressing the same buttons they did ten years ago. What we want from Nintendo’s NX, is to feel like we’re still the kids who grew up with the company.
When I was a teenager, I read a magazine column where Satoru Iwata claimed he did not believe in better graphics and more powerful machines as the way to make better games. Nintendo fans want them to take risks. We want Nintendo to be the proud oddbird among the Big Three. The risk and innovation are what make Nintendo what it is. Whether or not the NX wins this next round of the Console Wars, personally, I’ll be glad to see that Nintendo can still stick to its guns.