PS4 and Xbox One may be selling by the truck load - yes, that's an industry term - but there's one key player in the console scene that's yet to join the party: Nintendo.
The Wii U, released in 2012 as an optimistic follow up to the barnstorming Wii, has never really got off the ground. Despite repeated attempts by Mario and co. to deliver the system the kind of killer games it would need to draw in even a fraction of the masses who picked up its predecessor, it just hasn't happened. As we type this now, estimates suggest 13 million Wii Us have been sold to date - a total both PS4 and Xbox One both breezed passed some time ago.
As a result, speculation as to just what Nintendo would do with its next console has been bubbling away since its current machine hit the stands. If you hadn't heard, Nintendo has today announced that Wii U's follow up - codenamed NX - will roll out in March 2017. That's why we've decided to bundle together some of the most interesting, and plain odd, rumours surrounding Nintendo's next console.
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It'll Fit In Your Pocket
Well, figuratively speaking. The biggest and most consistent rumour about NX is that it'll be a home console-handheld hybrid. That means you'll be able to play NX games either in your living room on your main TV and, in some fashion, you'll also be able to use an as of yet unspecified device to play the same games on the go.
It could well be that Nintendo is planning some sort of link up with iPhone and Android, allowing you to tap into NX on your phone or tablet, or it could be planning a standalone device, like Sony attempted with PS4-link up play on PS Vita. Sony's problem, however, was that the Vita was a handheld that cost many hundreds of pounds all on its own. Oh, and absolutely nobody owned one.
If NX either taps into a device you already have, or bundles some sort of portable contraption into its offer, it stands a greater chance of actually crossing that home console-handheld divide.
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PS Vita, Credit: PA
It'll Have A Controller That Looks Like Something From Minority Report
Yes, the supposed 'leaked' videos showcasing the NX controller as a touchscreen device with virtual buttons laid across a rather phallic looking handset may have been proved to be fake ), but the patent is was based on is real.
Now, whenever a technology company files for a patent, you have to take the designs with a pinch of salt. It's not uncommon for firms to try and get a patent in place for a new piece of equipment at the very early design stage, just so they're covered if it ever sees the light of day.
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Nevertheless, a handheld-like touchscreen controller with a swish screen has gained credence both because it would be an expansion of what Nintendo attempted to do with the Wii U's rather
chunky tablet-like controller, and it taps into the idea that you'll be able to take the NX out and about with you.
No, Actually, It'll Have A Controller That Looks Like The U-Bend From Your Toilet
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Never trust a patent filing. Unless it leads to a faintly amusing headline. As reported by our friends over at Nintendo Life, another controller design Nintendo has filed for patents for is a strange U-shaped device, which reports suggest has been crafted to help with exercise and keeping fit.
Of course, Wii came packed with scores of keep fit games and accessories, meaning this could either be an abandoned Wii U controller, or it could be one of a multitude of NX gamepads Nintendo is prepping for launch. What's certain is, if NX is to reach the same heights as the original Wii, it'll need to appeal to mothers who think they can get the body of Louise Redknapp by doing nothing more than thrashing their wrists about playing virtual tennis while working through their fifth bag of Wotsits in front of their TV.
Credit: PA
It'll Launch With A Load Of Wii U Games You've Never Played
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If there's one thing all Nintendo consoles, from Nintendo 64 onwards, have suffered from it's a lack of third-party support. Even the mammoth-selling Wii was further down the priority list of most big publishers than Xbox 360 and PS3, simply because it's motion-sensing controller required special attention. As a result, release schedules for Nintendo consoles are often especially barren, meaning Nintendo itself often has to pick up the slack.
The problem for NX is, several high profile Nintendo franchises have only recently made an appearance on the floundering Wii U, and there are plenty more - including Zelda - in the pipeline, despite its slow sales. As a result, a multitude of different sources are now saying on good authority that NX will benefit from the biggest line-up of Nintendo titles at launch of any console it's ever released, simply because Nintendo is going to dump a stack load of ignored or unreleased Wii U games onto it.
So, what can we expect? Nintendo has just confirmed that the aforementioned Zelda game, originally designed for Wii U, will also debut on NX at launch in March 2017, while a re-release of Super Smash Bros for Wii U - which only hit shops in late 2014 - also seems likely. Throw in other Wii U high points (Splatoon and Super Mario Maker to name a couple) and a few fresh versions of Mario Kart, Metroid, Luigi's Mansion and the continually delayed Pikmin 4, and you have a fairly strong line-up regardless of what the likes of EA, Activision and Ubisoft do.
It'll Be More Powerful Than PS4 And Cheaper Than Xbox One
Nintendo has never been especially fussed with power, ever since the supposed "most powerful games console on earth", the Nintendo 64, got pummeled by the original PlayStation at the tills. Nevertheless, rumours suggest that Nintendo has partnered up with AMD for NX's GPU, packing the new console with the firm's Polaris chip.
Now, it's hard to tell just what this will mean for NX - chip manufacturers tend to get wrapped up in their own hyperbole when describing the performance of a new GPU, and the Polaris isn't even out yet - but speculation suggests it could enable NX to pack an even bigger punch than the mighty PS4.
Credit: PA
What's more, though Nintendo is the only console manufacturer that tends to make money on hardware at launch (Sony and Microsoft sell new consoles below the cost it actually takes to make them, just to get the numbers up), one of the main reasons Wii was such a runaway success was because Joe Bloggs, his wife and three kids saw it as affordable. As such, it's no great leap to expect Nintendo NX to be competitively priced, possibly coming in below Xbox One, which you can currently pick up for £239.99.
If Nintendo can offer a powerful, portable console with an enviable line-up of games, all packaged together for a cheaper price than its rivals, then it may just have cracked it. If not, we might well be using NX as a decorative door stop in the office in 12 months time.
Words by Keith Andrew
Featured image credit: Nintendo
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Nintendo
