Leading up to every new generation of hardware is a ton of speculation. There is nothing receiving more speculation right now than the Nintendo NX, the next console from the company.
What will it do? Who will work on it? What kind of discs does it take? Will it lock me out of my own games? All of these are questions that everyone has before a single shred of information is shared. To answer a lot of these questions, rumors are thought up.
Some are based on what people think they should do, others are just crazy ideas. No matter what their reasoning is, these rumors cover all facets of the platform and are often a joy to read.
All About Them Specs
One of the major issues for the Wii U is that it can’t compete with its direct competition, the PS4 and Xbox One, specs wise. They are far more powerful than the Wii U, and this has led several major developers to completely look over the platform. So of course, there would be rumors about the Nintendo NX and how it plans to close the gap.
An image shared to Twitter showed off a GFK survey regarding the upcoming console. It stated that the gameplay graphics will run at 900p/60fps as well as have full achievement support. That’s quite a big jump ahead of what’s on offer with the Wii U. The Nintendo NX would also allow gameplay to seamlessly flow from your television to your controller which would put it in line with tech that the company already has.
To be honest, these sound like realistic possibilities. Unfortunately, they’ve yet to be confirmed.
Nintendo NX: Console/Handheld Hybrid
One of the most intriguing rumors surrounding the Nintendo NX is one about what it actually is. Everyone expects it to be a new console because that’s what Nintendo needs in order to combat Sony and Microsoft in the home space. But there’s one rumor that says it isn’t just a console. According to the rumor, Nintendo’s next platform will actually be a console/handheld hybrid.
Other than rumors concerning the platforms controller, there has been no other news to state whether or not this is true, although it is interesting. Nintendo is known for thinking outside of the box in terms of gaming, you only need to look at the Wii and Wii U to see that.
However, Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima did say that the Nintendo NX would be entirely new and nothing like the Wii U during an interview with Time Magazine. So you may want to take this rumor with an extra large grain of salt.
Industry-Leading Chips
One of the first major rumors concerning the Nintendo NX to make its rounds dealt with the chipset that the platform would utilize. According to a report about Nintendo’s upcoming project, the Nintendo NX would have “Industry-Leading Chips” that would place it head and shoulders above the current competition.
This would allow it to run all of the games that both the PS4 and Xbox One are able to play with no issues at all. Nintendo would, for the first time, be the most powerful home console available, something that has been a dream of fans for quite some time.
The NX Controller
Before last year called it quits, there was one last rumor concerning Nintendo’s next platform. A patent form for a new “processing apparatus” was filed by Nintendo employees… although Nintendo’s name wasn’t actually on the form. Either way, it was one very interesting rumor that split people on whether or not it looked great, or a trainwreck waiting to happen.
A few months after the patent was reportedly filed, images began to surface of the device. They looked nearly identical to the patent images so many believed them to be legitimate. Unfortunately, those images turned out to be a hoax. As of right now, we still have no idea if that patent will be the actual Nintendo NX controller, or if it will even have a typical controller.
PlayStation 4, Meet Nintendo NX
One of the biggest rumors concerned the Nintendo NX’s compatibility with other platforms. According to a tweet from Takashi Mochizuki, a reporter for Wall Street Journal, the Nintendo NX would work with smartphones, PCs, and maybe even the PS4. There was no source provided other than that it was a report from David Gibson, the Head of Research at Capital Securities in Japan.
At the time it seemed insane, but with recent news revolving around the Xbox One and PS4 potentially doing just that, it may not be too far-fetched. We’ll keep our grain of salt, but look optimistically towards the future.
So Many Games
A console is only as strong as the software it has to offer. Before any hardware is released, everyone crosses their fingers and hopes for specific franchises to make a return and new IP to be unveiled. With the Nintendo NX, there has been no shortage of speculation concerning what the heck is happening on the games front.
One rumor that caught a lot of traction, and is still up in the air, was that the next Legend of Zelda would be a launch title for the Nintendo NX. There are also rumors swirling around about a possible new entry to the Super Mario Galaxy series, and a port of the extremely popular Super Mario Maker.
One particularly interesting rumor was about the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake. Square Enix was the first third party to confirm that it’s working on a game for the upcoming Nintendo platform. With speculation that the Nintendo NX would be much more powerful than the Wii U, and even stronger than it’s competition, thoughts began to formulate. It all came to a head when FFVII’s Cloud Strife was added to the Super Smash Bros. roster. Now many are speculating that the highly anticipated project will see the light of day on whatever Nintendo is concocting.
2016 Is When the Magic Begins
One of the most difficult rumors to believe is that the Nintendo NX will actually release in 2016. With the Legend of Zelda supposedly coming to both the Wii U and Nintendo’s next console at the end of this year, that would mean that the Nintendo NX would either release before the game or at the same time. What makes this report particularly hard to accept is that Nintendo still hasn’t shared any information on what the console/hybrid/robot/whatever actually is.
E3 is less than three months away, so there is a chance we will receive some type of announcement then. But, that would mean the console would release within six months from its first reveal. That’s just something you don’t see happen. It’s not completely impossible, though. After all, the Nintendo NX has received plenty of hype without the company uttering a single word. So who knows?
Do you think any of these rumors are true? If so, feel free to share your thoughts with us.
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