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Nintendo’s NX could be a portable console, with cartridge games

Nintendo's next generation console may blend the future with the past, as a number of rumours are now suggesting that it will support cartridges for games. That tie to the past won't mean you're tied to your living room though, as the NX is also said to be a portable console with its very own TV dock.

In a sense, the Nintendo NX sounds much like what the contemporary smartphone is evolving into: a jack of all trades that can be augmented in certain situations. While your smartphone might act as a portable game console, media player and communication device, when you're near a streaming capable TV, it becomes a remote control and hub for all of your media.

That may be what the NX is like. While out and about it could operate as high-powered mobile console, perhaps a little like Nvidia's Shield, and when you connect it up to its TV dock, it becomes a more traditional home console, with all of the grounded benefits that brings. It could even house a secondary processor in the dock, similar to the way the PS4's expansion box is for its VR upgrade.

zeldabreath

Zelda: Breath of the Wild, will be one of the NX launch titles

It doesn't necessarily have to offer additional processing power, but could perhaps take over some of the more mundane tasks to free up that extra power on the main processors.

That might be necessary for the NX to keep pace with the potentially Xbox 1.5 style upgrades we're seeing from both Microsoft and Sony for their respective consoles, as the NX is rumoured to use a Nvidia Tegra processor. While they are certainly powerful for a portable system, they would be unlikely to offer comparable performance to the Xbox One or PS4.

That doesn't mean the NX wouldn't have some advantages though. Being truly portable is something that neither the Xbox One or PS4 can offer; it makes it potentially compatible with augmented games like Pokémon Go, which could prove a huge hit for Nintendo in the future; the use of cartridges could kill off load times completely, and the portable core feature should really differentiate the Nintendo offering from its previous Wii and Wii U consoles.

All of this is considered rumour for now though, so don't take anything as gospel. Eurogamer quotes a number of sources on the matter, but that's hardly enough to claim any of this as fact. We'll have to wait until September to get our first look at the NX, but it's set for its official release at some time in March 2017.

KitGuru says: This has me intrigued. I've enjoyed my time with the Wii U a lot, but a Nintendo that's striking off into new territory and combining its 3DS with a new, more powerful system, certainly has me interested.

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9 comments

  1. If this is true then it’s DOA.
    Few people want dedicated portable gaming as their phones fill that gap (look at the poor Shield sales and no one cared for the WiiU controller).
    Also if this doesn’t come out on par with the PS4 then that’s another nail in the coffin as many gamers were disgruntled with the poor performance of the xbone and awful performance of the WiiU. They should just focus on their IP and getting it onto mainstream platforms.

  2. Soo it’s replacing the 3DS as opposed to the Wii/u?

  3. There is no secondary processor in the PS VR box. Sony have said that many times already. As for Tegra, that seems very unlikely since Nvidia is too expensive for consoles and they are no longer offering new Tegra for mobile devices. They are changing it into a processor for other usages, such as automobiles. Also, to say cartridges would completely kill off load times is nonsense, even if they are similar to a portable SSD. Even NVME based SSDs are not fast enough for that – and they are definitely not using something that expensive for cartridges.

    Finally, I hope this rumour of portability is false. This rumour makes NX sound like yet another lame gimick, which I hope is not the case. They need to learn to do real innovation, not silly gimicks.

  4. Nintendo already stated that it is neither replacing the Wii U or 3DS, which is kind of a weird thing to say.

  5. Yeah people prefer a phone or tablet for portable gaming, not a handheld. Mobile gaming is now bigger than handheld gaming ever was. The reason is that phones and tablets are useful for way more than just gaming and these days multi-purposes devices win out. (That is also why home consoles are gaining more and more non-gaming features.)

  6. Plus if you wanted a portable experience similar to a PS Vita for example, there’s loads of controllers on the market of your iOS or Android device and some even come with a dock to hold your phone…. I still prefer a 3DS or PS Vita over my phone any day though 😛

  7. People say… if it’s not as strong as the PS4 or Xbone, it’s doomed….

    I don’t care if they use a baked potato for their next console, just give us the games. If they released a new wind waker on game cube, I’d buy that over all the AAA trash that they release on xbone and ps4. How about metroid prime 4 on gamecube? Yeah?
    Nintendo doesn’t need a new console really. If they released Mario 64 2 on the N64 tomorrow, it would be a massive hit.
    If they released a new link to the past on the snes, the internet would explode.

    Nintendo’s games are timeless. I still play them, even really old ones… Good art is timeless. I just… ya know… wait for about 10 years, buy them cheap on ebay, cause 60 bucks a game is crazy, and no way I am gona pay 300 bucks for the NX!! It’ll be 50 bucks in 10 years, have a nice day.

  8. <<o. ★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★::::::!be420p:….,…..

  9. Wow, I can’t tell if you’re trolling or just a mad fanboy…Does someone genuinely think that there are that many N64s still in use/working?!