Features & News

On To The NX One – Nintendo Developing New Console and Announce Mobile Games Partnership

March 19, 2015, Author: Matt Parker

Are you worried that Nintendo aren’t taking the Wii U seriously and want confirmation that they’re going to go full force on turning the maligned system around? I don’t have that news to give you. I’m sorry.

What we do have is confirmation that Nintendo are working on new hardware. Codenamed ‘NX’, Iwata (Nintendo’s President and CEO) says it’ll be a ‘hardware system with a brand-new concept’. There’s also word that Mario and Co. are teaming up with DeNA, a large Japanese mobile game developer and publisher. So you can expect to see the mustached plumber (legitimately) popping up on the App Store by the end of the year.Not much, if anything, is actually known about the ‘NX’. There have been rumours that it’ll bridge the gap between home consoles and handheld consoles, though nothing concrete is out there. Some attention hungry (and probably cash-starved) retailers are allowing you to Pre-order the ‘NX’ – just don’t.

What we do know, for certain, is that DeNA, the company helping Nintendo break into the mobile games market, produce some of the most egregious, stamina-bar-filled, real-money-for-fake-money fueled games that have ever been seen. We can only hope we don’t have to spam our friend’s Facebook timelines in order to give Mario a 1UP.

One other interesting piece of information to come out of yesterday’s press conference is Nintendo’s aims to set-up a subscription service with the new console in mind. Iwata said;

“Unlike the Club Nintendo membership service that Nintendo has been operating, the new membership service will include multiple devices and create a connection between Nintendo and each individual consumer regardless of the device the consumer uses. This membership will form one of the core elements of the new Nintendo platform that I just mentioned.”

Cash rules everything around me. Dollar, dollar bill y'all!

Cash rules everything around me. Dollar, dollar bill y’all!

It’s all a bunch of non-speak, with nothing much being said. No details on cost, content or launch date, so this all boils down to Nintendo confirming they’re actually doing some work. The whole conference was more geared towards shareholders than gamers. In their defence they do need to do that. They are a business. Also, to their credit, it seemed to work.

Nintendo’s share price jumped up roughly 20% after the news hit.