Sources close to Eurogamer claim that the Nintendo NX will launch in 2017 as a handheld-based gaming system replete with detachable controllers. It’ll run cartridges, too.
This isn’t the first time that such a report has emerged, either; back in May, we brought you the news that The Big N’s mysterious new hardware would seemingly drop discs in favor of cartridges. That would mean cartridges will become the NX’s form of physical media, with Nintendo also expected to offer digital downloads via some revamped form of the eShop.
It also chimes with rumors that the NX is being designed as a console/handheld hybrid, and an artist’s impression below reveals a device that is awfully similar to the Wii U’s GamePad – only this piece of hardware is ostensibly self-sufficient.
According to Eurogamer’s sources, the Nintendo NX is, fundamentally, a “high-powered handheld console with its own display” and will be “bookended by two controller sections on either side.” A base unit is then used to connect the system up to your television, allowing users to seamlessly transfer from portable gaming to the big screen. That’s quite the enticing prospect, but for now, chalk this one up as another as-yet-unconfirmed rumor.
The Big N is aligning its new hardware – currently codenamed the Nintendo NX – for a worldwide launch in 2017, when The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be the marquee launch title.
