Nintendo to Release New Console March 2017

Matthew Hadick
Games Nintendo
Games Nintendo

After months of speculation, Nintendo has announced that their upcoming console, the NX, will be released globally in March of 2017. “NX” is merely the console’s codename, similar to “Revolution” for the Wii and “Café” for the Wii U. The news was revealed during an earnings call for the fiscal year.

“For our dedicated video game platform business, Nintendo is currently developing a gaming platform codenamed ‘NX’ with a brand-new concept. NX will be launched in March 2017 globally.”

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The details of that “brand-new” concept will come later this year, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima said, remarking that the NX is “not merely the successor to the handheld 3DS or stationary console Wii U. This will be hardware that’s been made with a new way of thinking.” This confirms previous whispers, and leaked documents, regarding the console’s innovative hybrid design that may somehow merge the two platforms into one.

The NX is releasing a bit later than many expected, missing the holiday window traditionally used by console manufacturers to release new hardware. When asked about this, Kimishima said that they wanted to give developers ample time to develop games for the platform so that it releases with a substantial set of launch titles.

WiiU-Zelda
The Legend of Zelda being developed for the Wii U has been delayed to 2017, and will have versions on both consoles.

One of those titles will almost certainly be The Legend of Zelda, which Nintendo revealed will be released on both Wii U and NX. Nintendo employed the same strategy with the dual release of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princessas their last title for GameCube and a launch title for the Wii. Both games are identical, save for the Wii version’s addition of motion controls and the fact that the entire experience had to be mirrored to account for Link’s left-handedness. The differences between the versions of the upcoming Zelda will likely reveal themselves as more details about the NX emerge.

Stay tuned to Fandom for more as this story develops.

Matthew Hadick