Manufacturing of the next Nintendo console is reportedly beginning in October (at the latest), with a potential Summer 2016 release!
Digitimes reported that Nintendo has been visiting supply chain partners recently and has ordered pilot production on its next home console. The system will be developed by Foxconn Electronics, with other companies also vying for the job, including Pegatron Technology.
Interestingly, Digitimes also claims that Nintendo aims to ship 20 million units of the NX in 2016. This seems particularly ambitious, considering the Wii U’s lifetime sales are somewhere around the dismal 10 million mark. It’s important to keep in mind that the Wii U is not a sales anomaly compared to the Wii. In fact, the Wii was the anomaly – Nintendo’s home consoles have been on a downward trend since the Nintendo 64.
Nintendo announced its next console, codenamed NX, earlier this year, largely due to the massive commercial failure of the Wii U. The announcement came along with the surprise that Nintendo would be partnering with DeNA to make mobile games.
Many are hoping Nintendo’s NX will be a return to classic gaming systems like the N64 or GameCube, as opposed to the experimental. However, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has said a few key things that make it sound like that won’t be the case. Popular consensus is that the NX will somehow marry the home console with handheld gaming, due to the massive popularity of Nintendo’s handheld systems. We had a go at predicting what exactly the NX will be.
A summer 2016 release for the NX seems much earlier than predicted. Especially gjven that the system was announced this year, but Nintendo refused to talk about it at its E3 Direct. What the E3 Direct did show however, was a company quickly killing off a console to make way for another. But the Wii U still has some highly anticipated titles coming in the next year, including Super Mario Maker, Yoshi’s Woolly World, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Super Mario Tennis and Star Fox Zero.
Should the system indeed release in July, as predicted by Digitimes, it’s possible Nintendo will make a grand return to live press conferences at E3 to show off the console, just a month before release. This report also lends credence to the theory that the upcoming Legend of Zelda will pull a Twilight Princess and be on both the Wii U and the NX.
What do you think of the rumor? Is 2016 too early for the NX? Let us know in the comments! And for all your Nintendo news and rumours, stay tuned to GameSkinny.
