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Sad Mario

E'er since rumors surfaced of a new Nintendo console, information technology's been assumed that Nintendo would launch a new platform before either Microsoft or Sony could finalize their own next-generation offerings. Nintendo's annual financial year report just dashed those hopes — a brief line in the earning's report states: "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."

Nintendo-Nexus

File this nether "Nintendon't." (This is not a Nintendo NX, only in case that'south non clear).

Nintendo also confirmed it would not show the NX at E3 2016, every bit had previously been widely expected. In fact, E3 won't be a major focus for Nintendo at all; the visitor volition merely show one game, the upcoming Zelda open-world title. The demonstrations will all exist done with the Wii U version of the game, though the final version volition be available for both the NX and the Wii U by the time the new panel launches.

Ceding ground to Sony

We tin't adequately call this a delay, since Nintendo hasn't previously set a target for its NX launch. Simply waiting to launch the console until March 2017 has definite pros and cons. Even if Nintendo is playing coy with its phrasing (the panel could get on sale in Nihon before its global launch in March 2017), the Nintendo NX is going to launch after the PlayStation 4 Neo — and that's bold Microsoft doesn't have its ain super-secret project to reveal.

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With Nintendo but showing one title at E3 information technology's going to be another irksome year for the company'south fans.

This is a bit of a switch for Nintendo, which has fabricated something of an art of avoiding contiguous battles with its rivals. The Wii launched at the same fourth dimension as the PS3, but its lower price largely insulated it from the $500-$600 battle being fought by Microsoft and Sony. The Wii U launched in 2012 in an endeavour to grab a showtime-mover reward that largely fizzled.

Going caput-to-caput with the 2d-generation of the PS4 could exist a rough ride for Nintendo. Information technology can't count on an reward on its home turf and while its first-party franchises are however the green-eyed of the gaming globe, the Wii U's low sales means Nintendo needs to actually capture the imagination of the gaming world — at a time when Sony already has an entrenched ecosystem and will exist launching VR back up in the fall. If gamers opt for the PS4 Neo and PlayStation VR during the vacation season, there may not be a lot of cash left over for the Nintendo NX when it launches next March.

One thing this does settle is whether the Wii U's production will proceed through this fiscal year, equally per Nintendo's previous comments. If Nintendo launches the NX in March and discontinues the Wii U at more-or-less the same time, it can fairly claim to have fulfilled its literal statements regarding Wii U production while all the same dumping the console extremely apace once the new machine is set for prime time.