Ceding ground to Sony - Sony may beat Nintendo to the punch
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, 05-06-2016 at 01:41 PM (977 Views)
Ever since rumors surfaced of a new Nintendo console, it’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 fiscal 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.”
File this under “Nintendon’t.” (This is not a Nintendo NX, just in case that’s not clear).
Nintendo also confirmed it would not show the NX at E3 2016, as had previously been widely expected. In fact, E3 won’t be a major focus for Nintendo at all; the company will only show one game, the upcoming Zelda open-world title. The demonstrations will all be done with the Wii U version of the game, though the final version will be available for both the NX and the Wii U by the time the new console launches.
Ceding ground to Sony
We can’t fairly call this a delay, since Nintendo hasn’t previously set a target for its NX launch. But waiting to launch the console until March 2017 has definite pros and cons. Even if Nintendo is playing coy with its phrasing (the console could go on sale in Japan before its global launch in March 2017), the Nintendo NX is going to launch after the PlayStation 4 Neo — and that’s assuming Microsoft doesn’t have its own super-secret project to reveal.
With Nintendo only showing one title at E3 it’s going to be another slow year for the company’s fans.
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