For all intents and purposes, Nintendo isn’t releasing its next console soon. The official word is that it’s still very bullish on the Nintendo Switch, and why wouldn’t it be? The Switch is on track to becoming the best-selling video game console of all time by 2025, provided that it can sell at least 15 million units this year and in the next one, which isn’t impossible. After all, there’s still a plethora of exclusives coming to Nintendo, which should help drive up the sales, as they always have. Case in point, there’s the next mainline Pokemon installments and a handful of Mario games, including the first platforming entry in the franchise and a remake of its most iconic RPG spin-off. However, this hasn’t stopped information about the next Nintendo console from leaking online.
According to Activision Blizzard CEO, Bobby Kotick, the next Nintendo console will perform more like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, which is a huge improvement over the current Nintendo Switch. On the other hand, Ubisoft CEO, Yves Guillemot, revealed that Nintendo told them to wait for the next console instead of releasing Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope for the Nintendo Switch.
But, while these are credible sources, they’re not exactly official. However, if we believe what’s being peddled by a handful of hawk-eyed observers, Nintendo has updated the Nintendo Developer Portal to add a new platform, NX2.
For context, the Nintendo Switch was referred to as NX while it was in development. It also appeared on the same portal back in 2016, specifically, a month before it was officially revealed in October.
Now, there’s a small chance that this could all be an elaborate prank, except for one thing: developer.nintendo.com is a developer-only area, which means that you can’t just mess with the HTML in the “inspect element” tool because Nintendo has to know you to do that.
So, even if this info is fake, a developer needs to break NDA to spread this kind of misinformation, and we all know that Nintendo isn’t afraid to sic its lawyers at every chance it gets.
On the off-chance that it’s real, the only possible explanation is the same as the last time – someone hacked the server and let everyone know about it.
Either way, it all goes back to the simple fact that Nintendo is working on something big and it’s probably coming sooner than expected.
Nintendo officially announced the Switch rather unceremoniously in 2016 after an earlier leak. The reveal didn’t take place at a special event or showcase. Rather, Nintendo dropped a trailer and promised more information would come leading up to its launch. The makers of the second- and third-best-selling consoles of all time could prepare to do the same thing later this year. Of course, Nintendo is confirmed for Gamescom in August, which is a live event that would be perfect for such a big revelation.
At this point, the reality is that only Nintendo knows what it knows. The best thing we can all do is to wait until it’s ready to tell us more about what’s coming in the future.
