The Nintendo NX rumours are flying in thick and fast now, with the latest reports suggesting Nintendo’s next console will be making use of a heavily customised Polaris GPU from AMD. We’ve known for some time now that AMD is working on whatever APU solution is used in Nintendo’s NX console, but it looks as if the Japanese giant could be taking advantage of the upcoming AMD die shrink. Polaris utilises the 14nm FinFET fabrication node and as such would likely be more powerful and much more energy efficient than the PlayStation 4.

These rumours come from NeoGAF user 10K, who has previously been verified by prominent Nintendo insider Emily Rogers. All of this should be take with a grain of salt then, but it does help us get a clearer picture of where Nintendo could be heading with this console.

In terms of performance this would make the Nintendo NX the powerful console on the market, unless either Sony or Microsoft follow through on their mooted plans for upgraded consoles. The aim is to make porting to the Nintendo NX as simple as possible, probably targeted at making the NX a viable choice for third-party publishers, an aspect which Nintendo has struggled with for years.

Further information from the leak suggests Nintendo will indeed have a screen controller as previously rumoured, but this will be a streaming device rather than a dedicated handheld, with no internal processing capabilities. In this sense it is not a 3DS replacement, but an evolved version of the Wii U gamepad, albeit capable of remote streaming via a network.

Lastly there’s also reports of a Luigi’s Mansion 3 in the works. Originally in development for the Wii U, the leak suggests it was too demanding and moved to the NX to take advantage of its capabilities. It’s apparently under development at Next Level Games, the same studio which created Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon for 3DS.

With all these rumours flying about, just where do you expect the Nintendo NX to slow in performance-wise? Can Nintendo ever to compete again with Microsoft and Sony when it comes to third-party titles? Let us know!