Nintendo’s next platform (console?) is the “NX” ⊟

While announcing a landmark partnership with mobile giant DeNA that will bring new games to smartphones/devices (more on that after the break), Nintendo made a quick remark today about a project currently codenamed NX.

The company’s president Satoru Iwata emphasized that Nintendo will continue to work on dedicated gaming systems like the 3DS and Wii U despite these new mobile plans, noting that a “platform with a brand-new concept under the development codename NX” is in the works.

He didn’t clarify whether this will be a handheld or home console, or a convergence of both, or if this will be hardware at all. Iwata instead teased, “It is too early to elaborate on the details of this project, but we hope to share more information with you next year.” He also added that Nintendo is working with DeNA on a new membership service that will encompass the NX, 3DS, Wii U, smart devices, and PCs, which the gaming company will operate. This multi-device service is meant to “form one of the core elements” of the NX.

As for this partnership with mobile platform creator DeNA (Mobage) – explained in a surprise press conference this morning, which you can read the presentation notes for here – the two companies will develop and operate “new game apps based on Nintendo’s IP, including its iconic game characters, for smart devices.” Nintendo stressed that “only new original games optimized for smart device functionality will be created,” rather than porting titles originally made for 3DS and/or Wii U, partly due to the controller differences between smartphones and dedicated gaming systems.

“Nintendo has decided to deploy its video game business on smart devices but it is not because we have lost passion or vision for the business of dedicated video game systems,” said Iwata. “On the contrary, now that we have decided how we will make use of smart devices, we have come to hold an even stronger passion and vision for the dedicated video game system business than ever before. Nintendo has made this decision because we have concluded that the approach of making use of smart devices is a rational way for us to encourage even more people around the world to recognize the great value of the wonderful game software available on our dedicated game systems.”



He added, “We aim to construct a bridge between smart devices and dedicated video game hardware that connects consumers to our dedicated video game systems. For the consumers who are connected with Nintendo through smart devices and interested in Nintendo’s IP, we would like to provide even more premium gameplay experiences on Nintendo’s dedicated game platforms. By taking this approach, we firmly believe that doing business on smart devices will not shrink our dedicated video game system business and will instead create new demand as this broader reach will enable us to provide consumers around the world with more opportunities to experience the appeal of Nintendo IP, and instead of trying to seize the other’s demand, dedicated video game systems and smart devices will benefit from the synergies created between them.”

This is meant to be a long-term relationship and commitment between the two Japanese companies, and Nintendo and DeNA will purchase a considerable amount of stock in each other as part of the alliance.