Nintendo Switch: Online mobile app launches in two weeks

27 July

Nintendo's mysterious NX will be a modular gaming system, sources have confirmed to Eurogamer.

The games console, which is set to launch next March, will function as a high-powered handheld with a large screen, flanked by two controller sections that can detach or attach as required.With the controllers removed, the NX can plug into a docking station connected to a television to become a home console.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Eurogamer's report is consistent with early rumours that pinned the console down as a new hybrid gaming system, although it looks as if the NX will be a handheld system first and foremost, especially when the physical format of games is taken into consideration.

The website has confirmed that the NX will be a cartridge-based system, with developers being recommended a minimum 32GB storage size.

Nintendo toyed with the idea of a digital-only console, it adds, but game downloads will be available alongside buying physical copies.As for how powerful the NX will be, it will reportedly use the Nvidia Tegra processor - a very powerful chipset to put in a handheld device, says Alphr, but it the overall power will not be on par with the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One when playing through your television, let alone the new 4K versions of those consoles, which are set to arrive over the next 18 months or so.

There could be a silver lining, however. Despite the power disadvantage, Nintendo probably has "something up its sleeve" to keep third-party game developers happy with the power limitations, adds Alphr.

Stuff also feels there's reason to be optimistic, saying Nintendo's next release could be its "strongest in decades" if it undercuts its competitors on price - It's a two-for-the-price-of-one deal.

Lastly, there's word on when we'll be seeing the NX for the first time – Eurogamer's sources have touted a September unveiling, the same month as the Tokyo Games Show.