Update: Sorry folks. Contrary to rumours, Nintendo has officially announced that the reports regarding its plans to reveal new consoles at E3 2014 are not true.
Earlier this year it was revealed that in the wake of poor Wii U sales, Nintendo is working on a new console focussing on health and fitness to be released at some point between April 2015 and March 2016.
Additionally, in January, Nintendo News leaked some new hardware specs that it claimed would be part of two new Nintendo devices falling under the ‘Fusion’ banner – this included a handheld and a console, entitled Fusion DS and Fusion Terminal respectively.
Well, it seems that all that news, speculation and gossip could now be coming to a head as Nintendo may be preparing to unveil something big in regards to hardware at the upcoming LA-based gaming conference; E3.
According to IGN, Nintendo will “absolutely” reveal new hardware at E3, although it doesn’t “know what that means” in terms of what hardware form that will take.
“They’re absolutely going to show new hardware this year,” said IGN’s Peer Schneider, during a podcast. “There’s no doubt in my mind because I’ve heard it from multiple people now. I’ve heard it from someone who used to be at Nintendo, I’ve heard it from somebody on the third-party front.”
Comments like Schneider’s are likely to send the rumour mill in to overdrive, whilst hardly confirming what the outcome will be. After all, a piece of hardware could be anything from a headset to a new controller, let alone a new console.
Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata has in the past claimed the company’s next consoles will take a leaf out of Apple’s iOS book, by making them share a unified development platform.
“Currently, we can only provide two form factors because if we had three or four different architectures, we would face serious shortages of software on every platform”, said Iwata. “Apple is able to release smart devices with various form factors one after another because there is one way of programming adopted by all platforms. Apple has a common platform called iOS.”
He also noted the same properties are found with Google’s Android OS.
Nintendo recently revealed that it would adopt the same unorthodox presentation strategy for the upcoming E3 expo that it did the previous year. This includes a ‘digital event’, and a Super Smash Bros. Wii U tournament, but no press conference.
Whatever the case, the buzz for Nintendo’s presence at E3 2014 is at an all-time high (and is certainly gaining more traction than that of its rivals Sony and Microsoft).
A lot will be riding on the success of Nintendo’s upcoming hardware and software releases, which include Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U and – of course – those new consoles, as the company looks to transform its lagging fortunes.
What do you think about Nintendo’s plans for a new console/s? Would you like to see new hardware unveiled at E3 or are you more excited about Nintendo’s upcoming game releases?