Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: entertainment, games, nintendo, nintendo nx, tatsumi kimishima, video games

Nintendo President Says The NX Will Be Completely Separate From Wii And Wii U

Published Thu, 03 Dec 2015 12:27:16 -0600

Last updated Thu, 03 Dec 2015 12:28:49 -0600

Ever since The Nintendo NX was first talked about earlier this year, we have heard next to nothing about what the console is, at least officially.

While we still have no official word, how about official word on what it isn't. Speaking to Time, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima said that the console won't be an add on to existing hardware (which had been rumoured) and that it will take a step away from the Wii family. He said:

As far as NX goes, I've said it's different and obviously a new experience. If you look back to the beginning of our conversation today, we talked about the transition from Wii hardware to the Wii U hardware and how difficult it is to explain to the consumer base what is different and new about the new hardware. It's difficult to convince them to switch from their current platform to the next platform.

"That being said, I can assure you we're not building the next version of Wii or Wii U. It's something unique and different. It's something where we have to move away from those platforms in order to make it something that will appeal to our consumer base.

Speaking further though, he did want to reassure those who did own the Wii U now, that he is indeed trying to support the console with good software.

At this point in the Wii U lifespan, we're looking at 10 million sell-through for the hardware itself, which is just about a tenth of what we sold overall for Wii.

What I want to do, I think our first job right now is to make sure that the customers, those 10 million customers who have a Wii U at home have software to play. And we need to make sure that they are satisfied with their purchase and continue to enjoy playing on this platform. So we can't just abandon them and say 'Hey, it's time to move on to the next thing.' Of course we are working on NX and looking at the experiences we can bring to that platform. But first our job at this point is to support the consumers who have purchased Wii U and make sure that they have software experiences available to them.

That last point is somewhat reassuring. Those 10 million are probably the most dedicated to the Nintendo name, so keeping that loyal fanbase happy is important. There might only be 10 million of them compared to the Wii's 100 million user base, but they have an important part to play in building the momentum for the future of the NX.

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