Seriously, what the fuck is the Nintendo NX? All rumours seem to indicate that the company’s mysterious new console is coming in less than a year, and we know nothing about it.
A new patent filed by Nintendo might just shed a little more light on the situation – or it may end up leading to more confusing speculation. It’s definitely gonna be one of those two.
So, Nintendo has successfully patented an external hardware accessory that boosts a console’s processing power, but what does this mean?
In a nutshell, Nintendo could very well be the first publisher to kick off external hardware upgrades for mainstream consoles – check out a handy diagram below:
The Nintendo NX is largely believed to be a hybrid of mobile and a home console gaming.
In theory, you can take the tablet type controller (below) with you for gaming on the go, and then attach it to some kind of docking station at home for increased performance while playing on your TV.
Certainly, this new patent would seem to suggest something of that nature – perhaps this docking station is the ‘supplemental computing device’ referred to in the above diagram?
The most interesting potential application of this SCD applications seems to be based on the idea of other users being able to share their SCDs online or via remote access, allowing them to use your hardware for an in-game boost.
The patents in question seem to suggest that this will be some kind of user-to-user service – there’s even the potential for free games and discounts based on how often your share your SCD, apparently.
It sounds like a pretty mad idea, but Nintendo has a history of mad ideas – some of them work, and some of them… don’t.
It’s speculative to say that this SCD patent means that it’s definitely for the NX mind – hell, there’s not even anything to suggest that Nintendo will use this in ways the patent indicates.
After all, a patent is often taken out on the chance that you will use those ideas, not because you’re definitely going to.
By all accounts, most seem to believe that Nintendo will finally show off the NX in September, potentially during the Tokyo Games Show. Hopefully they do it soon so we can all stop speculating.
As for NX games, there are two confirmed so far: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Project Sonic 2017, though the console is also rumoured to support mobile games such as Pokemon GO.
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.