Don't worry, Nintendo will still announce a new console in 2016
The wait to hear more about Nintendo's next console, codenamed NX, is proving to be too much for some. The official subreddit for NX speculation is filled with people hyping themselves up for theoretical reveal announcements that come and go without so much as a whimper.
Nintendo has continuously promised a reveal before the end of 2016, with a launch in March of 2017. Since the company has kept quiet about the console and we're almost done with October, some have speculated that the console has been delayed and we might not even hear about it until next year.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, a 2016 reveal timetable is still the plan. It could even be as soon as next week.
A Nintendo spokesperson reiterated to WSJ that the console will still be revealed in 2016. It was given in the context of Nintendo's upcoming second-quarter earnings report, which is on October 26.
Without diving into the nitty-gritty of how earnings reports work, it basically means Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima is obligated to at least mention the NX next week when he meets with press and analysts. Whether that acknowledgement of the NX has actual substance beyond "yes, the console still exists" is yet to be seen.
Essentially, Nintendo has a very un-sexy business reason to talk about the NX next week.
Cartridge comeback
We haven't heard a peep from Nintendo about the NX yet, but Eurogamer blew the lid off the elusive machine back in July. If Eurogamer's sources are correct, the NX capable of playing its games either on a TV like a traditional game console, or on a handheld console.
The leak also suggested the games will come on cartridges, rather than discs. If you think that sounds a little too retro, it's worth noting that modern cartridges (more akin to SD cards) can store data more efficiently and be read by machines faster than discs now.
It sounds like it will be more powerful than the Wii U, but less powerful than the PS4 and Xbox One. Aside from the confirmed launch game "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild," it's rumored to get new entries in the "Mario" and "Pokémon" franchises within its first six months of existence.
A reveal could even happen this week, according to the WSJ. Analysts have speculated that Nintendo could get out ahead of their earnings report by unveiling the console beforehand.
Mystery price point
October 21 is also the five year anniversary of "Nintendo Direct," a series of live-streamed conferences that Nintendo has used to make all of its biggest announcements of the past few years.
Having said all that, remember that we still don't know a darn thing about the NX and won't until Nintendo decides we should. A series of anonymous leaks on Reddit earlier this month pointed to a $299 base price with 4K streaming capabilities, but none of that is factual until Nintendo decides it's factual.
I'm inclined to believe Eurogamer's reporting, as a unified home/handheld console with modest enough horsepower to stay affordable would be a very Nintendo-like approach. Even then, their suggestion of a September reveal was incorrect, so everything could still be up in the air.
The NX could interface with smartphones, seeing as how Nintendo jumped into the mobile app space with "Miitomo" earlier this year. "Super Mario Run," Nintendo's first proper mobile game, launches in December.
It could even be a smartphone, or a VR headset or a magic tome that grants your desires. Hopefully this will be cleared up soon.