For months, we've been speculating about what Nintendo's mysterious next-generation game console (codenamed NX) will be. Rumors have ranged from virtual reality to smartphones and everything in between.
Nintendo
"Splatoon" is one of the best Wii U games, but it might not work with the NX.
Thanks to the folks at Eurogamer, we can now be fairly certain that the NX is a hybrid home console and portable system that can play games on the controller's screen or on your television.
Eurogamer somehow penetrated the powerful barrier Nintendo puts around its unannounced projects with multiple unnamed sources, but none of this has been officially confirmed yet.
One question that's been on everybody's mind, though, is whether or not it will be backwards compatible with the Wii U, 3DS, or other past Nintendo consoles.
According to Eurogamer, probably not.
The NX will allegedly be powered by an Nvidia chip that's used to power mobile devices. What does that mean? Well, in simple terms, that means it's a complete departure from what Nintendo has done in the past, so in all likelihood, it would be difficult for the NX to run Wii U games without some serious work.
Not all hope is lost for those who want to play Wii U classics like "Splatoon" and "Super Smash Bros.," though: those games have been rumored to get updated NX versions for quite a while. The particular chip the NX apparently uses is also well-regarded for emulation, meaning the Virtual Console service that allows you to buy old Nintendo games on Wii U could be better on the NX.
Again, we won't know if any of this is true until the console is officially unveiled in September, according to the Eurogamer report. But, as of right now, if you plan on splatting or smashing your opponents when the NX launches in March, plan on possibly buying those games again.