Nintendo has announced that it is working on a next-generation console, codenamed NX. Hot on the heels of the announcement that it was bringing its games to mobile platforms for the first time, Nintendo signalled it's not about to give up on making its own console hardware.
The company released no concrete details of the NX, but merely gave warning that a successor to the poorly received Wii U was in the pipeline. "As proof that Nintendo maintains strong enthusiasm for the dedicated game system business, let me confirm that Nintendo is currently developing a dedicated game platform with a brand-new concept under the development codename NX,'" the company's president Satoru Iwata told a press conference, according to a report on Engadget.
Little more was revealed, other than Nintendo doesn't plan to disclose further details of the NX until next year, and that the new console will tie in with a cross-platform online gaming service that the company is currently developing.
Nintendo has become something of an also-ran in the console market, trailing a distant third to Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation in terms of raw unit sales. Nintendo's sales have almost halved in four years and the company is incurring heavy losses.
There had been speculation that Nintendo may follow the same route as Sega and withdraw from the console hardware market, focusing instead on delivering games for other platforms. Today's announcements suggest Nintendo is preparing to do both, bringing Mario and co to devices such as the iPhone and Android smartphones, whilst continuing to produce its own hardware.
Nintendo has also announced plans to diversify into other branches of home electronics, including fitness devices. In a message on the company's website, Iwata says Nintendo will "strive to further promote our existing strategy of expanding our user base, create an environment in which more people are conscious about their health and in turn expand Nintendo's overall user base".