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Nintendo Coming March 2017, New ‘Zelda’ Confirmed For Nintendo ‘NX’

By Joseph Bradford
Published on: 19:56 PST, Apr 26, 2016

For Nintendo fans, the wait is finally over. Nintendo has officially announced that their new console, codenamed “NX,” will officially launch in March 2017. This announcement was initially made during an earnings call according to GamesBeat. This ends months on end of speculation that the next Nintendo console could hit store shelves in late 2016.

In a tweet on the official Nintendo of America account, the Japanese game company officially announced the launch window for their much-anticipated NX console to the rest of the world. While no other information was given, the NX finally has a release window, giving Nintendo fans a time frame to start planning their upgrades.

No one knows exactly what the Nintendo NX will entail in terms of hardware, but the console is said to be using “industry leading chips.” Currently the Wii U lags behind the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in terms of sheer power, something that has plagued the console since its initial release. The Nintendo NX will hopefully draw major third-party support back to the Nintendo console, giving fans of the Japanese company a chance to play some of the world’s hottest titles, as well as Nintendo’s usual, charming fare.

Additionally, according to GamesBeat, the next game in the Legend of Zelda series, originally named The Legend of Zelda Wii U, has also once again been delayed, this time to 2017. This coincides with the release of the Nintendo NX, meaning that Zelda fans might see the game hit as a launch title, but that has yet to be confirmed. However, Nintendo did say that the next Zelda game will still come to the Wii U, though now in 2017. This is the second delay since its initial announcement that the Zelda title would release in 2015. E3 2016 will focus heavily on Zelda, however, so fans should not feel too dissuaded from the news.

While E3 2016 aims to be big for Nintendo as this announcement sets the table for the company to really dive into the NX hardware in June, GamesBeat does mention that Nintendo does not plan on talking about the NX during their E3 event. Nothing is really concrete about what exactly the NX will be, so it makes little sense the company would not want to showcase the new system — especially with the Nintendo NX getting the next Zelda title. In a statement relayed by VG247, Nintendo NX will feature the company’s focus on both their smart device initiative as well as the NX’s ability to play the best games.

For our dedicated video game platform business, Nintendo is currently developing a gaming platform codenamed “NX” which is a brand-new concept, and our unique software-led hardware-software integrated business will continue to constitute the core business for Nintendo. For the purpose of maximizing the population that interacts with Nintendo IP, we have entered into the smart device gaming business.

This statement would seem to coincide with rumors that the Nintendo NX would feature the best of a home console system and a handheld device, according to an initial report on The Verge. It remains to be seen exactly what Nintendo is planning, as they typically keep everything so close to the chest.

The Nintendo NX, with its release date in March 2017 also is skipping the highly profitable holiday season, when most consoles typically see their release. However, the company did say that the March 2017 NX release would be global, which makes sense.

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[Image via Nintendo]

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