Nintendo NX could be a VR/AR console - report
Nintendo could be getting into the Virtual/Alternate Reality game with its next console, the NX, according to one financial site's hypothesis.
Digi-Capital, a noted financials and investment site, has penned a blog about the direction Nintendo could be taking with the NX. The blog pulls various quotes from Nintendo executives and checks them against facts to come up with that idea.
Inspired by the late Satoru Iwata's "Blue Ocean Strategy", the site examines the possible routes Nintendo could be taking with the Wii U's successor. What the company referred to as a "Nintendo-like solution" could be Alternate/Virtual reality, which the site claims could hit $150 billion by 2020.
Nintendo's public opinion of VR is noted, which has on different occasions dismissed the technology because it wasn't fun, social, and was all based on demos and not commercial products.
The report then tries to deduce that Nintendo is working on a VR-type solution with its NX system, saying that the new console won't be as powerful as PS4 or Xbox One, and that Nintendo won't invest in a VR/AR headset. Instead, it proposes that through Nintendo's DeNA partnership, the company would have access to millions of smartphones, and could opt for a system that integrates well with said devices.
A solution similar to GearVR, Samsung's headset that is powered by a smartphone, could be the route Nintendo is taking. A sentiment echoed by the late Iwata when he said "smart devices have the widest reach and…the strongest potential... to connect with the largest number of consumers. We aim to construct a bridge between smart devices and dedicated video game hardware... dedicated video game systems and smart devices will benefit from synergies created between them."
Further, Digi-Capital adds that Nintendo's stake in DeNA is higher than deals of that nature. Based on all that, the site claims the NX would be a console less powerful than PS4 or Xbox One but is "optimised" for VR/AR, which would manifest in a headset that uses smartphones and enable social gaming.
The rest of the blog further explores Nintendo's past experiences as basis for the argument. Give it a read.
It is worth noting though that this could all just be speculation on Digi-Capital's part, but the site is certainly in the know when it comes similar industry happenings and could be basing this report on concrete details that they're not able to share bluntly.