Nintendo NX "is neither the successor to the Wii U nor to the 3DS"

Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima says the NX is a "new way of playing games."

The Nintendo NX is launching in March 2017 with assurances of a solid software launch line-up, and rumours that the company is abandoning optical discs for cartridges.

The mystery of exactly what we can expect from the new console has deepened even more with the translation of an interview with Nintendo president, Tatsumi Kimishima.

In an interview with The Asahi Shimbun, translated by NeoGAF user GSR, during which the possibility of another foray into film was discussed, Kimishima answered a number of questions about the upcoming NX.

"It’s something very new. The hardware, the software lineup, all of it is something I’d like to play for the first time myself," he began.

When asked about the impact the new console would have on Wii U sales, Kimishima replied, "When the NX is released, the Wii U business will slow...However, the NX is neither the successor to the Wii U nor to the 3DS.

"It’s a new way of playing games, which I think will have a larger impact that the Wii U, but I don’t feel it’s a pure replacement for the Wii U."

This echoes the late Satoru Iwata who stressed that at Nintendo "we’re always thinking about how we want to surprise players as well as our desire to change each person’s video gaming life."

"In the past few years, the idea of what [encompasses] a gaming platform gradually changed,” he said. “If you only expand upon existing hardware, it’s dull."

What could Nintendo have in store? Just how revolutionary will this new console be? I guess we'll find out in 10 months.