The Nintendo NX: What We Know So Far

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Nintendo's follow-up to the Wii U, code-named the NX, understandably has a lot of people curious. The Wii U wasn't a hot seller for multiple reasons, including (but not limited to) the system's low power output, consumer confusion, and poor third-party support. We want to know how Nintendo's next system aims to rectify past errors.

It's been confirmed we'll see the NX on store shelves in the first quarter of 2017, but despite that being the case, Nintendo's kept official details about its system under tight wraps. We don't even know the console's real name yet.

Some drips and drabs of data have come through nevertheless, so we've compiled confirmed NX information (alongside a few strong rumors).

We won't see the NX system or games at E3 2016 -- A press release distributed by Nintendo on April 27 squashed people's strong assumptions that the NX and / or its games will be unveiled at E3 2016. The NX will actually debut at its own separate event, which Nintendo hasn't announced the details for yet. We do know it'll happen later this year.

The NX will be available in March 2017 -- The same press release pegs the NX's release month as March 2017. Again, this differs from the popular belief that we'd see the NX in time for the 2016 holiday season.

We'll probably see a Smash Bros title at the NX's launch -- Bandai Namco is very likely working on NX titles, and at least one of those titles is probably a Super Smash Bros game, according to inside sources. We just don't know if Smash Bros NX is an all-new title for the series, or if it's simply a collection of all the content / DLC released across the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS versions of the game.

The latter scenario is much likelier than the former. Smash for Wii U and 3DS was a huge project that slowly unfurled across the years to much hype. It's unlikely Nintendo / Bandai Namco would create a new installment of such an attention-getting game so quickly, and under the cover of darkness.

The new Legend of Zelda game is launching with the system (in addition to the Wii U version of the game) -- Though the next installment of the Legend of Zelda series was pitched for the Wii U, we now know it's coming to the NX as well. In fact, the next Zelda game will be available alongside the NX at launch. Not unlike how The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was initially planned as a GameCube exclusive, but wound up being a Wii launch title as well.

The NX will probably get a port of Dragon Quest XI -- Dragon Quest XI is coming to the PlayStation 4, the Nintendo 3DS, and we're likely to see it on the NX, too. Dragon Quest has a small (but vocal!) fanbase in English-speaking countries, but Japan is still wild for the long-lived JRPG series. In other words, if an NX port of Dragon Quest XI is indeed in the works, it certainly won't hurt the system's fortunes.

It's speculated the NX will have some kind of built-in portable component for handheld gameplay -- The Nintendo 3DS is getting on in years, but Nintendo hasn't said much of anything about a follow-up for its handheld system. That, as well as scattered rumors, lends some credence to the belief that the NX will also involve a handheld component -- something in the vein of the Wii U's gamepad, but smaller and easier to use.

There was a lot of fuss in late March over some "leaked" photos of the NX controller, but those turned out to be fan mockups.

According to rumors, Nintendo is very confident about the NX -- Despite Nintendo's Wii U problems (or perhaps because of Nintendo's Wii U problems), there's some talk about how Nintendo is confident that the NX will be a success. According to rumors, late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata had a major hand in engineering the NX before his death, and his compatriots want to do right by him and his memory.