If the company remains true to its word, it’ll be some time yet before Nintendo spills the beans regarding its all-new hardware – codenamed NX – though a Japanese business site has picked up an interesting tidbit that suggests The Big N is contemplating building the system with Android OS in mind.
Translated via NeoGaf, the report states that Nintendo will use the mobile-friendly operating system in the nebulous console in order to minimize development costs and, perhaps more importantly, appeal to third-party developers. While unconfirmed at the time of writing, it does align with what the Japanese giant revealed about the NX earlier this year, stating that the platform would be positioned alongside the Wii U and 3DS, rather than acting as an out-and-out replacement.
Upon announcing the novel hardware, Nintendo’s Saturo Iwata claimed that he viewed iterating on existing hardware as “dull,” and that true innovation lies in breaking new ground.
“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. In some shape or form, we’re always thinking about how we want to surprise players as well as our desire to change each person’s video gaming life.”
Don’t expect any news pertaining to Nintendo NX during E3 in a couple of weeks’ time, as the company will double down on its existing software roster and the titles coming to both Wii U and 3Ds over the next year or so, but hopefully we’ll get some more updates on this as the summer progresses.