The Nintendo NX Now Has An Official Release Window

Nintendo finally unveiled more information about the Nintendo NX. The highly anticipated gaming device will finally arrive on the market starting next March in 2017. The only game we know is coming for the device will be the cross-gen release of The Legend of Zelda.

Shacknews picked up the announcement about the Nintendo NX from the official financial report for the fiscal year ending in March of 2016. The Japanese game maker let loose some interesting tidbits in their report, where they stated...

They mentioned that the NX won't be replacing the Nintendo Wii U or the Nintendo 3DS, which left a lot of people absolutely confused about what it's purpose is.

The thing is, Nintendo had announced last year that they would formally announce the NX this year. I suppose in a way they did announce the release window, but most gamers were expecting a full announcement with images and some showcase of its functionality.

Nintendo NX patent designs and fake news reigned supreme throughout the past year, giving a lot of anxious gamers only tiny morsels to chew on as a form of whetting their appetite. Of course, most savvy console gamers know Nintendo's cycle, and they're usually keen on maintaining the traditional five year console release. So 2017 would make sense as a viable release for the NX given that five years ago back in September the Wii U was released.

Most sensible gamers expected an announcement of the NX this year and the release of the console next year. The only thing most people were off on was the window itself, which many pegged for a fall release during the holiday season. Nintendo surprised everyone by announcing that the NX would launch in March, which could be used a way to bolster their fourth quarter revenue by a large margin before entering into fiscal 2018.

Unfortunately, we won't be seeing the console in action any time soon. Wall Street Journal's Tokyo tech reporter Takashi Mochizuki tweeted out from the conference that Nintendo confirmed that they will not be showing the NX at this year's E3.

Yes, the only major AAA title Nintendo has to showcase is The Legend of Zelda, which will be a cross-generational title for both the NX and the Wii U. What's interesting is that it leaves gamers questioning how they're going to showcase The Legend of Zelda's features without talking about what will make the NX version different?

Regardless, the Nintendo NX itself will mark the start of the ninth generation of gaming. Speculation has run rampant about the possibilities of VR support, cross-platform integration between mobile devices and home consoles, as well as the aim of making the NX controller a touch-screen device that can play games from the controller while on the go but can hook up to the console when at home. Nintendo has confirmed absolutely nothing about the console other than that it's coming in March, 2017 and that it won't be a replacement for their other two platforms.

We'll likely learn more about the NX sometime later this year, possibly during a Nintendo Direct or during the Tokyo Game Show.