Nintendo recently announced that they are prepping for their new console. For now it's codenamed “NX”, almost like the “Nintendo Next”. However, despite details being so thin on the new system some retailers are already taking pre-orders for the console. Seriously.
Kotaku took note of a post over on the Facebook page for EB Games Australia. What's worth noting on that page? Well... there's a very important note by EB Games Australia that says...
“Nintendo have confirmed they're developing a dedicated gaming platform with the codename NX! They've said more info will come next year.“The NX is now available for preorder instore.”
There's a smattering of mixed comments, ranging from people who are already jumping in on the deal to people who are basically saying “Why would you pre-order something you know nothing about?”
I have to agree with the above sentiment and concerns voiced by customers who may be put doing a few coin to reserve their Nintendo NX even though that's just a codename and there's next to zero information about the device other than that Nintendo is making it and details are scheduled to arrive in 2016. It's like... really?
Kotaku also sums up the typical pre-order culture well by advising people not to pre-order. I love Nintendo, I think they've saved gaming plenty of times and continue to do a lot of things right. However, retailers opting to open pre-orders for a console that doesn't even have a name is beyond silly.
For now all we know is that Iwata will release details for the NX in 2016. That doesn't even guarantee that the system is coming in 2016, in fact most times consoles have an announcement year and then they arrive the year after... or at least, that's how Nintendo did it with the Wii U.
As for the Nintendo NX... the only thing we do know is that it'll have some kind of tie-in with Nintendo's foray into the mobile scene due to their partnership with DeNA. However, what we don't know is if that will mean some kind of inter-connectivity, some kind of streaming setup or if there will be shared gameplay a little like some mobile devices that can hook into TVs. Could this also be Nintendo's answer to Valve's new Steam Link and Sony's PlayStation TV? Well, I don't know... as it was mentioned before, we won't know anything until 2016, or unless Nintendo decides to leak out a little bit of info before then. Although, I tend to doubt that they'll have anything much to say this year what with Star Fox on the horizon, The Legend of Zelda due out later this year and Monolith Soft's Xenoblade Chronicles X coming. Oh yeah, and I almost forgot about Splatoon. Yeah, it's unlikely the Big 'N' will want to ruin their own gravy train by blowing the information load early.
It's probably safe to say that they weren't able to win over much support for the Wii U, despite finally starting to pick up some momentum with the Amiibo and some hard-hitting first-party AAA titles such as Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart 8.
Hopefully gamers will stay wise and avoid the pre-order game for this Nintendo NX until they have a lot more information to go on. Of course, EB Games was likely just trying to get in on the early console news hype while the hype was hot.
