Next Zelda coming to NX rumour gains weight

The in-development Zelda title for Wii U will also be released on NX, according to rumours online.

So what, you may think? It’s easy to post anything you like on the internet. However, this particular rumour suddenly has a lot more weight behind it.

Earlier this week a Neogaf poster spilled what were claimed to be a number of inside beans about Nintendo’s 2016 plans. Included in these details was mention of a new Pokemon game codenamed ‘Niji’. Low and behold, it then transpired – as spotted by Gematsu – that the two bits of art that accompanied Friday’s announcement of Pokemon Sun and Moon were entitled ‘Niji_A_logo’ and ‘Niji_B_logo’.

So what did the tipster say about Zelda? They reckon the NX version will launch either day-and-date with the Wii U SKU, or perhaps shortly after during what is said to be the NX’s holiday launch window. Also rumoured is that Nintendo is willing to switch the game’s $10m marketing budget to the NX version should the machine be ready in time.

Talk of Nintendo shunting its new Zelda title onto its newer hardware has been rife since the game was delayed last year, but it now seems increasingly likely that Nintendo will ‘do a Twilight Princess’ and launch the title on both its legacy hardware and new machine.

There were a number of other claims, too, chief of which was a 3DS price-cut being scheduled for this autumn, which perhaps isn’t the biggest surprise considering Nintendo’s recent downsizing of its 3DS sales forecasts.

Elsewhere online, another tipster who has previously correctly predicted a handful of titbits has made a number of claims about the NX hardware itself.

DualPixels reports that it is claimed the console will feature an HDMI dongle for streaming to TVs, boast analogue sticks with full haptic feedback and have the ability to answer phone calls and texts via Bluetooth.

It will also be comparable in power to the Xbox One and has a UI that feels like a cross between what we’ve come to expect from Nintendo and something you might find on a Samsung machine.