Nintendo announces its next console – the NX

Not content with having announced a move onto smartphones, Nintendo has also revealed that its next dedicated games console is in development.

It’s called the NX and proves, according to boss Satoru Iwata, that the company’s commitment to first party hardware remains as strong as ever.

"Nintendo has decided to deploy its video game business on smart devices, but it is not because we have lost our passion or vision for the business of dedicated video game systems,” Iwata said, as reported by Kotaku.

"On the contrary, because now we have decided on how we will make use of smart devices, we have come to hold an even stronger passion and vision for the dedicated video game system business than before.

"As proof that Nintendo maintains strong enthusiasm for the dedicated game system business let me confirm that Nintendo is currently developing a dedicated game platform with a brand new concept under the development codename ‘NX’."

There will be more information about this ‘brand new concept’ and ‘dedicated games platform’ next year, but it’s probably safe to surmise that Nintendo has finally faced up to the fact that Wii U has by nearly all accounts been a failure.

Add to that the fact that the announcement of the DeNA deal would likely lead to endless speculation about a possible exit from the hardware market for Nintendo – rumours Iwata was clearly keen to dismiss.

The question now is whether Nintendo will push ahead with its rumoured holistic concept of merging its home and console hardware in an effort to simultaneously reverse its home console decline and its slowing portable console sales.