NX Outed?

A Nintendo patent filed back in February has finally been made public and was spotted by a NeoGaf user. The main feature of the patent is that the console in it will not feature a disk drive. However, it does have a memory card slot so perhaps that could be used to store games or transfer saved data between the new console and the 3DS, that way you could start a game on your home console and continue while travelling. While the system does not include a disk drive it does include “an internal hard disk drive storing a program and/or data, a communication unit transferring/receiving a program and/or data via a network, and a processor executing a program stored in the hard disk drive to preform game processing.” This means Nintendo might be getting ready to pioneer a digital only future where all games are stored on an internal hard disk drive. This might be worrying for fans of physical media but keep in mind there is a chance that Nintendo will make their entire back catalogue of games available digitally which should excite any gamer.

The next thing of note in the patent is the diagram for a controller. It’s no surprise that the controller is wireless but interestingly it does feature a “display unit” just like the Wii U’s GamePad. This means second screen functionality is more than likely coming to this new console. Now the big question here is whether or not this new patent is for the NX which Nintendo first announced back in March. More than likely it’s not considering Nintendo won’t even be talking about NX for the rest of the year. However, it may be an early concept for the NX providing some insight into what the console might become. A second theory on what this might be is a Wii U slim or something in line with that. Perhaps due to the Wii Us poor sales Nintendo has decided to go all digital with a new version of the console in order to cut costs on a disk drive so they can lower the cost of the console and potentially lead to more sales. This would be perfect for the upcoming holiday season and considering the controller in the patent has a “display unit” it’s not out of the realm of possibilities. A third possibility is that this will come to nothing at all. Companies often file patents that they don’t act on so perhaps this is just an idea Nintendo decided to file but will never come into fruition.