Earlier this year when Nintendo announced entering the mobile ring with partner DeNA, many hoped Nintendo would be opening up to thought of creating games specifically for mobile devices. While this is certainly the direction Nintendo is leaning with that partnership, according to Japanese publication Nikkei, the operating system of the Nintendo NX will be based on Android OS. Right now, everything we know about the Nintendo NX is pretty much rumor territory.
According to an insider familiar with development, the “operating system is loaded with Android. This would be able to speed up getting all game developers on board.” Nintendo has notoriously had a problem with third-party developers taking an interest in their platform since the Nintendo 64 days and with the Wii U, nearly every major publisher in the West has abandoned the console in favor of PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
According to Nikkei, the move to Android is because of the lessons learned with the Wii U and how it is not compatible with other consoles in terms of development. It still uses old PowerPC architecture that both Sony and Microsoft abandoned in favor of x86 architecture, which makes them more like mini-modern computers, rather than dedicated consoles with unique CPUs as in the past. Because of this, multi-platform releases including the Wii U require extra development time.
If you’re wondering whether or not this rumor could be true, remember that Nikkei isn’t a tabloid and serves more like Japan’s Wall Street Journal. They’ve identified several rumors correctly, including the launch of a bigger 3DS system that was rumored a few months before Nintendo took the lid off of the Nintendo 3DS XL.
What do you think about a Nintendo console powered by Android? Would you be excited?
