Nintendo NX hinted to offer new gaming experiences, 20M planned shipping to be scaled down

Nintendo Signage — Nintendo signage is displayed at the company's booth at the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, known as E3, in Los Angeles, California June 11, 2014. Reuters/Kevork Djansezian

Officially, Nintendo has not given a lot of information about its upcoming Nintendo NX console. However, what has been said paints a picture of a deviation from what Nintendo has been doing with it previous gaming devices.

In an interview with TIME, Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima touched on the Nintendo NX a few times. One of the main affirmations about the device is that it is already in development. The official statement still keeps most of the information under wraps, with Kimishima stating that the Nintendo NX is the company’s way of moving forward with its dedicated device strategy. Further expounding on the Nintendo NX, the Nintendo President also mentioned that the Nintendo NX goes beyond just a refresh or an improvement of the Wii or Wii U.

“It’s something where we have to move away from those platforms in order to make something that will appeal to our consumer base,” said Kimishima to TIME.

Even with the development of the Nintendo NX, the company will not stop support for its existing consoles. Given that there are already 10 million people who are playing the Wii U, Nintendo has promised that one of its goals is to ensure that the console will still get support.

Interestingly, Kimishima also mentioned that the Amiibo are not yet utlised to their maximum potential. For him, the use has been limited to collections. It appears that the company also wants to highlight its use as an interactive item with a gaming software. It has been used for some titles, such as “Super Smash Bro” for the Wii U. As such, the challenge for the company is to find creative ways to use Amiibo and connect it to the software for a more tied-in gaming experience.

While he did not mention the Amiibo in relation to the Nintendo NX, it would be interesting to see how the company will put this particular feature in the upcoming console, if it ever does. The Amiibo can expand the market in more creative ways. Furthermore, the fact that the Nintendo NX will have it differences from existing console could mean an exploration of what the Amiibo can still do on a Nintendo gaming device.

More information is expected about the Nintendo NX next year. For now, however, there have been speculations on just how Nintendo may tackle the delivery of the device to consumers. According to GameSpot, the 20 million estimated Nintendo NX consoles for shipping next year may be off the mark.

A new report now claims that it may be closer to 12 million Nintendo NX units. The change in target unit appear to come from production complications, making it necessary to cut back on the number. Originally, the claim comes from a Taiwanese source close to Digitimes.

Best to take this with a grain of salt for now. Nintendo definitely has a lot of plans for its upcoming gaming console. But with the final Nintendo Direct for 2015 already set to focus on the “Super Smash Bros,” all information on the Nintendo NX may stream steadily starting 2016.