You may be tempted to dismiss this as media fueled hysteria and panic – and believe me when I say that has been my reaction for the better part of the last few weeks, as such thinkpieces have grown increasingly common – but at this point, I think the time has come to admit that this is a very real possibility.

There are many, many, many moving pieces that go into a console launch, and just one being disrupted can have catastrophic ripple effects for everything else (an easy example: as a result of having to move the Saturn launch up by four months, Sega could not stock all retailers with the console at first, which caused many of the spurned retailers to blacklist Sega and refuse to stock the console at all, further perpetuating the insurmountable lead the PlayStation was already gathering at the time). The existence of the Coronavirus is throwing such a wrench in many, many, many of those moving pieces.

The most obvious impact it is having is on manufacturing and shipping. Given that the virus is highly contagious (and may also be communicable by surfaces), there is a chance of it spreading through simple electronics shipments. Essentially, at any point, if anyone with the Coronavirus handles the console shipments, there is a chance that the virus lives on on the surface of the console boxes (or whatever part was touched), and is then transmitted to a healthy person when they touch it next. 

Even not accounting for the possibility of remote transmissions through surface contact, however, the simple fact that the virus exists, is highly communicable, and that there are multiple incidences of it in China, which is also where most electronics in the world, including consoles, are manufactured, means that those factories and production lines have to shut down now. They have to, because otherwise one unwitting victim could pass it on to everyone else who works there. And that worker could also, conceivably, lead to the virus spreading far beyond just that factory, through the possibility of surface transmission.

This isn’t just me performatively clutching at straws either, mind you. We have already started to see real, tangible effects of electronics shortages caused by Coronavirus induced disruptions. The Samsung Galaxy S20 is all but impossible to find in stores, and closer to the gaming sphere, Nintendo has confirmed that Switch supplies, at least in Asia and Japan, are going to be severely constrained as a result of production being impacted. Meanwhile, fitness game Ring Fit Adventure has seen similar shortages in the west.

If the situation with this virus doesn’t improve soon – and it must be soon, because if the consoles are to launch this November, production of the final models has to start in a few weeks at the latest – then we are faced with the very real prospect of them slipping into next year.

The counterpoint to this line of thinking is, Microsoft, Sony, and AMD have all confirmed that the consoles are currently on track for a launch later this year. And of course, that is the official word – they aren’t delayed until they are. But of course no corporation will even consider having to delay a carefully planned launch worth hundreds of millions of dollars, causing a massive hit to their bottom line in the process, until they have absolutely no other option. So until it becomes absolutely clear that there is no way the PS5 and Series X will meet their intended release date, we will keep hearing things are on track – even if they aren’t, necessarily.

There are other ways we are starting to see the Coronavirus impact the rollout of the next generation consoles. The most obvious of these is the cancellation of several events (GDC got pushed into summer, Emerald City Comic Con is delayed, Sony pulled out of PAX East, and even the ESA has announced that it is looking into possibly delaying E3 this year if the situation does not improve). Sony themselves have been at the forefront of being cautious with the Coronavirus, with the aforementioned cancellation of their PAX East appearance (and, outside of the gaming sphere, Sony was also the first manufacturer to pull out of the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, back in January).

A console launch needs a carefully orchestrated marketing campaign – even Nintendo, who pushed the limits of how short the lead up time can be to a console launch with the Switch (nee NX), announced it five months before launch, opening pre-orders two months prior. And if we take that as our upper limit, then Sony (especially) need to properly announce the PS5 by June – which is hard to do if they (justifiably) keep pulling out of events out of valid public health concerns.

This is not an attempt at fearmongering, nor is it doomsaying. There is a far greater chance that these consoles come out this year, as planned, than not. My intent here is not to convince you that they won’t – it’s to raise the possibility that they might not, and ask you to at least treat the prospect of that happening seriously, and start to prepare yourself for it. Because in the end, people’s lives are far more important than video games, and if Sony and Microsoft have to prioritize the former over the latter, we should all support that decision, not criticize it. It’s not like there is any shortage of great games to play on our existing consoles in the meanwhile anyway.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Well, we didn’t quite expect that, now, did we? After a year and a half of people being strung along about the NX, Nintendo’s enigmatic new system, it looks like the official reveal is finally here. We can now finally end the endless rumors, speculation, and debates regarding this thing that we’ve had to all endure for the last year or so.

The Nintendo NX will finally get an official reveal tomorrow, at 7am PT, which translates to 10am ET/9am CT, and 4pm in the UK, which is literally eleven hours from now. This will be in the form of a three minute long preview video, which Nintendo says will serve as “preliminary announcement of information regarding the platform.” The implication, naturally, being that fans shouldn’t go into the announcement expecting a full fledged blowout, as much as they should expect early confirmation of some details.

Of course, for long starved fans, like yours truly, that will be more than enough. At this point, I just love that Nintendo just out of nowhere announce the reveal of their new system with less than a day’s notice. It’s sort of fitting, in a sense.

It’s been a wild ride, folks. Let’s hope that it has all been worth it.

Be among the first to discover #NX. Watch the Preview Trailer at 7am PT/10am ET! pic.twitter.com/R2QTzjyLUo

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) October 20, 2016

At this point, most people have given up on the hope that we will learn about the Nintendo NX anytime meaningfully soon in the future. Nintendo are, for some reason, taking abnormally long to announce the damn thing, and it’s led to a lot of speculation that the system may even be delayed.

However, a new report by The Wall Street Journal states that Nintendo is expected to talk about the NX, and how it plans to unveil the system, on October 26, when it will also share its financial results for the previous quarter. While no Corporate Policy Briefing is planned for this year, Nintendo are expected to share some news, if only to keep shareholders from getting to restive.

Nintendo are also expected to discuss the 3DS, and upcoming 3DS games, as well as Pokemon GO and Super Mario Run at the meeting- so it should be a day of a whole lot of Nintendo news, at any rate. Let’s just hope that the NX news won’t amount to ‘We will discuss the Nintendo NX at a later date.’

If Rockstar’s next Red Dead or Blizzard’s Diablo 4 have been constantly spinning rumour mills, then the Nintendo NX is even worse. Every week brings in a new rumour or report about the console being revealed with no solid information to go off of.

Takashi Mochizuki, a technology reporter for the Wall Street Journal in Tokyo, noted on Twitter that, “Speculation is Nintendo would unveil NX details in coming week. I guess all we can do is just wait. No announcement from company yet.”

Thus far, it seems the Nintendo NX is still slated to release in March 2017. Reports have indicated that it will use video game cartridges and feature detachable controllers. At this point, it’s still not officially confirmed if it’s even a video game console.

What are your thoughts on the Nintendo NX at this point? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more information when it finally arrives.

Pokemon games have remained exclusive to Nintendo handhelds- the mainline titles have never once shown up on Nintendo’s home consoles, and the franchise has stayed true to its affinity to handheld devices. Of course, that may yet change with the Nintendo NX, which is rumored to get a Pokemon game– but even there, that’s probably because the NX is also rumored to be a handheld and home console hybrid.

And indeed, if Pokemon ever shows up on NX, it will be because the NX has some mobility to its form factor. In an interview with EDGE, Game Freak’s Junichi Masuada, who directed all Pokemon games from Ruby/Sapphire to X/Y, confirmed that the franchise and its vision remains best suited to handhelds.

“When coming up with the idea of Pokémon, what we really wanted to create was something where people could get together and have fun trading, battling, showing off their Pokémon collection, and just talking about their own adventures with the game. Handheld consoles and devices offer us the best way to achieve this vision,” Masuada said. “We want Pokémon to be a means of communication. What I really want to do is to connect people, then help them form great memories by experiencing these distributions and such in certain places. I think of it like having a meal. By itself, a meal is usually pretty forgettable – it can be hard to even remember what you had for lunch yesterday! But if you go for a meal with a close friend at a restaurant you love, you’ll remember that meal for a long time. I want to give people memorable Pokémon experiences with one another.”

I can understand and respect his reasons, of course- but that does nothing for my thirst to play Pokemon on a big screen. Hopefully that changes soon, with the NX.

For now, I am looking forward to Pokemon Sun/Moon, which are due out on November 18, exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS.

It certainly seems as though Beyond Good and Evil 2 has a strong connection to Nintendo’s upcoming NX system. The game was already rumored to be an NX exclusive earlier this year, and while that has still not been confirmed (what with the NX itself not having been revealed yet), it seems as though the game will have a Nintendo association of some sort.

Take this newest report on the game, coming to us courtesy of Let’s Play Video Games. The folks at LPVG have leaked quite a bit about the NX before, and their newest rumor attaches the reveal of Beyond Good and Evil 2 to the NX reveal. The game will be announced officially alongside the Nintendo NX reveal, where it will be confirmed to be an NX exclusive, and pegged for a 2018 release date.

The title will also apparently be a reboot, or more accurately, a fleshed out reimagining of the original game, rather than a proper sequel. At the same time, fans left hanging by the original game’s cliffhanger will apparently find closure too, as this game will resolve that dangling plot thread.

As of right now, neither Beyond Good and Evil 2 nor NX have any official media or information associated with them, beyond their existence.

We still don’t know what the NX is, but thanks to what I can only hope are well sourced leaks, we’re learning more and more about it. Take this newest one, for instance- French site Gameblog has released some more details which have been translated by the fine folks over at NeoGAF. And these details bring some new information about the NX to light.

The details are sourced to industry insiders, all of whom apparently have development kits for the console. There are about 20 games for the NX confirmed to be in development at the moment, and there is more to the NX than just its central handheld-console hybrid ‘gimmick.’ Essentially implying that there are more surprises to do with the new system that haven’t yet been revealed.

The leaks also note that the system apparently interacts with smartphone games in some form, which is in line with earlier reports from The Wall Street Journal. VR support is also mentioned, though it sounds like early tests on that front haven’t been too encouraging.

Developers are apparently fans of the development tools for the NX, and porting from PC, Xbox One, and PS4 should be extremely easy, in spite of the NX using a different architecture. A lot of third parties are apparently in the process of porting games over to the system, with Final Fantasy 15 and Final Fantasy 7 Remake having been named as two games coming to the system. Developers mentioned as being on board with the NX include Ubisoft, Square Enix, Capcom, and Platinum Games.

On Nintendo’s own end, they are in the process of porting multiple N64, Wii, and Wii U games, including Splatoon, Mario Kart 8, Smash Bros., and for some reason, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

All of this sounds too good to be true- and even if it is, at this point I will just repeat what I’ve been saying for a while now. As far as the NX goes, Nintendo needs to announce what the hell it is already, or more and more people are going to end up losing interest. Yours truly included.

A lot of us have been expecting Nintendo to announce the NX this Fall- but so far, we’ve gone through all of September and half of October, and there’s been no sign nor peep that an NX announcement is incoming. This has led many to conclude that the NX may be delayed- the announcement, at least, if not the console itself.

However, financial advisory firm Macquarie has released its new report on Nintendo, wherein they have stated that they apparently expect Nintendo to announce the NX next week. This may not make much sense at first- but the possibility that Nintendo has an event planned, with invites sent out but embargoed, isn’t out of the realms of probability at all.

That said, Macquarie isn’t too bullish on Nintendo, saying that the NX looks set to underperform, owing to a high expected price- $300 to $350. Nintendo’s mobile ventures, too, will apparently not amount to much according to Macquarie, with Super Mario Run especially locking itself out of 60% of the global market, by only being on iOS devices at first, and not launching in China.

I don’t know how much of their takeaways I want to believe in, but at this point, I am desperately hoping they will be right about the NX’s reveal date.

September is gone, and we’re almost halfway through October as well. And yet, there’s no sign of an official announcement for Nintendo’s NX, the mysterious new system they have planned in the pipeline, which is due to release worldwide in March 2017. This has led to a lot of speculation that there may be delays involved- at least in the announcement of the system, if not in its release.

In a post on the Nintendo Developer forums spotted by reddit user GamoTron21 (via WCCFTech), Nintendo of Europe representative Ulysse Richert-Botté reiterated, yet again, that Nintendo plans on sharing more information about the system before this year’s end.

‘Nintendo will publicly share more information about NX within this year,’ he said.

I suppose this is probably reassuring to people who are losing hope at this point- the fact that this is a statement made to a development partner, rather than as a PR release, lends more credence to it. But who knows? It is entirely possible Nintendo executives are just toeing the company line until there’s an official announcement regarding a delay at the last moment.

We still don’t know when we will have an official announcement or reveal for the Nintendo NX. But ahead of that, whenever it will be, it seems as though a major retail partner for Nintendo has spilled the beans somewhat on the NX, and on what to expect from it, on Reddit.

Apparently, the NX will indeed be a handheld-console hybrid, as has been rumored previously. The system is going to launch with at least four Nintendo games, with one of them apparently Mario, which will have a strong co-branding with the system. Stores will be receiving demo units in February, and they already have preliminary marketing material for the system right now.

Apparently, the marketing message for the NX will be simple- “Interact with your game on the go.” This should hopefully help Nintendo avoid the kind of confusion and brand identity crises that they ran into with the Wii U and 3DS. The system will apparently have at least one bundle, and this bundle will be $399- this implies that the non bundle option may be, at most, $349.

The packaging for the system is apparently a bit bigger than the packaging for the Wii U, and is reportedly pretty clean stylistically. The system will apparently output games at 1080p and 60fps, with the hybrid portion running games at 900p. 4K output has been mentioned, though whether that will extend to games, or is just for media capabilities, remains to be seen.

If this is all true, then it sounds like the NX will be a roughly PS4 level system, with a handheld portion to go with it- in such a case, Nintendo may just have a winner on their hands here. And now, we wait for the official reveal, again.