Nintendo NX: Next Generation Console Not Being Shown Off Over Copying Fears

At a meeting of Nintendo’s investors in Japan on Wednesday the company said it hasn’t shown off its upcoming NX console yet because of fears other companies will copy it, while revealing that it continues to look into the possibility of developing a virtual reality headset, but wants to make it affordable and comfortable.

The details of Nintendo’s plans for the future came at the 76th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders where President Tatsumi Kimishima revealed that the recent decision by the U.K. to vote to leave the European Union was something the company was monitoring and making preparations for. “We’re cautious about British EU exit effects, which may affect sales and profits if the yen continues to be strong,” Kimishima said, according to the translated tweets from @NStyles who attended the meeting.

One of the main topics of conversation was the Nintendo NX console, a top secret project which is due for worldwide release in March 2017. At the meeting Nintendo said that despite ventures into smartphone games, film, theme parks and toys, the dedicated game machine business will continue to be core to Nintendo’s future plans.

Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s legendary video game developer, explained why the company hasn’t shown off the console yet: “Normally we would’ve shown the NX at [the games industry conference] E3, but we didn’t. We’re worried about imitators if we release info too early.”

Little is known about the NX console though Kimishima has previously said that Nintendo is not simply building a successor to the failed Wii U console.

Nintendo director Hirokazu Shinshi revealed that it is already communicating with its manufacturing partners in China about the process for building the new console, currently being prepared with discussions taking place about how much the manufacturing process can be automated.

It is unclear at the moment if virtual reality will form part of the NX experience, but Kimishima reiterated that this is an area Nintendo is investigating. “VR has captured customers’ interest, and while we’re researching it, we don’t have anything concrete to discuss now.”

Miyamoto added that he took the chance to look at what VR technology was currently on offer while at E3. “It wasn’t what I expected,” Miyamoto said. “We’re also researching VR, so we have the core technology. Long play sessions are an issue. We want to release something that can be played for long periods, carries value, and is affordable. We want parents to feel at ease.”

As well as gaming, Nintendo recently announced that it is partnering with Universal Studios to develop theme parks while it has also announced that it will begin to develop films in the future based on Nintendo’s IP. “We’re in discussions with a partner to work on films together,” Kimishima said.

“Film is an interesting field, and are needed to help make Nintendo’s IPs unforgettable,” Miyamoto said. “The characters used only by Nintendo are precious across the world.”