Earlier this year, it was announced that Nintendo games would be hitting the mobile market, including iOS and Android. Now, a new rumor has surfaced thanks to one of Japan’s largest newspapers. Nikkei reports that the next Nintendo device will not use their in-house operating system and switch for a more developer friendly option.
That “developer friendly” option that we are speaking of is none other than the Android operating system. The Nintendo ‘NX’, which is the codename for the console, is also rumored to be region-free. This would make perfect sense, especially now that Nintendo is expected to launch Android games later this year.
One of the main reasons behind the Japanese-based gaming company to employ an operating system such as Android, is all about developers. The Wii U is not compatible with other consoles, therefore a game has to be tailored specifically for the Wii. This slows down development companies and causes them to lose money. Time is money.
Now before you think that the Nintendo NX will be running Android, think again. It will be based on top of Android. It will not be a direct implementation of the software found on your smartphones and tablets. In other words, it will be heavily changed at visual and UI stand point, but remain the same at the core.
This will allow developers to easily make cross-platform games from the NX to Android smartphones, which is something Nintendo is looking to do. It will also be very convenient as many development companies already have Android under-wraps in terms of how it works.
According to Kotaku, Nikkei has a very good track record of reporting leaks from Nintendo, so don’t be surprised if this comes to fruition. They previously broke the news on the 3DS XL and others, so they have proven themselves.