Is Nintendo looking towards a Summer ’16 launch for the NX?

If rumors are true, then it looks like the Nintendo NX might be coming a lot sooner than anyone might have thought.

Nintendo hasn’t even really talked at all about their newest console, the tentatively titled NX. Well, there you have it, they haven’t even made the name a part of public record yet, so you know that this one’s still very much in the ether when it comes to specifics.

Here’s the thing though, the console just might be on the way into homes in a little over a year.

According to Taiwanese website DigiTimes, the NX is already set for a July 2016 launch. They say that production for pilot units of the console is scheduled to begin this coming October and hardware facility Foxconn (yes, the one with all the suicides due to the horrible working conditions) has the contract. Moving forward from that, orders are to be complete by February and production models should be rolling off the line no later than May/June of 2016.

According tot eh original article, Nintendo is looking for 20 million NX’ sold in the first year of offer, which as MCV points out, is a staggeringly hopeful figure. The Wii U sold a paltry 10 million for comparison and the best-selling console of all time, the PS2, sold 22.3 million units in it’s Freshmen year. So that might be showing a little bit high… unless the NX is truly something new that gamers (and non-gamers) will find irresistible. Something like, say, the Wii.

MCV also points out that there are some issues with the writing though, and they might point to some of the above being not al together true. Namely, DigiTimes says that Nintendo has already announced a 2016 release date for the NX, and that’s just not true. Now, that could be something that the site means has been internally announced, or it could be a misprint, or at worst- a symptom of a complete or partial fallacy.

Personally I don’t think that 2016 is a pie-in-the-sky date, as there NX was shown behind closed doors at E3 last month, and Nintendo did say that they’d be talking about it next year. I do think that ‘July’ might be somewhat off, especially since it’s so far from the usually targeted Holiday release window. Then again though, it might be a good plan to release in Summer as there’s not too much to stand in the way in terms of game releases form the other 2/3’s of the big three.

Stay tuned Nintendo fans, tons and tons more to come on this one.

Source: MCV