We already know that Nintendo is finally going to embrace mobile by launching its first smartphone game this year, but according to a new rumor, that’s not the only way that Ninty is getting involved in the mobile world.
According to a new report, the software powering Nintendo’s next video game console will be based on Android. A source tells Japanese newspaper Nikkei that the Nintendo NX — that’s the codename, by the way — will have an OS that’s “loaded with Android.” The tipster goes on to say that the move is meant to help get developers on board with the console and that development could expand to smartphones and tablets. No other details on the NX are known, but Nintendo has said that the console will “surprise” us.
Obviously this is all very much a rumor for now, and since it’s likely still a ways out, we probably won’t have much concrete information for a while. For now, we’ll just have to speculate. So why might Nintendo use Android-based software on the NX? Android is one of the biggest mobile OSes in the world, and so if the NX were based on Android, there would be a lot of developers that’d be familiar with the software right off the bat. And because the Wii U isn’t getting much love from game developers anymore, Nintendo would probably like to make it as easy as possible for devs to get on board with its next console.
What do you make of this rumor? Do you think the Nintendo NX will really have software that’s based on Android?
