Okay, all you salt-loving Nintendo nerds, I’ve got a fresh rumor for you – and it’s a doozy. As many of you probably know, all of the best rumors come from NeoGAF. What makes those rumors so special; so juicy? If you’re unfamiliar with GAF, let me fill you in on a few points of interest. If a user drums up buzz around a supposed leak or break that doesn’t pan out, they get banned. Anyone who claims to be an insider or to have inside information is almost always called out immediately, and offered up for vetting of some kind. Mods are contacted, and confirmed insiders are tapped to see whether or not a certain source or statement can be corroborated. Also, most members’ opinions or predictions are ignored unless they have some kind of track record proving that they can be trusted.
With that out of the way, the source of our rumor today is a gentleman who goes by the username Orgen on NeoGAF. Keeping the above information in mind, we might wonder why any rumor coming from Orgen might be worth our consideration. In this case, the source has a pretty good track record. Orgen leaked the release of Pokemon Black 2 / White 2 weeks before it was officially announced, and was also involved in the corroboration of a more recent leak concerning Nintendo’s 2016 release schedule. Many points of this latter leak were confirmed in the latest direct, including the announcement of a new Paper Mario, Pokemon Sun / Moon, and Disney Art Academy. When Orgen speaks, the board listens. So what did he have to say this time?
According to Orgen, we may be hearing about the NX much sooner than we anticipated; before E3, anyway. You can find a link to the thread on GAF here , but what he said boils down to this: “…we’ll get more NX info before E3. I think… it’ll be more related to a full reveal than a ‘we’re working on it and we’ll see more at E3’ so that’s why I said that I don’t know if this new info will be in the briefing meeting or a separate direct. But you can bet that you’re going to get more NX info before E3.” In an earlier post, he mentions that the end of April would fit the time frame he expected, as financial reports emerge (Nintendo’s fiscal year ends on March 31).
He sounds pretty confident, but reactions are all over the place. Personally this would make sense to me for a few reasons. For starters, according to the Nikkei, Nintendo will stop producing the Wii U in 2016. The Nikkei is the largest financial publication in Japan, and is typically knowledgable of such things, but Nintendo was quick to respond and play this statement down, saying it intended to continue Wii U production into the first fiscal quarter and beyond. In other words, it still seems likely that Wii U production will cease be the year’s end, and that something will have to replace it. The Nikkei article also reaffirms an NX reveal this year (as if we needed that reassurance).
I can also see a pre-E3 reveal as plausible simply because Nintendo really likes to make its big announcements during its Nintendo Direct broadcasts. While not as exciting as a live presentation, and I’m certainly not ruling that out, the Nintendo Direct has become something I look forward do with foamed-mouth anticipation. Every Direct is like a mini E3, and I can totally see Nintendo breaking the internet with a special NX-themed Direct, and then following up with an E3 direct with footage, features, additional details, and final games for the Wii U.
What do you guys think? Is this a pipe-dream? Could we be seeing the NX a month from now, or will we definitely be waiting until E3? It’s never wise to put a lot of hope in a rumor, but then I am a bit of a fool.