Nintendo (NTDOY, Financial) is not discussing the new NX console it's expecting to launch by 2016 in the E3 conference to be held this year, but there are several rumors on the platform which would be used by the gaming major for its future generation of consoles. Reports by the reputable Japanese newspaper Nikkei has indicated that Nintendo might not be using its proprietary operating system in the future gaming consoles. Instead, it could probably be adopting Google’s (GOOG, Financial) Android OS for its operating system. While the news is confirmed by the company that the new console would be released not before 2016, the switch from its own OS to Google’s Android is surely great news game developers would find interest in. Let’s quickly have a glimpse of what the rumors are saying with regard to the new console codenamed NX by Nintendo.
Making a paradigm shift
Android OS of Google is used extensively for games on smartphones, tablets and phablets which means that if Nintendo urges to use the OS of Google, it could release alternate versions of the games on handheld devices. It is to be noted that currently Nintendo cannot follow the multi-platform strategy that is employed by other gaming companies such as Electronic Arts (EA, Financial) and Activision Blizzard, Inc. (ATVI, Financial) as it develops its own games in its own development system which is not universally adaptable. Hence, it’s losing in competition to such immediate contenders, though it remains the best games developer in the World.
Shifting to Android would have made sense for Nintendo as it would aid in improving its performance in the gaming console market as through Android OS usage the Japanese company could incorporate its games into several marketable platforms, thereby improving its stand when compared to its rivals operating in the same space.
Nintendo already has the Wii U operating system which has been a commercial flop since games built for the platform were not compatible on other platforms. Nintendo seems to have learned a lesson from the exercise and is now interested in creating a console that would allow developers to develop games for multiple platforms thereby improving its customer reach in the coming years.
The portability factor available with Google’s Android operating system would be a clear advantage for Nintendo if it wants to leverage its upcoming phone and tablet games. Since developers are eager to make money on games developed by them, they usually do not want to invest on a title’s developmental costs when they need to create it specifically for a single console. To date, Nintendo games cannot be launched on multiple-platforms as its Wii U is not compatible with other game machines. However, by changing to Android, Nintendo might win more fans for the developed games as an insider told Nikkei- “This would be able to speed up getting all game developers on board.”
Concluding thoughts
The Japanese company is no doubt the best developer of video games in the world, but has till date failed to adopt to the changing world where software platforms are of paramount importance. That’s the major reason why Nintendo consoles are less spoken of while Microsoft’s (MSFT, Financial) Xbox and Sony's (SNE, Financial) Playstation have been appreciated by millions of gamers all across the globe. Nintendo’s operating system Wii U is not way close in terms of features or functionality provided in the most basic Android mobile devices. That’s the major factor why most of the gaming titles released for the Playstation and Xbox are not released on the Wii series.
Now hopefully if the new console NX of Nintendo uses Android OS it would offer a huge leg up towards having a better, faster and modern operating system aligned with the interest of game developers who might find the Android-based NX more appealing than the presently used awkward-proprietary hardware.
