Manufacturers follow the practice of creating placeholders with top retailers for their upcoming hardware launches. Nintendo NX had one such placeholder with UK retailer Tesco.
The listing stated that the hybrid Nintendo NX console will get launched on December 31st. It is obviously an absurd claim because the company didn’t officially announce the product yet. If they are going to bring it out as a surprise launch, they wouldn’t do it after the holiday season has officially ended.
All these facts when put together concluded that the launch date was a simple placeholder and has nothing to do with the console. Nintendo will most probably launch the NX machine at the E3 2017 event before bringing it to the public by the mid of next year. It could even be in the month of March but a year end launch in 2016 is a far cry.
However, there is another information that we gathered from the leaked order page. The Nintendo NX console was priced at $450 approximately even though the original pricing was in British pounds. Rumors claimed that the console will be powered by a Nvidia Tegra processor and is designed to be used in the home or on the go, offering more convenience than ever.
The idea sounds exciting on paper and most would love to have a hybrid console that allows them to play Mario wherever they go. But, the purchase decision is solely based on the pricing. A portable console can never be bulky and it is supposed to offer limited hardware specifications in a slim body. If it is going to so compact, why would Nintendo price it at exorbitant levels?
Nintendo 3DS witnessed amazing success because of its pricing and the sheer amount of titles available on the platform. Sony’s PS Vita lost the race because of pricing and lack of game titles. If the NX is to succeed, it is supposed to have everything on board on day one and definitely not priced at $450.
You can easily buy an Xbox Scorpio next year or the Playstation 5 console. There is no guarantee that Microsoft or Sony may not price them at $600 because the next generation consoles are supposed to seamlessly run games at 4K resolution. Such pricing can be justified on a home console as it offers too much power on par with a high end PC but how will the Nintendo NX justify its price tag? The official announcement should clear these doubts.