Report: Nintendo NX will be portable, cartridge-based console

Nintendo's next console will be handheld, come with its own display and use cartridges, according to Eurogamer. Several sources gave these and other new details to the website about the still-unnamed system, currently known by the codename NX.

The NX will include detachable controllers that sit on either side of its screen, according to the report. It also comes with a docking station to connect the system to a television to use as a more traditional home console.

Unlike current-generation consoles, however, Nintendo's upcoming hardware will use cartridges, Eurogamer said. This choice of media speaks to its dual status as a console and handheld system, although the size and format of these cartridges has not been confirmed.

One source told Eurogamer that the console will not be backward-compatible with other Nintendo systems. This is unlike its current hardware, the Wii U, as well as most previous Nintendo home and handheld systems.

Internally, the system reportedly uses the Nvidia Tegra mobile processor. We had previously heard from the Wall Street Journal last fall that Nintendo was going after "industry-leading chips" to power its new system.

Nintendo decided against debuting the NX at E3 2016 this past June, instead electing to unveil the system later this year. It's slated to hit retail in March 2017, with games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — and third-party titles like Sega's Project Sonic — currently in the works for the console.

Although we know little about the NX thus far, it's long been the subject of rumors and anonymous reports suggesting that the system would look radically different from past Nintendo consoles. These included indications that the system would lack an optical disc drive, include a new type of controller and more.