Nintendo: ‘We need to do better job’ explaining NX to customers

Nintendo is eager not to repeat past mistakes when launching its next game console, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said in a recent interview with alistdaily. Among other things, that means the company must do "a better job" talking about the capabilities of the new system — known only by its codename, NX — than it did with the Wii U.

"One of the things that we have to do better when we launch the NX — we have to do a better job communicating the positioning for the product," Fils-Aime said. "We have to do a better job helping people to understand its uniqueness and what that means for the game playing experience."

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Everything we know about Nintendo NX

Failing to sell customers on the Wii U, Nintendo’s current home system, is something company president Tatsumi Kimishima has discussed before as well. Kimishima said that explaining that console’s specific attractions — like its tablet-esque controller — was a challenge for the company, one that it stands to repeat with the similarly non-traditional NX.

Still, this so-called "uniqueness" remains unseen, as Nintendo has revealed few concrete details about the Wii U’s successor. Instead, it’s emphasized that it will be a dedicated game system unlike those seen before. A full unveiling is planned later this year ahead of its spring 2017 launch.

Nintendo’s continued silence stands in contrast to rumors and reports that have swirled around the codename NX console since last fall. The most recent of these comes from Let’s Play Video Games, which cites sources close to the company on new details about the system’s reportedly unique control scheme. The NX’s controllers will include motion controls and "advanced vibration force feedback," according to Let’s Play Video Games, with the intention of phasing out the similar Wii Remote peripheral.

Nintendo wants to "do a better job" launching NX than it did with Wii U

These controllers are expected to be detachable; the NX is reportedly a handheld device that can connect to a bigger screen, with its controllers housed on either side to make it playable portably as well.

Other rumors concern the system’s launch library, which could include Mario and Pokémon games within the first six months, alongside likely launch title The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Fils-Aime spoke to the importance of software in the interview as well, as other Nintendo execs have done repeatedly in the past.

"We have to do a better job from a software planning standpoint to have that continuous beat of great new games that are motivating more and more people to pick up the hardware and more and more people to pick up the software," he said.

A frequent criticism of the Wii U is its lacking library, both within its first year and later in life. Although the console does boast several popular and best-selling Nintendo-published titles, releases are few and far between.

In the six months leading up to its launch, Fils-Aime promised that Nintendo would continue to talk up the NX "as appropriate." The company has not addressed many of the recent rumors, but we should learn what the NX is within the next several weeks.