Digital Foundry Shines Some Exciting Light on the Nintendo NX

This week Digital Foundry put out a great video that delved into the technology they believe will power Nintendo’s next console the NX. They also talked about what the actual hardware could look like, and all of it sounds very exciting to me.

First and foremost, it sounds like the current NX dev kits are powered by an Nvidia Tegra X1 chip that is more powerful than the XBox 360 or PS3, but just under the Xbox One and PS4. I know a lot of people will say that’s not powerful enough, but I’m not worried. First, Digital Foundry suspects (as do I) that the X1 in the dev kits may not be the final chip that makes it into the NX, as Nvidia is working on a more powerful Tegra X2 right now.

Secondly, and much more importantly, it’s clear that NX is going to be a very different console than either the Xbox One of PS4, which makes me very happy. From what Digital Foundry put together, it sounds like we’re talking about a mobile-first device with removable controllers, that can plug into a TV dock when you want to play on a bigger screen. This is what I’ve been hoping the NX would be all along–a combination of Nintendo’s handheld and TV consoles–one platform moving forward.

Even if the NX goes with a Tegra X1, I’m fine with that. Nintendo unifying their platforms, creating a device that can work as a handheld or a set-top box and enable streaming from the get go? Yes, yes and yes.

And since places like Digital Foundry and Eurogamer are now digging up details on the NX, my hope is we’ll get a Nintendo Direct very soon that provides some more concrete info. I’m sure Nintendo wants to control the message on this one.