Nintendo NX Shipping as Soon as April?

Earlier this July, Nintendo announced the NX, dubbed the Nintendo Next, which would be their ‘next gen’ gaming console that would, ideally, make them more competitive with Sony and Microsoft. The Wii U, for as ambitious and ‘unique’ as it was, hasn’t sold well, having shipped all of four million units back in 2013 and falling since. So Nintendo could certainly use a shot of new life.

Now, despite the fact we know next to nothing about the NX, since it wasn’t shown at all at this year’s E3, there are reports that the console will actually ship--not be revealed, but be sold--as early as Q2 of 2016. This report comes to us from Digitimes, which claims that Nintendo is readying 20 million units by Q1 so they can be sold in Q2. Q2, by the way, is April, June and March, so… that’s four months away, at the earliest.

Now, NX Dev Kits may have been shipped out earlier this year but still, four months? I mean, if Nintendo’s plan is to just sidewind us and reveal the console at the very last minute, well… that would run counter to basic industry wisdom, where the goal is to rack up as much pre-orders as possible, both to gauge popularity and to ensure that suppliers have enough of the product to reach every demanding customer… a problem Nintendo had in the sem-recent past with the Wii.

Still. This report may simply be nothing more than a rumor. We’ll have to see.