'Leaked' Nintendo NX controller images confirmed fake by creators

Two images purporting to be leaked photos of the controller for Nintendo's next games console, which has been codenamed NX, have been confirmed fakes only a couple of days after the second, more convincing image, whipped fans into a frenzy of speculation.

Reddit user Idriss2Dev, who shared the original photo posted to the website on 17 March, posted a video (embedded below, top) confirming the image's fabrication. In the video Idriss2Dev also celebrates the fact he fooled so many people.

The second set of images of a controller of the same design were posted on 23 March and were far more convincing because there was no image-alteration involved. The pictures are of an actual, 3D printed object made to look like the other image's controller.

The creator of the impressive fake, Frank Sandqvist, posted a separate video (embedded below, bottom) shortly after Idriss2Dev confirmed his images were also fakes. Both videos include a run-down of how the fakes were made.

The fake controller seen in all the fake images is based on a real patent which leaked in December showing an oval controller with two control sticks, which would display video of the game on its touch screen, which made up nearly the entirety of its front-face. The patented design also includes scroll wheels in place of shoulder buttons that appear on the front touch pad with haptic feedback offering feedback in place of a physical button.

Sandqvist's images in particular seemed to have convinced a lot of people they were real, leading to a storm of controversy over design choices that, as it turns out, Nintendo haven't even made.

There was even speculation that the source of the leak was Massive Entertainment in Sweden, based on a bare tree reflected on the TV stand - these reflections are what we can see in Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima in this article's header image.

All this, as video game fans await news from Nintendo regarding the console. Officially Nintendo has only confirmed the project's NX codename and that we'll hear more about the device in 2016. Everything else so far has been speculation.

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