Nintendo NX may share functionality with smartphones, PC and PS4

Nintendo's next console, the NX, may interact with smartphone devices, as well as PCs and even rival console the PlayStation 4, according to senior industry analyst David Gibson of Macquarie Research Japan.

His comments (via Wall Street Journal's Takashi Mochizuki) have sparked the latest rumour in the long string of industry rumblings regarding the mysterious device, the existence of which was revealed in March 2015 but about which we have heard nothing official since.

Quite how deep the "interactivity" will be, we do not know at this point. It could be as seemingly small as connectivity across the Nintendo Account membership service, announced in 2015, which will work across current and future Nintendo devices, and PC and mobiles. Or it could see a certain level of cross-play, which is already available on a small number of Wii U titles.

Gibson's comments came alongside Macquarie Research Japan giving Nintendo an improved finance rating, which subsequently saw the company's stock prices rise by 9.07%. This comes at the start of a very important year for the company.

A 2016 release for the NX is looking likely, with multiple reports indicating that is the plan. Next to nothing is known about the console, with endless speculation regarding what the console will be, the design of its controller, announcement plans and a release date.

Nintendo, as always, will announce and release the console when it is damn well ready. The rest of us will just have to wait.

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