Nintendo’s upcoming NX console’s most prominent feature may be a giant touchscreen game controller acting as its main user interface.
The Japanese gaming giant has filed a patent application for a gamepad design with the U.S. Patent Office last Thursday, Dec. 10, showing a controller with a touchscreen dominating its entire front panel.
While the new patent is vastly different from the current gen Nintendo consoles, the new design still features elements most console users are familiar with, including analog sticks and shoulder buttons.
However, the standard front-facing buttons have been replaced by a touch-aware interface, Engadget reported.
With the new design featuring either an OLED or LCD screen, the Nintendo NX may give users a smartphone interface adaptability with most of its primary controls similar to that of a TV system.
Users will still get to use the shoulder buttons on the controller’s top side, and add visual effects using the controller’s side buttons. Unlike the Wii U’s outsized gamepad, the smaller Nintendo NX controller has a card slot for game cartridges.
There is no concrete information on whether Nintendo intends to use the new patent design for its Nintendo NX. However, rumors the gaming conglomerate intends to use Sharp’s free-form display technology for its upcoming console lines up with the new touchscreen game controller design patent, The Verge said.
Another speculation points out that Nintendo will be including a “mobile unit” entirely separate from the main NX console, allowing users to insert games into its card slot, and take the gamepad with them like a mobile gaming device, The Wall Street Journal wrote.
This marks the first time news has emerged of traditional Nintendo thinking out of the box with non-traditional hardware, and with the NX slated to launch at an as-yet-undisclosed date next year, users may be getting a whole new product when the console finally shows up on retailer shelves.
Join the Conversation