14 DAY TRIAL // Nintendo has not yet talked about the new NX gaming platform officially and it will probably not offer too much info about the hardware until close to launch, but it seems that the processor at the heart of the platform will be created and manufactured by AMD.
VentureBeat believes Lisa Su, the chief executive officer of the chip designer, has admitted the link by talking about a third semi-custom chip design contest, which could generate billions of dollars in sales and will be very profitable for the future of the company.
This would mean that Nintendo would move away from the PowerPC architecture to the x86 system, and MAD has already been working to make the graphics system included in the Wii U.
AMD has been talking about its console chips as being semi-customizable, with integration of the central processing unit and the graphics processing unit, and the solution has managed to be more successful than the one created by Intel.
Neither of the two companies involved will offer confirmation for the moment, but AMD might offer more hints in the future when it talks to investors.
NX will have to appeal to a larger potential user base
The Wii U home console failed to deliver the amount of sales Nintendo was expecting, which probably forced the company to move faster than it would have otherwise when it comes to its new hardware platform.
The move to an AMD processor will certainly mean that the core performance will be close to that offered by the rival Xbox One from Microsoft and the PlayStation 4 from Sony, which also use tech from the same company.
Nintendo will probably also include backwards compatibility into the NX, which could mean that the chip maker will have a way to emulate previous designs.
Information about the new home console will be offered in 2016, and many analysts believe that it will also launch later next year in order to gain a solid install base.
Nintendo has suggested that it will re-design the user experience and that health will be one of the focuses of the new device.
The company is also pledging that it will continue to offer a wide range of new content for both the Wii U and the 3DS.