14 DAY TRIAL // Nintendo has not been offering any clear information about the coming NX home console and the kind of video games that will launch alongside it, but it seems that the company is planning to begin a major partnership with publisher Electronic Arts.
The information comes from Nintendo Life, which is quoting personnel inside EA, who are talking about meetings between the two companies that are set to take part in March and might lead to an announcement before the end of spring.
It seems that Electronic Arts is the first video game publisher that managed to get access to development kits for the NX and that they are working on titles associated with it, although no information has yet been offered on when they might be announced or launched.
It's unclear whether Nintendo is planning to conduct the same kind of talks with other publishers in the coming months to make sure that their video games arrive on the NX when the console is offered, probably at some point in the summer of this year.
When the Wii U was first introduced, Electronic Arts and Nintendo announced a major partnership, which John Riccitiello, the chief executive officer at that moment, characterized as being unprecedented.
Unfortunately, that initiative failed to generate sales for the home console or the EA video games associated with it, and the two companies have not talked about it too much since.
The NX would represent a good occasion to rekindle the partnership and might deliver a major new market for some big franchises, ranging from Battlefield to the coming Star Wars titles and more.
Marketing and bundles are a point of disagreement
Apparently, one of the main subjects of the talks between Nintendo and Electronic Arts is the way sports sims, from Madden NFL to FIFA, can be marketed on the new home console and whether an actual audience exists for them.
The publisher wants the hardware maker to spend money to advertise both its hardware and the sports titles offered for it during events like NBA, MLB, NFL matches and big tournaments.
Electronic Arts is also interested in making sure that its big titles are bundled by Nintendo with NX hardware after launch to expose them to as big an audience as possible.
Rumors are saying that the new home console is at the moment undergoing manufacturing testing runs in factories in Taiwan and that the plan is to produce a lot of them starting in late spring in order to be ready for release at some point during summer.
So far Nintendo is only talking about the NX with its investors and in vague terms, and many are speculating that it will only offer an official reveal, which will include hardware specs and a list of titles coming in 2016, shortly before the platform is actually available for sale.
The company has been saying that it wants to sell as much as 12 million units during the year and to offer stiff competition for the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4.