Rumored Nintendo NX Details Reveal Portable Design With Detachable Controllers

New rumors concerning Nintendo's next console, the NX, have hit the web and if they are to be believed, then the NX may be Nintendo's most radical console design yet.

According to Eurogamer's sources, the NX will be a powerful and portable console with its own built-in display (imagine if the Wii U gamepad were a standalone console that didn't need to be tethered to a larger base console). The display is framed by a controller on either side. These controllers can be used while attached to the console, like a traditional handheld, or they can be detached and used while the display is freestanding.

The NX can still be hooked up to a television at home. The NX will have a dock station that hooks directly to the television. Placing the NX on the dock station allows the "brain" of the console, housed in the controller, to communicate with the television. That console "brain" will reportedly be powered by Nvidia's Tegra processor.

While this may all sound like cutting edge console design, there is one aspect of the NX that is a bit of a throwback. The NX will use cartridges as physical media. Most of the industry abandoned cartridges during the 32-bit era. Nintendo was the last holdout, using cartridges with the Nintendo 64, but switched to disc-based media for the GameCube and beyond. However, the company has continued to use cartridges in its handheld devices, including the Nintendo 3DS. If the NX is truly designed to be a portable console, the use of cartridges, which are more stable and faster to load than discs, makes sense, although the 32GB cartridge that Nintendo is reportedly making the standard is a bit small by today's console game standards.

Nintendo was, at one point, reportedly mulling over the possibility of a digital only console, but decided against it. Also, contrary to previous rumors, the NX will not run on Android. Nintendo is developing a new operating system specifically for use on the NX.

These details remain unconfirmed rumors for now, though Eurogamer says the information comes from "a number of sources." We'll find out more for certain when Nintendo reveals the NX to the public in September.