Nintendo has reportedly pushed back the Nintendo NX release date in order to incorporate virtual reality capabilities to take on the PlayStation VR, the HTC Vive and even the Oculus Rift.
The new PlayStation 4 NEO seems to be the one to handle the PS VR well and the Nintendo NX could feature VR too as the release date is pushed back further from March 2017. Microsoft's Xbox Two or Xbox Scorpio still has no VR news yet.
Another reason for the Japanese video game company for their hybrid console is to tweak and improve it further before it is officially launched. Instead of the mid 2016 production phase, it could be moved to the first quarter of 2017.
Anonymous sources familiar with the production of Nintendo said that the delay is based on the company's plan to add VR features for the Nintendo NX hybrid console, Alphr has learned. However, no further details were given as to how it will work.
The PlayStation 4 NEO's VR capabilities are based on the headset that Sony made. Nintendo could follow a similar path with their own VR headset.
However, the rumors of the console being powered by an AMD Polaris GPU could also mean that the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift could be used as well. The new Radeon RX 480 was shown to be a cheaper but more powerful option for a PC gaming rig set for VR.
Besides the delay in the release date, there is also more bad news for the hybrid console. The Nintendo NX units could be scaled down from 20 million to 10 million because of the VR plan, ValueWalk reported.
Fans are still looking forward to the console, which could allow players to take their gaming with them through a second screen capability. The new GPU could also mean that more AAA games will be supported just like the upcoming Battlefield 1 from DICE.
Nintendo is expected to unveil more details regarding the Nintendo NX at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show. The company could then explain if the VR rumors are true and if they are making their own headset as well.