Nintendo's NX launches March 2017, console to skip E3

"The next generation of Nintendo is coming March 2017! #NX"

That brief statement, just posted on Nintendo of Europe's official Twitter account, pretty much sums up what has just been announced an hour or so ago in Japan in front of investors: Nintendo's new console, still codenamed NX, will launch globally in March 2017.

Thus, the new home console - whatever form it takes, we still don't know for sure - won't be released in late 2016 as many initially expected. To be fair, Nintendo never committed to that launch window; the company only promised to announce the platform this year.

However, and this has surprised even us, Nintendo won't be showing NX at this year's E3 at all, and instead they'll be focusing on the new Zelda, which just got pushed back into 2017 (more on that here), and which the Kyoto-based company is now planning to launch simultaneously on both NX and Wii U next March.

Questions still remain as to what exactly the NX will offer. The recent Operating Results document still defines it as a brand new concept: "For our dedicated video game platform business, Nintendo is currently developing a gaming platform codenamed NX with a brand-new concept. NX will be launched in March 2017 globally," it says.

In a statement sent to us by Nintendo, the company reminded us that they had "previously announced that it would release more information about its next system, code-named NX, this year. As the first announcement of any NX information, Nintendo confirmed that NX is scheduled to launch in March 2017."

The post continues: "NX will not make an appearance at the upcoming E3 video game trade show in Los Angeles in June and will be unveiled later this year."

So to sum up: no NX at E3, a delay for The Legend of Zelda and simultaneous launches on NX and Wii U, and more details regarding Nintendo's next home console are due later this year ahead of its planned release in March 2017.