News that made us prick up our ears today concerns a rumor concerning the forthcoming Nintendo Wii U gaming console. Now gaming consoles are not our usual field of interest but when we heard that the Android mobile operating system might be a feature of the Wii U, then we sat up and took notice.
Out of several expected new gaming consoles it looks as though the Nintendo Wii U will be the first out of the gate and news that it could possibly integrate the Android OS is intriguing stuff. The rumor came to our attention from Android Headlines and although there doesn’t seem to be any concrete source it’s certainly worth a minute or two of our time. If the rumor is accurate it means that users of the Nintendo Wii U with the Android OS would be able to access Google Play for plenty more gaming content.
Increasingly gaming is taking place on smartphone and tablet mobile devices and a Wii U and its tablet controller with Android would benefit twofold. Firstly there’s all that lovely Android content that would be available to Wii U users and also those who already use Android devices would gain a gaming system that’s compatible with the pre-existing software that they are already comfortable using. Not only would the scope be there for gaming app access with the Wii U but of course users would also have access to more varied content such as books, movies, productivity and social apps.
Droid Guy also looks into the Android Headlines report on the possibility of the Android OS being incorporated into the Nintendo Wii U and notes that Nintendo certainly needs to pull something out of the bag for the Wii U or risk a decline. They feel that a “console/mobile hybrid” could make a lot of sense and might be the way forward for the gaming console industry.
Of course this has got us thinking and begs the question of what could be another natural progression, a new smartphone. In much the same way as the arrival of last year’s PlayStation phone, the Sony Xperia Play, maybe Nintendo could think about the development of a Nintendo smartphone for gaming enthusiasts. Although the Xperia Play didn’t exactly take off, with newer cutting-edge mobile technology we can only imagine what might be possible for a Nintendo phone of this kind.
We’d like to hear your comments about this. Do you think a Nintendo Wii U with Android OS makes sense? What about the idea of a Nintendo gaming smartphone, would you be interested?