Nintendo NX and New Zelda Launching This Year, Newly Substantiated Rumor Says

At the start of the week, someone on NeoGAF with the username Trevelyan9999 said they heard from a "verified source" at Nintendo that the company's mysterious NX console will launch this year alongside the new Legend of Zelda game. According to this person, who claims to have been shown an "internal US marketing budget and scheduling overview," the Legend of Zelda game will launch for Wii U and NX on the same day or shortly thereafter. This information now looks like it might be more reputable now that Pokemon Sun/Moon have been announced and here's why.

Trevelyan9999's report included mention of a "Pokemon 20th Anniversary" game with the codename "Niji," which is the Japanese word for rainbow. Pokemon Sun and Moon were announced earlier today, and Gematsu discovered that the logo images for the games had file names of "Niji_A_logo" and "Niji_B_logo."

Further, Kotaku reports that Nintendo today amended the logo's file name on its website from "niji-11-en" to "sun-moon-11-en."

Whoa. The Sun/Moon codename had not been discussed before, which would seem to suggest Trevelyan9999 does indeed have a well-placed source.

Other information in Trevelyan9999's forum post said NX launch titles, outside of Zelda, are being kept under wraps for now, as is the marketing focus for the console. This person also said Nintendo had a $34.5 million marketing budget for Wii U in 2016, while Zelda Wii U had $10 million with the possibility of this money going to the NX version, contingent on the final determination of launch timing. The 3DS marketing budget, meanwhile, was listed at $56.25 million by the tipster. You can see all the claims in this NeoGAF thread.

Trevelyan9999 also said that the 3DS will get a price drop during the fall-holiday window. This doesn't sound too out-there, as just today, Nintendo announced that it was forecasting 1 million fewer shipments for its fiscal year. A price cut could be exactly what's needed to spur sales.

Bear in mind that none of this information is confirmed at this point. As Kotaku points out, a similar leak related to Xbox One emerged in 2014--some of that information turned out to be true, while other pieces didn't pan out. The same could be true here. We have contacted Nintendo in an attempt to get more details.

Interestingly, Kotaku also reports that Trevelyan9999, who also runs a website and a YouTube channel, has scrubbed videos related to this leak.

"Last night, Trevelyan9999 removed videos from his YouTube channel and pulled articles from his website that referred to this leak," the site reported. "It's unclear whether he did this of his own volition or because Nintendo's lawyers got involved."

Officially, Nintendo has said it will start to talk about the NX this year. The console is rumored to be a console/mobile hybrid that uses "industry-leading" technology.