What's NX for Nintendo?

[Chark]

So I haven't made a thread in a long while....so it's a Nintendo thread for kicks.

With the tease of a codename of a something that is NX, Nintendo dropped the big one on what may be an earlier console release than what is traditionally expected. Now this could simply be their newest iteration of their handheld segment, however there have been many a rumor that their next device would be a fusion of home and portable, meaning that this could posibly be the successor to their current home console the Wii U as well. Now even with an announcement there is usually a bit of a wait, as in a year or two wait, but this was more of a mention than an announcment so this device might not arrive until 2017 or later. In fact it was not long ago that the Wii U released in 2012 and console cylce periods tend to last at least 5 years, so it would be far more likely its a 3DS successor and that the New 3DS was simply a slight upgrade to last them until the NX hits store shelves.

Let's go ahead and speculate the fusion concept. Start by imagining playing a console at home on your TV and you get the urge to walk down the street to the park. You get up, approach your console, pick it up, open the clamshell design and continue playing with no fuss just like it was a trusted 3DS. Pretty neat right? But how exactly are you going to get modern quality on your big screen (graphically, resolution, controllers, etc.) from what surmounts to a handheld with an HDMI out? Well that's the question isn't it? Home consoles aren't quite the lightweight devices you'd want to punish your wrist dragging for a stroll. So how is Nintendo going to pull it off?

Right now Nintendo isn't knocking it out of the park with their Wii U, a stark difference to what the Wii pulled off last gen. Not only that but the console hasn't even been out for 3 years and the thought of a successor so soon is more than enough to upset a few of their base consumers. What I theorize is the NX won't neccessarily succeed the Wii U and instead continue it. What if the NX is a portable home console that is a Wii U handheld? That would certainly avoid killing off a device early and would be a powerful relaunch.

Taking advantage of shrinking hardware and performance outputs, they design a handheld out of the Wii U leaving all non-handheld essentials up to a receiver box left by the TV.  Non-essentials like controller sensors, HDMI out, hard drive, and the disk tray. This "hub" could also be a charging bay and video display port. The handheld would be akin to what we have with the 3DS only with Wii U performance. Having dual screens, cameras, and gyros keep most of the Wii U's controller functionality and utilizing SD cards you can manage your digital titles from your hard drive at home.  Once home you dock it and pick up your Wiimote/Gamepad/Pro controller and play on your TV. Now this may or may not be a 3DS or backwards compatibile. They could cut costs by eliminating 3D and forgoing compatiblity, but this device in itself would be their next handheld and could still utilize cartridge based games in the same fasion as they are now.

All of this is really technology dependant. Could the Wii U shrink enough in size while reducing its heat output and power consumption to become a handheld? Would they have to choose entirely different chips and seperate it from the Wii U entirely and move forward? Would it be capable of graphically superiority over the Wii U?