I kind of view every console as a seperate brand, even when some parts of the system name/ brand stay the same.

btw @Wyrdness, nice profile pic.  I love TWEWY

Thanks.

I tend to look at the approach a platform is following.

You are leaning towards that? C'mon, Soundwave, you've always being behind the idea of an hybrid console which (what a coincidence), you mention again in your post. Who are you trying to fool?

At least you believe that it will launch in 2016, not 2017.

Well none of them are verifieed really.  Only one guy seems to be actually verified and his plan was to post on April Fools, but the mods had a lock down on that day and the day after.

So now I'm waiting on that guy to post,  user by the name of untypedhero.  I think he may be verified for having sources for game development, not sure about NX.  Anyway, just waiting to see what he has to say.  So buckle up for some more rumours.

Here is an old one.
"Nintendo in March announced its plan of releasing Nintendo NX in 2016 and has started visiting its supply chain partners recently. The orders are expected to be finalized in February or March 2016 and mass production will start in May or June 2016, while the console's official launch may take place around July, the sources said."
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20150702PD204.html
If the link is behind subscription wall then try this: http://gamerant.com/nintendo-nx-july-2016-release-rumor-900/

Fair enough, but they are a different formula. When people bought a DS, they got it for a dual screen experience, just as they bought a Wii for motion controls. They knew there was going to be a different way to approach games, and the DS and Wii were a fresh kind of spin to the same old ways we've been playing games for ages. Both kind of stuck, but multiple screens were obviously the direction Nintendo wanted to take as they (and I myself) believe there is more potential from being able to have two seperate screens for playing the same game. Motion controls are still there (gyroscope), but takes the back burner. 

The NX on the other hand doesn't look to offer anything essentially new to the formula based on the leaks, ect. And I think we can essentially all agree it isn't going to be the power of the console that draws people in. 

I don't know if you were around in gaming at the time as many people often speak in retrospective but no one at the time really saw the potential in the concept of the Wii and the DS until after they took off and saw it in practice. People and outlets were stating that the competition would demolish those platforms like it was fact, an example is Gamespot's April fools article for reference, the reason for this was that these platforms weren't the first devices to utilize touch screens and motion control in gaming and as mentioned people in gaming for most part tend to think in retrospective, what they did do was execute the concepts in a different manner.

These two bits were one a mostly confirmed rumor, and the other some hard info:

AMD could power yet another gaming device – chief financial officer

http://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/anton-shilov/amd-could-power-yet-another-gaming-device-chief-financial-officer/

December 10th, 2014

An accelerated processing unit from Advanced Micro Devices could power yet another gaming device, chief financial officer of the company implied this week. The high-ranking executive did not provide any details, but given the revenue opportunities the company outlined with the deal several weeks ago, we are talking about a high-volume device.

AMD announced two new semi-custom design wins back in October. The design wins are expected to bring the company combined total lifetime revenue of approximately $1 billion over approximately three years starting 2016. Previously the company revealed that both semi-custom chips would integrate Radeon graphics, one would be based on ARM architecture, whereas another one would feature x86 general-purpose cores. Apparently, one of the semi-custom APUs is projected to power a “beyond gaming device”, which means that another will power a device that could fit into the “gaming” category, something AMD denied previously.

I think that a device that goes "beyond gaming" is something that fits nicely with Nintendo. And it also points to a 2016 release.

Macronix Will Be Providing Memory Products for the NX-Reiterates that the platform will be launching this year

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2016/01/macronix_will_be_providing_memory_products_for_the_nx

January 29, 2016

Macronix is an international tech company that primarily focuses on 'Non-Volatile Memory' such as ROM and Flash. Evidently, the company has a history with Nintendo's portable line of products, having produced memory hardware for DS and 3DS game cartridges. At a recent quarterly results conference call, CY Lu – the company's president – announced that the company will be providing products to the NX and that the console will be launching this year. Here's a translation of the information, courtesy of a NeoGAF member:

Prestigious Japanese videogame console maker Nintendo will launch a new console called NX this year. General Manager of Macronix, CY Lu, said Macronix will provide products for NX and that Macronix has considerable expectations to NX.

In the afternoon, Macronix had held an online conference for investors. As Nintendo is going to launch new console NX this year, investors concern about if Macronix, which have a long-term cooperative relationship with Nintendo, is still part of NX's supply chain.

CY Lu said Macronix will supply memory slots for NX, and that the company has considerable expectation to NX.

Even though CY Lu declined to comment whether the supplied products are ROM, he said he expects ROM sales this year will be exceptional.

This pretty much confirms a 2016 release (for those who still doubt it). What this does not confirm or deny is if NX will have an optical drive or use cards, as Macronix does the DS/3DS cards but also provides the flash memory of Wii U.

Was it the first? No, but few things that get credit for being the first are actually the first. The first console to play CDs and have cd games? Most people on here say it's the PS1, but it was the Sega CD. The same thing as the console that introduced prerendered cutscenes. Sega CD, not playstation. 

That being said, while they may not have been what introduced them, they are the first to have a lot of big budget AAA games utilize them as the primary input for controls. (Which only applies to Nintendo.)

It's just another fact to show them the right direction.