Nintendo Rumored to Unveil New Hardware at E3

The Big N could possibly be preparing to unveil its next major console, handheld or a piece of equipment that is entirely new.

Multiple sources from around the Web are reporting that Nintendo is planning to reveal at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in LA this June. This rumor stems from a CVG report saying IGN founder Peer Schneider has had multiple inside claims are all telling him that Nintendo will definitely debut a new form of hardware at E3.

"They're absolutely going to show new hardware this year," he said during a recent podcast. "There's no doubt in my mind. Because I've heard it from multiple people now. I've heard it from someone who used to be at Nintendo, I've heard it from somebody on the third-party front."

Schneider's use of the word 'hardware' could mean anything from a console, new peripheral or another form of fitness device. It should be noted that IGN itself has not run Schneider's claims as an official news story, or even as one with rumor-based disclaimers, despite Schneider acting as IGN's current senior vice president of content and as a publisher on the site.

We previously reported that Nintendo of Korea has submitted a registration certificate for a "small video player" on Korea's website for the National Radio Research Agency. While there has yet to be any sort of follow-up to this story, this could be involved with Nintendo's rumored hardware, especially if the company decides to mass-produce the item in Korea before shipping it to the rest of the world.

The hardware could also be in the form of a product that isn't related to games at all, which Nintendo has been alluding to recently. The hardware could be a part of Nintendo president Satoru Iwata's "Quality of Life" product, which Iwata claims to reflect the company's desire to promote health, learning, entertainment and better lifestyle decisions. Iwata's financial report briefing made in January, which is translated on Nintendo's Japanese website, explains the idea behind Nintendo's Quality of Life program.

"We will also take on the challenge of expanding into a new business area," Iwata said. "We will attempt to establish a new platform business with which we can leverage our strengths, but which is independent from our video game platform business."

Since Nintendo has been predominantly known as a video game company for the past 30+ years, "a new business area" suggests a venture outside of gaming. A business model from Iwata's presentation hints that Nintendo would like to leapfrog from its current standing with consoles over both mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) and wearable technology (e.g., Google Glass, smart watches) and design a non-wearable piece of hardware that seamlessly integrates software that is just as important, viable and practical than the others.

According to VideoGamer, third-party industry insiders have provided supposedly leaked tech specs for two new Nintendo consoles, with the code names of the "Fusion Terminal" and "Fusion DS." These tech specs were leaked in January and the timeliness of its release hint they possibly could be a part of the Quality of Life program that Iwata presented. The name "Fusion" itself suggests that these items would intertwine gaming and lifestyle choices together in a new type of device that expands beyond the traditional uses of gaming consoles.

Nintendo has repeatedly declined to comment on stories based on rumor and speculation in the past, so we expect that we will not get any actual confirmation on the hardware until Nintendo's E3 presentation itself. Nintendo's ongoing, live streams from its booth at E3 strongly hints that the company has something quite interesting in the works that it wants to showoff to the world. Having cameras broadcasting live while up close is an opportune way to showoff a new piece of technology that might not be fully oriented towards gaming.