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“We do not plan on talking specifics about the the NX until 2016,” Iwata said again during the investors meeting. Explaining why the announcement was made so early, Iwata said he didn’t want people to think the smart device collaboration with DeNA meant that Nintendo was abandoning home gaming systems.

“Presently, we cannot talk about the time period when it [the NX] will go on sale or what it’s like,” Iwata said. “Because we are calling it a ‘new concept,’ we are not thinking of this as a ‘simple replacement’ for the 3DS or the Wii U.”

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Current Nintendo hardware uses the company’s own proprietary operating systems. But according to Nikkei, one of Japan’s largest newspapers, that will soon change. One insider tells the paper that the NX will supposedly be built around the Android OS.

The NX is Nintendo’s codename for its upcoming console. We don’t know much about the NX, other than it will “surprise” people. Oh, and Nintendo is mulling over the idea of making the NX region-free.

We now might know a little more if, this rumor is true. An insider tells Nikkei that the NX’s “operating system is loaded with Android.” The same insider continued, “This would be able to speed up getting all game developers on board.” It would also mean that development could be expanded to smartphones, tablets, and other devices, this insider added.

Given how Android is normally employed, if what this insider says is correct it’s likely the NX’s OS will simply be based on Android (similar to the Ouya), not a direct implementation of the same software normally found on phones and tablets.

The Nikkei article explains that the apparent reason for this move is the Wii U is not compatible with other game machines. So it’s hard for developers to make back money on a title’s development costs when they have to create it specifically for one console. They can’t easily do a multi-platform release like they could on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

Over the years, Nikkei has had a pretty good track record with rumors (like here). Last year, Nikkei reported that Nintendo was planning on putting trailers, promotional info and promotional mini-games on smartphones. Nintendo issued this statement saying, “we can confirm that there are no plans to offer minigames on smartphone devices.”

Um... Then, this happened.

Nintendo also dismissed a Nikkei rumor in 2012 that stated there would be a larger 3DS, only to announce the 3DS XL a few months later. And so on...

Still, an unconfirmed report is still a rumor. Kotaku has reached out to Nintendo for comment.

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