Report: Nintendo’s next-generation NX games console may run Android [Update: Nintendo denies]

Update: The WSJ is reporting that Nintendo has denied the suggestion:

There is no truth to the report saying that we are planning to adopt Android for NX

Nintendo has been keeping quiet about its plans for its NX games console, due to launch next year, but a report in Nikkei claims that the system will run Android.

The report suggests Nintendo is planning the shift away from its own operating system as a means of bringing more games developers on board after the Wii U was left with almost no non-Nintendo titles available for it … 

If true, it could be a smart move by the company, potentially making the platform more attractive to customers by ensuring that standard Android games will run, and also making it easier for the company to realize its own ambitions to offer smartphone variants of its titles.

The company had previously said that its rollout of smartphone games would be slow, with just five titles expected to be released by March 2017.

It should be noted that this is just a single report, and even if the NX is Android-based, it may be too heavily modified to run standard Android games, so let’s call this one an interesting possibility for now.