The NX is the original codename for the Nintendo Switch, which was first mentioned publicly in March 2015 in a partnership with handheld game maker DeNA.
In the year and a half of development since then, Nintendo has used that codename to refer to the game console. It wasn’t until October 20, 2016, that Nintendo officially announced its name as Switch.
Although the console has been known as the NX for 19 months, Nintendo has never shown the NX logo, meaning that it has never been seen outside until now.
Game collector and translator Paul Kelly tweeted on Sunday that an early prototype of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was found on an EMMC ODIN chip prototype (an early version of the Switch circuit board). The prototype was manufactured on October 18, 2016, two days before the Switch officially announced its new name.
Kelly linked to the prototype on archive.org, but it was later removed. A few hours later, Kelly claimed to have found an early logo and boot animation for the NX in the prototype.
Nintendo announced earlier this month that as of September, Nintendo Switch hardware sales reached 114.3 million. Earlier this year, the Switch was already confirmed as the best-selling Nintendo home console of all time, surpassing the Wii’s 101.63 million. However, it still has a ways to go before it compares to the 154.02 million units sold for the Nintendo DS and the 118.69 million units sold for the Game Boy (and Game Boy Color).
