Rumors are increasing that the Nintendo NX is coming out this year, and as that news becomes more and more likely, other details are starting to slip out. The latest is a big ‘get’ via Nintendolife: The site reports that EA and Nintendo are working toward a big partnership on the Nintendo NX. Such a move, if true and if successful, would go a long way toward building a strong third-party base on the Nintendo NX. But, that said… Nintendo and EA have tried this before, and it didn’t work. But it could work this time.
Rumor: EA And Nintendo Teaming Up For The Nintendo NX?
According to Nintendolife, Nintendo and EA have some big meetings coming up, and hope to find a way to rekindle their “unprecedented partnership,” an initiative launched for the Wii U that ultimately fizzled. EA apparently wants the Nintendo NX arrangement to include such things as console bundles with EA games like FIFA and Madden, and streaming support for major sports leagues. EA is very concerned about sports, evidently. Nintendo traditionally hasn’t been so concerned, and EA wants to change that.
Will the companies succeed? We better hope so. The Nintendo NX really needs to succeed, which means it needs to sell well, and two factors ultimately influence that success more than any others: Having a strong launch line-up, and having third-party support. Nintendo systems can live on Nintendo games alone, but to truly thrive, the company needs more external support. The Nintendo NX probably will have a strong launch lineup and that lineup is what will convince EA it’s worth partnering with Nintendo at all. If the system launches strong out the gate, third-party games can find the success that they don’t often see on Nintendo consoles.
Even if you don’t care about sports games at all—and I’m right there with you—you should hope that the EA and Nintendo partnership does indeed happen, and works out well. It will benefit the Nintendo NX hugely and attract many millions of gamers. And if EA Sports games do well on the Nintendo NX, games like Battlefield won’t be far behind. That should be the dream for the Nintendo NX.
