Ubisoft enthuses over Nintendo NX console

Nintendo is on the comeback trail with March 2017 home console, the NX, according to the CEO of Ubisoft, whose company has used new console launches as a jumping-off point for a number of blockbuster franchises.NX, according to the CEO of Ubisoft, whose company has used new console launches as a jumping-off point for a number of blockbuster franchises.

On the occasion of a board election meeting that took place at a critical juncture in Ubisoft's 30-year history, co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot took a moment to praise the upcoming Nintendo NX.Guillemot took a moment to praise the upcoming Nintendo NX.

Interest surrounding the console is high, particularly considering Nintendo's secretive stance towards the impending launch, with most public knowledge gleaned from insider leaks and patent filings.

Guillemot, however, has proven extremely positive about the console's general prospects in recent weeks.

"Nintendo will be back in the race with the NX," he said, during an investor's call on September 29, noted Chloé Woitier, who was reporting on the event for French broadsheet Le Figaro.

That's after he had described the mystery console as a "fantastic machine" the previous week -- one with a "very attractive" interface that is "easy to use for all gamers," he had said.

Nintendo's current home console, the Wii U, has resulted in a clutch of critically acclaimed game experiences -- "Super Mario 3D World," "Mario Kart 8," "Splatoon," "Super Smash Bros.," and "Super Mario Maker" are standouts from the last three or four years across all console platforms.

But it failed to catch on at retail. The Wii had managed over 100 million sales, making it one of the top three best-selling consoles of all time; the Wii U, since its 2012 introduction, is on about a tenth of that.

References to Nintendo getting back in the console race necessarily recall its purple patch and, pertinent to Guillemot's positivity, Ubisoft has its own track record of using new console launches to premiere potential new blockbuster franchises.

"Just Dance" was so successful on the Wii that Nintendo praised the franchise to high heaven during its own investors' meetings.

"Tom Clancy's The Division" launched as the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One stablished themselves, just as Clancy franchises "Ghost Recon" and "Splinter Cell" had done in the Xbox and PlayStation 2 days.

And "Assassin's Creed," that quasi-historical action series which is only now yielding from an annual release schedule -- as long as 2016's two spin-offs and a multi-million dollar Michael Fassbender film aren't counted -- became an early showcase for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.