When will Nintendo announce the NX?

The Nintendo NX will be released worldwide in March 2017. That's soon. Like, really soon. Six months away. And we don't even know what the device is.

Ninty boss Kimishima has said that the NX is a new concept, that would not succeed the 3DS or Wii U. Rumours suggest that it will be a handheld and home console hybrid, which works on your TV or on the bus.

But, really, we don't know. We don't know specs, controllers, launch titles, or if the console has a handy carrying handle like the Gamecube. That was good, let's do that again.

So when WILL Nintendo announce this thing? Let's do some wild speculation.

The Nintendo 3DS was announced in March 2010 with a quick message to shareholders. "We will launch Nintendo 3DS during the fiscal year ending March 2011, on which games can be enjoyed with 3D effects without the need for any special glasses".

While that told us a lot, the 3DS was shown off for the first time at E3 in June 2010. We saw the the two screens, the circle pad, launch titles, and tech demos.

The console came out on schedule in February 2011. That's eight months between the console being shown off and it coming out.

The Wii U-shaped cat was out of the bag for even longer. The console was shown off at E3 in June 2011, and then shown again at E3 in June 2012. It was finally released in November 2012.

That's right: we knew the Wii U was a console with a fat tablet controller for a year and five months before we could go buy the darn thing.

Okay, so Nintendo usually uses E3 in Los Angeles to reveal new consoles (now in Nintendo Direct broadcasts, rather than actual on-stage showcases). But E3 is over and done with for this year.

What events are coming between now and March? Well, Tokyo Game Show is really soon. Like on Thursday soon. Trouble is, Nintendo traditionally doesn't attend and is not listed as an exhibitor for the 2016 show either.

However, it's worth noting that Satoru Iwata held a keynote speech at TGS in 2005, where he revealed the Wii Remote controller. So perhaps we should be ready for a surprise announcement? It's a long shot, but we'll take it.

There's also EGX in Birmingham. We've got to give credit to Eurogamer for securing some really big names and big games for its show - but the announcement of a new Nintendo console is something else entirely. Don't hold your breath.

This is the most likely. Sometime between now and March, Nintendo will reveal all in a surprise broadcast.

And surprise is the right word. I mean, the last show - the one where Nintendo revealed Mario Maker, Pikmin, and Yoshi's Woolly World for 3DS - was announced just two days before it went live. So don't expect a big build up.

As for timing: maybe it makes sense to give the Wii U one more Christmas to shine before telling the world that that thing is basically now just a doorstop. Sigh, we'll always have Splatoon.

At E3 1995, Sega finally announced the American price for the Sega Saturn. $399. But that's not all. It surprised everyone by revealing that gamers could go off and buy the system that day. Boom. Mic drop.

Okay, well it's not quite so cool when you add in the fact that the PlayStation was a hundred dollars cheaper and outsold the Saturn by a factor of eighty trillion. But still, it was a baller move for the mid 90s.

I doubt it could happen today, what with store leaks and all that. But who knows. Maybe Nintendo will reveal and release the NX on the exact same day. Could happen. It won't. But it could! And that's what counts.

This one's hard to stomach. But, man, is Nintendo really ready to launch this thing? Maybe it needs a bit more time in the oven.

Breath of the Wild - the NX's only confirmed launch title - can't possibly be delayed any more. It was supposed to be out in 2015, for Pete's sake. So if the NX is delayed, expect to see the game come out on Wii U first.

But the NX itself? Maybe we'll have to wait a little longer than we're expecting. Because, right now, the thought of buying a brand new Nintendo console in six months just seems utterly weird.

We hope we're wrong.