We Don't Know What Nintendo's NX Is, But a Splatoon Tournament Is Giving Some Away

Nintendo has partnered with esports group ESL to launch a new Splatoon tournament in Europe. That's nothing particularly unusual, except when you consider what the prize is: an NX.

Yes, Nintendo's upcoming system--which it still hasn't officially shared any details about, including an actual name--is being dangled as the prize in the ESL Go4Splatoon tournament that kicks off this coming Sunday. (Those in Europe can sign up here.) This tournament will see a champion named each month for the next six months, with those champions then competing at the grand final in 2017. Each member of the winning team at the grand final will find themselves the owner of a brand new NX.

This is a pretty curious prize given that Nintendo has been so averse to the idea of sharing anything about NX. It didn't discuss the system at E3, later indicating it was worried about imitators if it shared information too soon. Nintendo has only said the system is a "brand-new concept." Rumors suggest it will be a handheld-console hybrid that uses cartridges and has detachable controllers.

An exact schedule for the grand final hasn't been announced; we only know it'll be happening in 2017. That likely means these NX systems won't be awarded before the system officially releases. It's currently without an exact date, but Nintendo has repeatedly indicated it will launch in March 2017.

An NX version of Splatoon has not yet been confirmed. Nintendo itself has only announced a single NX game so far in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, though other publishers have confirmed a handful of games, including Dragon Quest X, Dragon Quest XI, and Just Dance.