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Next Nintendo console to use Blu-ray?

Reports suggest touch-screen controller.

Nintendo's next home console will use Blu-ray, a new report has claimed.

Sources close to Blu-ray.com suggest Nintendo will integrate Sony's tech into its new console.

According to yesterday's flurry of reports, Nintendo's new console will be "significantly more powerful than the PlayStation 3" and Nintendo intends to "recapture the hardcore market".

It has also been reported that the machine, pegged for a late 2012 launch, will be backwards compatible.

Would the universe collapse in on itself if Sony hardware was implanted into its rival's new machine? Would Nintendo fans stand for the sight of the next Mario disc being gobbled up by a darkly glinting Sony slot?

The inclusion of a Blu-ray drive may not necessarily mean Nintendo's next console will play Blu-ray movies. The Wii uses standard DVD discs for games but the ability to play DVD movies is locked - despite homebrew developers discovering the ability is there.

Other reports suggest changes to the system's controller too. IGN has word it will include a touch-capable screen. Will it work instead of buttons? As well as buttons? Or will you plug your 3DS in somehow? The mind boggles.