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Nintendo now handing out NX console developer kits - report

Platform includes "mobile unit" and "industry-leading" chips.

Nintendo has begun issuing developers with software kits for its upcoming under-wraps NX console, a new report claims.

Nintendo's delayed Wii U Zelda game is widely expected to be a NX launch title.

The Wall Street Journal sources have said that the console will include a "mobile unit that could either be used in conjunction with the console or taken on the road for separate use".

This tallies with previous speculation that Nintendo will replace both its handheld and home console offerings simultaneously.

A separate mobile unit could also fit the description of the touchscreen-based controller that Nintendo recently patented, that also has shoulder scroll wheels.

The NX will also reportedly use "industry-leading chips", following developer criticism that the Wii U did not match up close enough with rival consoles.

Nintendo has said it will officially announce the NX at some point next year. E3 2016, to be held as usual in June, seems like a likely bet - ahead of a Christmas 2016 launch.

NX has already been years in the planning, and will be the legacy of Nintendo's late president Satoru Iwata. Tatsumi Kimishima, the man chosen to replace Iwata, will hold the reins for what may well be the company's most pivotal year of its history.