Nash Weedle, a Spanish leaker who accurately predicted the existence of Metroid Dread approximately a year before its official announcement, is now claiming that Nintendo is currently working on a standalone VR device and that they're already testing its prototype.

In the following post, as seen below, Nash Weedle goes over several alleged details regarding this VR device. They state it will function independently from the widely rumored upcoming successor to the Nintendo Switch, they state that it will be a mixed-reality device, and that Google is somehow involved in its development. They further add a fan-rendered image of what this device may look like.

🔥Leak Express: Nintendo ya tiene un prototipo en pruebas de unas gafas “VR”

- Hardware independiente de Switch 2
- Realidad mixta
- Uso doméstico, no para parques temáticos
- Pantalla MicroLED
- Sorprendentemente Google está involucrada de alguna manera en el desarrollo pic.twitter.com/e60yNchmsy

— Nash Weedle “El Analista de Leaks” (@NWeedle) September 3, 2023

In a follow-up post the next day, Nash Weedle elaborated on the connection to Google, stating that a Google subsidiary has patents for MicroLED panels, which Weedle claims are being used in the VR device prototype. It's recommended to, of course, take everything with a grain of salt, as nothing has been proven nor officially confirmed.

However, this leak is potentially corroborated by a patent Nintendo filed back in November 2022. As broken down by Reddit user u/followmeinblue, the patent revolves around a potential VR unit being able to transfer information to a separate device, so that two individuals can interact in the 3D space captured by the VR unit.

The user gives the example of a VR player interacting with a live chessboard in a VR 3D space, while another player on a smartphone is able to see this chessboard and interact with it with their own non-VR inputs.

If the leak and patent are connected and are indeed related to a VR device that is actually in development at Nintendo, then it's likely that this device will have some sort of cross-functionality with the upcoming successor to the Nintendo Switch. It would be interesting, however, for Nintendo to go back to having separate gaming devices simultaneously on the market, after having combined its handheld and home console product lines into one with the Nintendo Switch.

Posted: Sep 08, 2023 3:44 pm
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://www.dualshockers.com/leaker-claims-nintendo-vr-device/