Nintendo to go with Android and AMD for make-or-break console

Nintendo win makes it a 'full house' of games consoles for struggling chip designer

AMD will design the CPU and graphics co-processor in Nintendo's next games console - and the console will be based on a version of the Android operating system, according to reports.

The strong rumours follow confirmation by AMD CEO Lisa Su that the company had snagged a major new "semi-custom" chip contract that could generate billions of dollars in new revenues for the struggling chip designer. AMD already makes a CPU+GPU combination for both Sony and Microsoft for their respective consoles - deals that have helped keep the company going as it wilts under the pressure of competition from its bigger rival Intel.

The rumours also suggest that Nintendo will take the intriguing route of using a version of Android as the operating system in its new console, the Nintendo NX, which will help make the device more standardised. Nintendo has also trailed Sony and Microsoft in introducing online features and making games available for download over the internet.

The claim that Nintendo will use Android was made by Japanese newswire Nikkei. The move would mark a shift from proprietary, in-house designed operating systems behind both the Wii and Wii U, but is intended to attract developers to the platform. However, Android gaming consoles have not proved popular, even when sold at a low price, due to the poor quality of the games compared to PC gaming or other mainstream consoles.

The current Wii U console is based on IBM's fast-declining PowerPC architecture, with AMD providing the graphics processing capabilities. The shift to AMD would also, therefore, mark a shift in chip architecture to the x86-standard, but may also be a challenge in terms of providing backwards compatibility for current Wii U games - especially in terms of keeping the Wii U selling until the new console is launched.

AMD classifies the products it produces for games console manufacturers as "semi custom". Back in December, its chief financial officer Devinder Jumar claimed at an analyst conference that AMD had two such major projects in the pipeline. "I will say that one is x86 and the other is ARM, and at least one will be beyond gaming... They [the customers] are going to announce it and then ... you will find out that it is AMD's APU [advanced processing unit] that is being used in those products."

However, the Nintendo contract may not be as lucrative as hoped, with the company itself struggling following the fumbled release of its Wii U console, which only confused potential buyers.

Instead, Sony's PlayStation 4 has become the market-leading next generation games console, closely followed by Microsoft's Xbox-One, although both consoles lack genuinely innovative, new "killer games" to attract the growing number of users gaming on home PCs instead.