It seems a Nintendo Switch internal logo codenamed “NX” has been spotted and leaked.
The NX logo was found on a prototype of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on October 18, 2016, two days before Nintendo officially announced the name of the Switch.
The logo consists of a counterclockwise rotating circle with a blue dot and the letters “NX” appearing right next to it. It also has a light blue color similar to the Wii U’s logo instead of the Switch’s red color.
The Nintendo Switch was codenamed NX. It was an early animated logo used during the console’s development (found on the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe prototype). It’s not seen outside of Nintendo pic.twitter.com/B1bS5zCKOu
— Paul Kelly (@paulfelixkelly) 20. November 2022
While we can’t fully verify the validity of the launch sequence, we probably won’t get any official confirmation since it comes from Nintendo. But this is a rare glimpse of an early Nintendo prototype.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was a Switch port of Mario Kart 8 for the Wii U but included the latest DLC. The game received more DLC courses this year in the form of Booster Course Passes. It became so successful that it surpassed the Mario Kart Wii games and became the best-selling game in the franchise, but it also became the best-selling racing game in US history.
It looks like Nintendo is in no rush to make Mario Kart 9 because Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is doing so well. However, Khalifa is said to be in active development with a “new twist” to the series.
The Switch is approaching its sixth birthday, so the device’s successor is coming soon. There are no details or codenames yet, but Nintendo says it’s working to avoid repeating the same mistakes in the Wii to Wii U transition.
George Young is a freelance writer for IGN. He has been writing about the industry since 2019 and has collaborated with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.
When he’s not writing about video games, George plays video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey
