Nintendo console rumor befuddles experts

The Fusion DS and Fusion Terminal appear to combat Nintendo's Wii U woes with their powerful specifications, but a few key anomalies prevent the hype train from going full steam ahead.

The Fusion DS and Fusion Terminal appear to combat Nintendo's Wii U woes with their powerful specifications, but a few key anomalies prevent the hype train from going full steam ahead.

Both proposed units would be significant steps up from the current Wii U home console and portable 3DS, with an anonymous but reputable source being cited by Nintendo News.

The Fusion DS would contain an ARM-based CPU and Adreno 420-based GPU, as well as an apparently hefty 3GB of memory, a Gorilla Glass screen, and rumble feedback on its controller nubs.

The Fusion Terminal, on the other hand, would be based on AMD's RX 200 line of graphics chips, running on an IBM CPU as has been Nintendo's preference for home consoles.

Interestingly, it'd be available in two flavors, one with a disc drive and one with beefed-up internal storage instead. Both would accept Nintendo 3DS cartridges as a bonus.

But 3DS emulation would be tricky for a console that doesn't share the same basic hardware loadout, and that's just one of several sticking points.

The Fusion DS's cameras are suspiciously low-spec, AMD doesn't have rights to use Qualcomm's Adreno tech, and its 3GB memory capacity is far too small for the sort of tasks required of it, as Pallab Chatterjee of the Silicon Valley Trade Council pointed out on VentureBeat.

Other reactions note that both devices' advanced innards would require Nintendo to charge an excruciatingly high price at retail, in conflict with its current strategy.

Additional anomalies undermine the rumor's veracity, with the Fusion DS sporting a 128G SDHC card slot instead of the more advanced SDXC format, while its supposed GPS location technology runs contrary to recent policy changes implemented after a furor over the 3DS's Swapnote software.

Finally, the existence of such a detailed spec sheet, should the Fusion consoles be anything other than imminent, pours cold water over the whole affair.