Is “MH” Nintendo’s next handheld? There’s reason to doubt it

Artist's conception of the mysterious "MH" portable. Or a hacked-together portable N64. One of those.

A new report out of Japan could be the first indication of a new handheld console in the pipeline for Nintendo, with the codename "MH." But despite some breathless reports on the news, there is reason for skepticism.

The rumor mill got churning this time thanks to off-handed mention in a report from the business analysts at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley (published in Japanese here and here). A couple of translations of that report predict that future economic growth for Nintendo through the 2020 fiscal year will be driven by "the next generation game console NX and next generation portable game console MH (Tentative title) [or (temporary name), depending on the translation]."

The translated wording certainly seems certain enough, and the specificity of the codename suggests an actual product in the works at Nintendo rather than mere speculation. Still, it's pretty odd that the first public mention of a major new hardware initiative at Nintendo would come in an aside in a business analyst's note rather than from Nintendo itself.

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