Leaked Nintendo NX Controller Images Were Elaborate 3D Printed Hoax By Pranksters
Wading through the Internet is a little similar to the movie Inception, in that you never truly know what's real. In case anyone needed reminding of that, what were purported to be leaked photos of an oval shaped controller for Nintendo's forthcoming NX console turned out to be fake. That's probably a good thing because the reaction to the controller design wasn't all that positive.
So what happened? Well, there were actually two instances of the fancy pants controller showing up online, both modeled after Nintendo's patent filing, which itself is real. But the photos of the supposed prototypes were not. The first of those appeared on reddit by "Idriss2Dev," a new member to the site who drew skepticism from the community.
So what happened? Well, there were actually two instances of the fancy pants controller showing up online, both modeled after Nintendo's patent filing, which itself is real. But the photos of the supposed prototypes were not. The first of those appeared on reddit by "Idriss2Dev," a new member to the site who drew skepticism from the community.
That initial skepticism turned out to be warranted because as we now know, it's a confirmed fake. It was created by David Im, who in a subsequent YouTube video showed how he created the controller. He essentially took a 3D model and plopped it into Photoshop. He had the foresight to degrade the quality of the photo, as most leaks tend to be in poor lighting and at least a little blurry.
Before David came clean with what he'd done, more images purporting to be an early prototype of the NX controller appeared online, but from a different reddit user. These were much clearer shots and higher quality that looked strikingly similar to the images in Nintendo's patent filing. It had rubber nubs, a glossy display, buttons on the top, and a "Confidential Property" sticker that's appeared on real prototypes (though this one didn't look exactly the same).
Well, that one was fake too. In a longer YouTube video, the controller's creator, Frank Sandqvist, co-founder of CND Design in Finland, explained that he created the initial design in Fusion 360, Autodesk's 3D modeling tool. He then 3D printed it out in black resin and acrylic.
These probably won't be the last supposed leaked photos of the NX controller or even the console itself, as Nintendo is expected to unveil it by the end of the year.
Before David came clean with what he'd done, more images purporting to be an early prototype of the NX controller appeared online, but from a different reddit user. These were much clearer shots and higher quality that looked strikingly similar to the images in Nintendo's patent filing. It had rubber nubs, a glossy display, buttons on the top, and a "Confidential Property" sticker that's appeared on real prototypes (though this one didn't look exactly the same).
Well, that one was fake too. In a longer YouTube video, the controller's creator, Frank Sandqvist, co-founder of CND Design in Finland, explained that he created the initial design in Fusion 360, Autodesk's 3D modeling tool. He then 3D printed it out in black resin and acrylic.
These probably won't be the last supposed leaked photos of the NX controller or even the console itself, as Nintendo is expected to unveil it by the end of the year.
