Before we delve into the meat of this story, let’s all take a moment to take a deep breath and a healthy grain of salt. Okay, maybe more than a grain. Maybe we need something more like a bucket-full of salt.

A Reddit poster going by the handle, Idriss2Dev, who claims to be a game developer who has seen a version of Nintendo’s NX hardware behind closed doors, has supposedly snapped a covert image of the controller for the machine.

Are you ready for this?

Here it comes….

Okay, let’s all calm down a bit before proceeding.

The authenticity of the alleged photograph has not been verified or confirmed in any way and the source, along with the chain of custody is dubious at best.

The photograph first appeared via the previously noted Reddit account. This posting was picked up by a less than credible source known as Dual Pixels, who sourced the Reddit posting and claimed that this was their “exclusive source.” That story was then picked up by Destructoid, where the whole thing is currently blowing up on popular gaming message board, NeoGaf.

It’s the time spent at Destructiod where things get interesting. According to their story, they ran the photograph through a piece of software which they use to determine whether or not a picture has been Photoshopped.

“While the image shows evidence of multiple times being saved over, this could be explained by the presence of the large black rectangle and date stamp on the image. It looks otherwise consistent, leading us to suspect that the image has not been Photoshopped significantly.”

They then go on to talk about inconsistencies in the light-sourcing, which could be grounds to discredit the image as a fake, and thus lead to a declaration of shenanigans on this whole thing.

The alleged Nintendo NX controller is consistent with a leak of a patent that Nintendo had filed for a controller that acts more like a screen that has controller elements built into it.

Source: Destructoid

Idriss2Dev claims in his post that Nintendo’s NX controller has haptic feedback buttons, force feedback built into the control sticks, and two buttons in the top of the device that are able to roll in the same way a computer mouse does.

The big question about the photo that I have as a reporter is why does it look so staged?

If this is supposed to be a picture taken covertly, presumably under penalty of death by Nintendo’s crack team of real-life Koopa Troopa’s, why did he (or she) take the time to make sure a notepad was in the shot with the words “you will say wow!” prominently featured. It’s also worth questioning why this person would go to the trouble of blacking out the unit to which this controller is attached? I mean, you are already trying to rock the entire gaming world by leaking the controller, why not also leak the unit while you’re at it. Wouldn’t that help lend authenticity to the claim that you’re trying to make?

The reason we can’t immediately dismiss this claim is due to Nintendo’s fantastic ability to keep their projects shrouded in mystery, which serves as fodder for all sorts of wild speculation, along with their penchant for innovating with their controller design going back to the Nintendo 64. We have heard a number of rumors about what the Nintendo NX may be, that any morsel of half-way credible information that comes out gets snapped up like a bloody hunk of tuna in a shark-tank.

The reactions to this “leak” of the Nintendo NX controller on NeoGaf have thus far been overwhelmingly negative. Most comments are variations of “please God no” to people claiming that they will be done with Nintendo if this turns out to be true. More level-headed comments bring up the questionable ergonomic design of the very rounded edges of this possible Nintendo NX controller.

It remains to be seen whether or not this turns out to be the real deal, or an elaborate hoax. But with Nintendo’s investor’s conference call to discuss their financial plan for the upcoming fiscal year, coming up on April 27th, and E3 right around the corner in June, we may start to finally get a few glimpses behind the big N’s shroud of secrecy surrounding their next-generation machine.

What do you think? Is this the real Nintendo NX controller? Do you think this could be some sort of legitimate prototype? Or do you think it’s all a bunch of hooey? The thing I crave most in this world is to see your digital speculation reflected on our comments section below.