Nintendo Co., Ltd. is rumored to be producing a new handheld to replace the 3DS with an unusual screen shape.

According to an Osakan reporter with Japan Times, Nintendo has entered a deal with Japanese electronics company Sharp Corporation to produce “free-form” LCD screens that can be manufactured in a variety of unusual shapes.

Other industries targeted by Sharp’s new free-form displays include auto companies, who could use the displays for vehicle dashboards, as well as wearable device manufacturers.

The Japan Times points to an unnamed source who claims that Nintendo is “considering creating a hole at the center of the display, making it doughnut-shaped.” The Japanese news organization made no guesses on the purposes behind such an unusual shape.

Nintendo has recently entered deals with other companies to drive seemingly unusual hardware innovations. Earlier this year, Nintendo partnered with medical technology company ResMed to develop a sleep monitor designed to help fight sleep apnea.

Taking risks

Unusual for a company of its size and age — the company itself is 125 years old — Nintendo is known for taking risks in trying out innovative technologies.

The Nintendo 64 was the first game console to popularize controller vibration, which is now a staple of console gaming. Likewise, the Nintendo Wii popularized motion controls, which was one of the key selling points behind the console’s success.

But other innovations by the company have not been as well received. In 1995, Nintendo released the headache inducing Nintendo Virtual Boy, which used a stereoscopic goggle display to play early 3D games. Though it later became a collector’s item, the Virtual Boy was a commercial failure, largely due to a lack of playable games and portability, as well as the discomfort of use. The Virtual Boy sold less than half of its projected 3 million units and was quickly discontinued less than a year after its release.

But the failure of the Virtual Boy did little to discourage the company from taking chances in the future, and the spirit of the device was later reborn with the 2011 release of the Nintendo 3DS, a handheld game console that plays 3D games without uncomfortable goggles.

Nintendo is still the dominant handheld game company, but with the rise of smartphone gaming, maybe some innovation will help the company stay on top.