In a recent interview with MCVUK, Mr. Satoru Iwata stated that Nintendo has no intention of releasing Wii’s successor any time soon. Personally, I agree that Nintendo doesn’t have to because Wii is still currently selling well, has several big titles coming out exclusively for it across 2010 and 2011, the yet to be released Vitality Sensor, and for people that do want new Nintendo hardware, there’s the 3DS coming out before March 31st, 2011 (possibly even this year). We’ll learn more in time, but for now, here’s Satoru’s quote on the subject:
“We are of course studying and developing the next console to Wii. However, there is a big difference between studying a product and announcing what it is and when we will release it. I am afraid to say that the history of entertainment is also the history of imitation. A great idea will promptly be copied unless protected through patents. At the same time, it is really important for our business to positively surprise people. Will you be surprised by our completed product if we told you how it is surprising three years in advance? Therefore, we basically disclose information on our products as late as possible. We believe this is the best approach for the entertainment products we are developing. Again, we are planning the next products for Nintendo’s continuous growth, but we cannot tell you what, when and how we will release it here. Thank you for your understanding.”