Rumours are swirling around the internet today that Nintendo plans to unveil a successor to the Wii at this year’s E3 expo, in Los Angeles this June.
Game Informer magazine is reporting that Nintendo has been showcasing the new console, apparently scheduled for release in 2012, to 3rd parties “to get them excited” and word is that the new console will be more powerful than the current PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, which are four and five years old respectively – an eon in technology terms. (This is a fairly hot topic, not sure what to believe at this stage!)
Game Informer writes that “moving to HD should greatly help Nintendo and its new console in getting more multi-platform triple-A titles like Portal 2 or Mortal Kombat”, which will in turn “strengthen Nintendo’s historically poor relationship with third-party publishers/developers”.
The magazine contacted a Nintendo representative who would only say “Nintendo does not comment on rumours or speculation”. Wii sales have slowed down a lot in recent months, with Microsoft’s Xbox outselling the Wii consistently every month.
The Wii did an excellent job of bringing console gaming to the whole family and breaking in to motion gaming, however the power and graphics capabilities meant it was never going to be able to capture hardcore gamers. Could this new console do exactly that? There are rumours that Nintendo want to “embrace Western gamers” with this new HD console, which if true, would heap a lot of pressure on Sony and Microsoft.
We’ll have to wait and see what will be revealed. Do you think that the new Ninetendo console will be more powerful than the PS3 or 360?
