Nintendo Prepping Wii Successor, As Wii Sales Continue To Decline


After recording slumping sales for the second straight year, Nintendo headed back to the drawing board and is set to unveil a new gaming console in 2012, succeeding its fading top-seller, the Wii.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Nintendo Co. plans to preview a playable model of the "Wii's successor system" at the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles in June.
However, further details about the new machine were not given.
The Journal says the new console is "likely to help usher in the next generation of videogame systems."
When Nintendo debuted its Wii gaming system in 2006, it was an instant hit, outselling Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360. Its motion-sensing controllers broadened the gaming world, and Sony and Microsoft followed in their footsteps introducing motion-sensing accessories for their respective consoles to compete with Wii just last year.
Since its release, over 86 million Wii units have been sold. But sales for the Wii have fell more than 20% in each of the past two fiscal years, and Nintendo predicts another 14% drop in sales for the current fiscal year.
The PS3 and Xbox 360 have each sold about 50 million units since their inceptions.
"The interest in the Wii is falling pretty dramatically," David Gibson, head of research at Macquarie Securities in Tokyo, told the WSJ. "To get people interested again to sell its software, you need to introduce new features or a new item."
The Journal predicts that Nintendo's yet-to-be-named console will feature "a major technological upgrade over its predecessor."
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said in February that as handheld game machines become more capable, living-room consoles will need to offer an experience only available at home, where games are played on large screens viewable by several people at the same time.
But, he didn't elaborate any further on his comments.

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