In an interview with Kotaku this week, President and COO of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aime, squashed rumors and speculation that Nintendo has a Wii 2 in the works. The Regginator claims that Nintendo isn’t considering a new Wii any time soon, not even for next holiday season. The Wii needs to sale many more units, he says, before new plans can surface about another Nintendo console.
Some critics, including Kotaku's Stephen Totilo, think that a decline in Wii sales is reason enough for a Wii 2 to emerge. Sure, Wii sales may be down at the moment, but the system is about to enter its fifth year of life, which means that the current decline in Wii sales is only natural. Then again, Nintendo’s competitors have been enjoying a recent rise in sales lately. So, shouldn't that be motivation enough for Nintendo to start thinking about the future? Not necessarily. Microsoft and Sony have both just launched new add-ons to their consoles, and new product, when advertised properly, attracts higher sales. Not to mention, these add-ons are little more than responses to Nintendo's own motion controllers. They're not exactly challenges to begin a new hardware cycle. Again, what’s happening in the “console wars” at the moment is all very natural stuff.
Mr. Fils-Aime’s interview with Kotaku should, therefore, not be seen as an instance of rumor dodging, but, rather, it should be seen as what it is in terms of good business: the truth. Nintendo has the 3DS launch to worry about at the moment, and it probably wouldn’t want to simultaneously release two new systems right now and end up competing against itself. That just wouldn't be good business.
