Nintendo Wii 2 At E3 Hints EA Boss

All eyes have been on the Nintendo 3DS recently, but the Japanese company is apparently readying a new version of its living room console for an imminent reveal. Frank Gibeau, label head at EA Games, told IndustryGamers that Nintendo's Wii is a "legacy platform" and the company is "coming back with a second act."

"When you look at Nintendo, for a while there, it was all about the Wii being the biggest entertainment platform ever and capturing the mass market, and it faded away. Now, they're coming back with a second act. I think they know that. They're very self-aware as an organization and a very powerful brand"

Although Nintendo has not talked about specific specifications for the next-gen Wii, and has generally downplayed talk of replacing the first-gen model, Gibeau seems convinced that high-definition support will be a key part of the upcoming refresh. Last year, Nintendo exec and Metroid co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto said that the Wii 2 would leave gamers agape with what the company did with relatively generic hardware.

"They understand the dynamics and the fact that HD consoles is a booming part of business right now. Legacy platforms like PS2 and the Wii have dropped off significantly. They're not stupid. They're going to figure something out. They're going to come back at it"

As for when the Wii 2 might be announced, there's suggestions that Nintendo will make the console official at E3 in early June. That would certainly please SlashGear columnist Don Reisinger, who wrote last month that Nintendo had to release the Wii 2 this year.

[via T3]