The Nintendo Wii has been in the news an awful lot this month for a five-year-old game console with no major updates in tow. There was that rumored price cut on May 15, the damning reports about its sales figures, and Kotaku noted that the Wii's games list has thinned out considerably.
Nintendo is announcing its next-generation console at the E3 Expo on June 7-9 was informed by IGN and Game Informer. And it’s no surprise that on Friday the blogosphere was rife with reports about the same.
French tech publication 01.net reports that the console is codenamed "Project Café" and will feature an in-built sensor bar, dual analog sticks, a standard d-pad, and trigger buttons. The new Wii will have HD support was according a game informer, while Kotaku reports that the console's specs will be "more powerful" than an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.
IGN and Game Informer both cited anonymous sources claiming that Nintendo will announce the next-generation console in at E3 this year and launch it in 2012 but Nintendo "declines to comment on speculation or rumors,".
As newer motion sensor technology, like the Kinect for Xbox 360, launched the Wii has seen its popularity dip considerably as it was once the hottest console in the U.S. as it has novel motion sensor technology. In February Wedbush analyst Michael Pachtersaid Wii sales dropped 31.5 percent in January (usually a big month for console purchases), more than rivals Sony and Microsoft. It's a far cry from the time PCMag editor called the Nintendo Wii the Best Product Ever.
If you want to know more, see PCMag's review of the Wii, which was launched in 2006.
