Nintendo is hoping that a Wii 2 console, expected to be unveiled next month, will reverse a sales slump.
Depending
on which Internet rumor you believe, it will be called Wii 2, Project
Café or Stream. The only thing we know for certain about Nintendo's new
video game system is that it's coming in 2012.Nintendo is widely expected to unveil its successor to the Wii, the top seller among the current generation of gaming consoles, next month at the E3 trade show in Los Angeles.
Nobody knows yet what features the system will contain or exactly when it will be released (current speculation points to next spring at the earliest). But other, bigger questions beg asking: Can the new console match the cultural impact of the original? And will it shore up Nintendo's faltering dominance in the gaming market?
At face value, a follow-up to the Wii -- the first motion-controlled gaming system, which became a breakaway hit with such nontraditional gamers as women and seniors -- would seem to be a slam dunk.
But despite having sold 86 million units of the system since its launch in November 2006, Wii sales fell 25% in 2010, down from 20.5 million units the year before. Nintendo has also suffered some recent financial troubles, as its most recent profit and sales figures have both slid by double digits.
Despite enjoying industry-leading popularity for four-plus years and single-handedly making motion controls a household name, the Wii is looking long in the tooth. Some believe the video game manufacturer has reacted too slowly to counteract its competition.
Last year, Sony and Microsoft introduced their own enhanced motion control systems, the PlayStation Move and the Xbox Kinect, which have sold an impressive 8 million and 10 million units, respectively.
And while the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 offer dazzling high-definition graphics, streaming multimedia and robust online multiplayer, Nintendo's console has been coasting by on increasingly archaic-looking, standard-definition visuals and limited Internet functionality.
Buy a Wii, and you get a family-friendly system notable for its everyday accessibility, software-emulated gaming classics and library of familiar Nintendo hits including "Super Mario All-Stars" and "Donkey Kong Country Returns."