14 DAY TRIAL // Nintendo has missed the perfect release time for its Wii successor, as the Japanese company needed to get the new console out onto the market before the launch of the Kinect or PlayStation Move peripherals for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, respectively, at least according to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter.
Nintendo is preparing to officially announce a successor to its Wii home console, at least according to a huge amount of rumors and speculations, which all point to a formal reveal at the E3 conference this summer.
Now, Wedbush Securities' Michael Pachter has weighed in on the reports with Game Informer, and said that Nintendo was a bit late with the announcement of the Wii 2, as its rivals, Microsoft and Sony, are already stealing lots of customers with the Kinect and PlayStation Move devices.
"I think that the right time for a launch was in front of the launches of Kinect and Move, and think that Nintendo missed the 'perfect' time to launch in 2009," he said. "They could have launched at $300, and would have been competitive with Kinect and Move bundles and may have kept Wii households from upgrading to one of the other consoles."
Instead of getting a new product out before or right when the Kinect and Move were released, Nintendo chose to wait.
Now, the company is taking a few measures to make sure that the Wii will continue to sell, and has implemented a $30 price cut, with a black Nintendo Wii bundle costing $170 at retailers across North America.
Still, Pachter says that all isn't lost, and Nintendo could make a comeback with the new Wii console.
"I think that there is still significant interest in a Wii 2, particularly from the very large Wii installed base, so it is not 'too late,' but it's also not the 'right time.'"
Nintendo has yet to comment on the possibility of a new Wii console, so fans of the company need to wait until E3 to see whether or not a new device will be released.