14 DAY TRIAL // A successor to the Nintendo Wii, the so-called Wii 2 or Wii HD, may be revealed at this year's E3 conference in Los Angeles, at least according to analyst Arvind Bhatia.
Nintendo's Wii home console crushed its opposition when it came out, but now, as both Sony and Microsoft countered with new technologies like the PlayStation Move or Kinect, sales are slipping for the Japanese device.
As such, many analysts and industry experts are saying that a reveal of a Wii successor is just a matter of time.
Sterne Agee's Arvind Bhatia believes that such an announcement may happen at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) conference this year.
"Microsoft and Sony are expected to persist with the current consoles for the foreseeable future (at least 2 to 3 years and maybe longer). However, Nintendo will likely need to introduce its next upgrade (Wii 2.0?) much before that, simply to catch up with the technology in the PS3 and the 360. Wii’s motion-controller advantage no longer exists given the introduction of Microsoft Kinect and Sony’s Move last year," Bhatia said.
The analysts says that we shouldn't expect a full pledged reveal, as Nintendo is likely to just showcase some technical aspects and reserve a complete reveal for later in the year or in early 2012.
"We would not be surprised if Nintendo unveiled the specifications of its next console at E3 in June this year, followed by product introduction early next year," Bhatia added.
A recent survey published earlier today shows that almost half of the Nintendo Wii owners in the UK haven't played on the console for at least six months.
This should really make Nintendo think about its console and probably speed up the development of its successor if it wants to continue to dominate the competition in the following years.
Nintendo has yet to comment, but we should expect more details about a Wii 2 this year.