New Nintendo Console Maybe In 3, 5 or 8 Years

Face it, the Nintendo Wii is a souped-up GameCube. It’s not HD. And that’s okay! The console has been incredibly successful. But nothing lasts forever, not even the Nintendo Wii.

One day, Nintendo will release a new console. “If we have an opportunity to make a new console, it will probably support HD because it is now common throughout the world,” Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told website VentureBeat. “However, as far as the Wii is concerned, we have not found a significant reason to make it HD-compatible at this time.”

We take it that it-looks-better-on-our-TVs doesn’t count?

“What is the significant meaning to the users?” Iwata continued. (See above.) “I don’t think we should do it unless we find that reason.” (See above.) “If we decide for other reasons to make new hardware, then HD is one of the things we would naturally add.” (Thank you.)

When can we expect new hardware? When Nintendo developers start asking for new hardware so they can “developer meaningful surprises to the users.” Iwata even gives a launch window — a vague one: “As for timing, it may be three years from now, five years from now or eight years from now.”

Let’s see, Japanese analog broadcasts stop in 2011, so we’re betting sometime before then.

Nintendo CEO: Wii care about your heartbeat, but not your iPhone, the recession or free games [VentureBeat]