According to a recent investor Q&A, Nintendo already has an idea about how they plan to proceed as a followup to the Wii U. Company boss Satoru Iwata explained that Nintendo has already begun working on the iteration of the hardware used in the Wii U.
He said,
“Once we launch a new platform, we naturally start to prepare for the next one,” he explained. “As it takes several years to develop a single platform, if you ask us whether we are preparing for our next system, then the correct response will be that we are always developing new hardware.
I of course believe that launching new hardware will not produce good results unless we first make sure that those who have already purchased our platforms are satisfied.
We will continue to work hard to ensure that consumers who already own our platforms are satisfied, and make sure that people will continue to see great value in our software, but I would like to say that we are preparing for our next hardware system, and in fact, we already have a clear idea to some extent about the direction our next hardware is going to take.
We do not believe that this year’s estimate of 3.6m units of Wii U hardware will be the peak of its lifecycle, and we would like to work hard to make sure that we give sufficient momentum to the system so that we can expect good results in and after the next fiscal year, too.”
Iwata re-emphasises that the company has merged its handheld and home console divisions. “As a result, our development of hardware and software can be done in a more unified fashion with individual developers being able to communicate directly with others more closely,” he explains.
