It seems Nintendo is already looking to the future, as the hardware manufacturer revealed that it has a “clear idea” of what the Wii U’s successor will look like.
In an investor Q&A, Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata stated that while the company is still focused on satisfying Wii U owners, it has already been thinking up ideas for its next home console.
Iwata said: “Once we launch a new platform, we naturally start to prepare for the next one. 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.”
He continued: “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.”
Iwata also spoke of how he believes that the Wii U’s sales will eventually get stronger, and that though the company projects the console will only sell 3.6 million units this year, he thinks that it will eventually garner more attention as it progresses further into its life cycle.
“We do not believe that this year’s estimate of 3.6m units of Wii U hardware will be the peak of its lifecycle,” Iwata said. “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,”
