The vast majority of Wii owners would not see the need to upgrade. Especially considering how few games the average Wii owner purchases to begin with, many getting it just for Wii Sports and Wii Fit.

You can't produce an "upgrade" with a new disc format to begin with. That would make it a brand new system since the old Wii would not be able to play Bluray games. Trading in Wiis would be really expensive for Nintendo, and they'd have no use for a warehouse full of outdated systems.

The only explanation I could see would be if they were taking a PS2/PS3 route, continuing to support an older console for a few more years for one audience, while pushing ahead with a new fancier console for a much smaller audience... but that doesn't seem like Nintendo, and with Galaxy 2 and Other M already scheduled for Wii this year, it's not like there'd be one game to make users want to upgrade, unless these are both early 2010 releases while there is something secret planned for Bluray. I think many Wii users would feel jipped if they were forced to buy a new console for the big holiday release.

It just doesn't add up, not for 2010, certainly.

SNES, N64, Gameboy Color, DS and DSi...

I am kinda sceptical of the Blu-Ray thing, the trade-in thing and 2010 but on the idea of Nintendo supporting their hugely successful older console while they wait to see if their niche upgrade takes hold I am fairly certain. The Wii has a huge market share so when the next Nintendo home console comes they are going to support the Wii for a bit longer even if its just until the new platform sticks. They will probably make it backwards compatible, they will probably release a few Wii titles after it is out and it will very likely be able to upscale Wii games to HD resolutions.

Random non-sequitur list of consoles without explanation...

What do the SNES and N64 have anything to do with this? Handhelds have always been incrementally upgraded. They are cheaper and consumers are more willing to buy more marginal upgrades. Consoles have always used hardware expansions to upgrade, and this has unconditionally produced flop after flop.

The point was that Nintendo has almost consistently continued to support their older console for a few years while trying to push forward their new version. They still sold new special bundles of the SNES in 1998, a good year after the N64 was released here and we got Donkey Kong Country 3 after the N64 was already launched. Nintendo went out and said that the DS was going to be their "third pillar". It was a fail-or-succeed sort of console and if it did fail they still had their hugely successful GBA to fall back on. The same was at least partially true of NES->SNES, GB->GBC, SNES->N64 etc, etc.

They have done the same with every console they have had.... except the Gamecube but that's probably mostly because the Wii sold a gazillion units in the first week.

Did you say "rumors"?!! Absolutely not right!!

The NES was supported for a full three years after the SNES released, and the SNES managed to survive a good one or two after the N64 launch. Even the N64 lasted at least a little bit after the Gamecube released, I believe. The increments have gotten shorter each time (right up to no Gamecube support after Wii launch at all), but that could be logically explained by the decreasing popularity of the consoles (NES was actually Nintendo's best selling console pre-Wii). It would stand to reason that the Wii would still be supported after the next format came out, simply because it's done so well.

All I really just did was reword skywake's post. I hope it helps, Adam.

2010 seems a little early, seeing as there are some really big heavy hitter titles coming out for Wii still release date free in 2010, but these things always get delayed. I would love to see some sort of trade in program or any system that let me keep my downloadable games. If we lose GCN compatibility, I bet we'll see those games for download, since the hardware is so similar to Wii's, I wouldn't think it would be hard to make a system Wii and GCN compatible.

I'd trade in, because I think my bro still has the GCN (and games) anyways. I'd either play them when I see him or just download the ones I want.

Yes, those consoles got "support," but it was marginal support. A few good games occasionally, but not a real split like this rumored Wii 2 sounds like where the intention would be to have two consoles equally supported in parallel.

And yes, DS was a supposed "third pillar," but that's handhelds again, which Nintendo has always treated differently. And really, they didn't uphold this plan anyway. It was simply a safety measure to save face if it failed, and as soon as they realized what a success it was (basically, day one), they started to push DS development over GBA. I wish they had continued equal support of the GBA. The SP and Micro were my favorite handhelds.

The post-SNES release NES support was actually quite good for at least a year. Of course it died down...it always does. It would turn out no different with the next Nintendo system, I suspect: They'd promise high support for both systems, but they wouldn't be able to live up to it for very long.

While there are some things in the article that could legitimately be true (Blu-Ray use because of piracy, 1080P), there are too many stupid, unrealistic "facts" that Nintendo "will" do. For Nintendo, announcing and releasing a new console before they've released the new Zelda would be moronic. And I'm just sick of all this "Wii 2 in 2010" BS. Let's just stop trying to ride the success wagon by stating nonfactual info on a console we probably will never get, Okay?

If it is not a new console with better technical specs it would be a big disapointment for me.

Yet they did EXACTLY that with the wii: Twilight Princess was Gamecube exclusive then Wii came between E3's and suddently it was on old system and new. That said I doubt they would pull that one again anyway

Wii HD might be 2010 if its simply an upgrade, such a system was announced by Nintendo months after the Wii originally launched but I guess it sold so well they put that on the back burner a bit. Wii 2 I believe will still be a way off

Each generation does have better specs, so you won't be disappointed

@lz: I believe he was talking about the possibility of it being a more incrimental upgrade, along the lines of what they've been doing with the DS line. Like maybe the next Wii would be able to output in 720p, and that's the ONLY difference.

I don't think that should be a problem with the next generation now that HD TVs are more popular than they were back in 2006. The only big differences I want to see is an improved motion control scheme as well as a traditional set up for the hard core gamers.

I hope it has ports for older controllers like the N64 controller, etc.

I can't see it coming out in 2010. Late 2011 at the earliest seems more reasonable.

I hear rumor's that the next Wii console is coming in the 3Q this year or 2011 & I hope the new Wii has free Wi-Fi so I wouldn't keep getting disconnected from the Internet.

Impossible. The Wii is not going to come with its own free internet. Exactly how would that be possible?

I don't think we will get a Wii upgrade because we have already had the seventh-gen for 4-5 years now, and I bet as we speak Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony are discreetly working on their top-secret consoles. This might even be Nintendo's plans for the NEXT Nintendo console, when the Wii will be outdated and this supposed new console will be filling up store shelves.

This is also why I am rather hesitant on getting an XBox 360. Don't want to buy something and have it obsolete only a few months after purchase.

Of course, I could be wrong. We might have a good 1-2 years before the new consoles are even announced....