Nintendo Delays Wii U Til E3 2012, On Sale in a Year (or More?)

Nintendo learnt some important lessons from the bumpy start that the 3DS had and is hoping not to make the same mistakes again with the Wii U.  At least that's what the firm's chief exec, Satoru Iwata, said when he unveiled its latest financial results: 'Given our difficulties with the Nintendo 3DS, we're doing everything can to make sure the same thing doesn't happen to the Wii U when it goes on sale.'  The firm's latest attempt at a portable console did much less well than expected, forcing Nintendo slash prices by over 20% less than six months after it came out.

Another explanation for the delays to the Wii U could be technical, including solving the difficult problem of getting good quality, smooth video from the main unit to the touchscreen tablet.

Frustratingly for Nintendo, it means it won't be able to steal as much of a march on its competitors—including the next versions of the PlayStation and the Xbox—by as much of a margin as previously thought.  That's especially tricky given that the next-generation Wii is said to said to be roughly technically equivalent to the current Xbox 360 and PlayStation.

Nintendo rarely stakes everything on the raw power of its consoles, preferring to offer a more rounded experience, but we'd still like to see some improvements almost seven years into the life cycle of the current generation of HD games consoles!  Competition is likely to be as tough as ever, especially now that Nintendo's rivals have got advance knowledge of the form factor for its new console with its portable touchpad.

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