Satoru Iwata has confirmed to investor that the company already knows what it has planned for its follow-up to the struggling Wii U.
“We are preparing for our next hardware system,” the Nintendo president told investors. “In fact, we already have a clear idea to some extent about the direction our next hardware is going to take.
“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.
“On the other hand, the most difficult question for us to answer in public in concrete terms is when we are going to launch our new hardware and what kind of hardware we are going to launch, and I am afraid that I cannot talk about this in more detail.”
There were words of reassurance for existing Wii U owners, however.
“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,” he added.
“I can certainly assure you that we are not at a dead end of any kind in which we are out of ideas for 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.”