Wii 2 on the way: Nintendo is growing up

Almost five years after the Nintendo Wii launched, broke sales records, and revolutionized gaming with the introduction of motion-sensitive controllers, the console is slated to get a successor by E3 in June 2011.

Game Informer has "confirmed with multiple sources" that the Wii 2 (I'm hoping it'll be called the Nintendo Revolution; the Wii's pre-release code name) will be capable of HD gaming. Game Informer wasn't certain whether or not the Wii 2 will be powerful enough to compete with rival powerhouses the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but IGN's sources say it'll be capable of 1080p resolutions, be "significantly more powerful than the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360," and is Nintendo's attempt to "recapture the hardcore market." By that I presume they mean 1996, with the Nintendo 64.

Either way, a more graphics-capable Wii 2 will improve Nintendo's relationships with developers who are understandably tired of creating games that might as well be on the GameCube.

More important than the machine's guts is the controller. The PS3 produced a Wii controller knockoff called the PlayStation Move, but it's Microsoft's Kinect that's the one to beat. The Xbox 360's Kinect takes motion-controlled gaming to the next level by sensing a player's entire body and has become the fastest-selling consumer electronics device ever, besting even the iPhone and iPad. With the multitude of hacks performed on the Kinect, the device just keeps getting better.

CVG spoke to its "industry sources" who have indicated that the newest Wii controller is a Wii Remote with a built-in HD screen, which IGN states will have touch capability. It'd be neat to somehow incorporate the new Nintendo 3DS into the Wii 2 console, kind of like how Apple iOS devices all talk to each other.

Though several sources claim that Nintendo will officially unveil the Wii 2 at E3 this summer, IGN says the company may even make an announcement later this month, so stay tuned.

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