nintendo might unveil a new platform at gdc

[Soleron]

bmmb1 said:

Possible scenario - they announce a more expensive Wii2 (with HD and a vitality sensor system) that is completely backwards compatible that will come out around mid-2011. When it comes out, people will have the choice of either buying an (initially) $350 Wii2 or a (then) $150 Wii. Any games you buy for Wii will not be obsolete.

You announce new hardware like that as late as possible before launch. Otherwise all the momentum goes out of your current system - what developer would publish major, system-selling games on an admitted dead platform?

The major publishers would already know the date and rough capability of any hypothetical hardware launching in the next two years, just not publicly. What would Nintendo have to gain by a public announcement?