Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata.

In a past newspaper interview, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata said that Nintendo would only consider a successor to the Wii once developers could no longer offer surprises with the Wii.

It looks like that has happened! Following today's announcement of Wii's successor, Nintendo held a press conference in Osaka. Kyodo News reports that as reason for the followup system's release, Iwata said "It became difficult for developers to surprise customers with the current Wii."

Covering the same press conference, Bloomberg reports that Iwata insisted "We will offer something new for home game systems."

Whatever surprises Nintendo has in store for the system, 3D may not be one of them. Iwata also said that considering that 3D televisions have yet to spread widely, making 3D into a central point of the system would be difficult.

In its announcement earlier today, Nintendo stated that it had not included sales of the Wii successor in its earnings forecasts for the current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2012. You might have guessed that this means a release for the system after that date. This is the case, Iwata confirmed during the press conference. The Wii 2 will not arrive until after April 2012.

Outside of Wii 2, Iwata addressed additional sales opportunities for the 3DS, saying that Nintendo would be releasing the system in China and developing countries as soon as preparations are made, possibly this year. Nintendo set a sales target of 16 million units for the 3DS this year. During the previous fiscal year, the system sold 3.61 million units, just shy of its original target of 4 million.

Nintendo usually holds a Tokyo earnings briefing and press conference the day after its Osaka press conference. It's possible that we'll get a few additional bits and pieces about Wii's successor tomorrow.

Source: Andriasang.com