Nintendo to Withhold New Console for Some Time

No new Nintendo console until the original sells 15 million more units in the U.S., says Reggie Fils-Aime.

In an interview with Kotaku, Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime said that the next Wii is "not a must" for the 2011 holiday season. Nintendo still believes that its current console has a lot of life left in it.

"As we sit here today we're saying the Wii has many, many more units to sell. After we've reached an installed base of 45 million here in the U.S., we can have a conversation about the next generation."

Fils-Aime showed in a New York business conference that the Wii is still selling 23% faster than the PlayStation 2 did in the same amount of time. There are currently 30.4 million Wiis in U.S. households. Over 75 million Wii's have been sold worldwide as of September 2010.

Although the pace of the Wii sales has slowed, Nintendo has remained confident that the console still has a lot to offer. This includes the first non-musical Donkey Kong game in many years, Donkey Kong Country Returns. For now, Nintendo remains focused on its upcoming handheld, the 3DS, which is due out on February 26, 2011 in Japan and in March 2011 in North America and Europe.