Nintendo to unveil Wii successor in two months

Nintendo to unveil Wii successor in two months

• Nintendo will preview the Wii 2 at a trade fair in June
• New console will be officially launched next year
• Company also reported a 66% slump in annual profit

Just one month after its hand-held 3DS console took a bow, Nintendo will unveil the successor to its phenomenally popular Wii console in two months.

The Japanese computer giant will officially launch the Wii 2 next year, but will exhibit a playable prototype at a trade fair in Los Angeles in June.

It will replace the Wii, which has sold 86million units since its launch in 2006.

Prince William plays a Nintendo Wii ten-pin bowling game with children at the Redfern Community centre near Sydney, Australia, last year. Nintendo today announced it will preview its Wii 2 in June and that it is set for a 2012 release

The Wii is distinguished by its wireless controller, which can be used as a hand-held pointing device and detects movement.

Nintendo will hope the new console boosts sales - as well as today announcing its plans to preview the Wii 2, the company also reported a 66 per cent slump in profit.

 

 

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The drop in earnings for the second year in a row saw the company's net profit for the year ending March 31 come in at 77.6billion yen (£572.4million), down from 228.6billion yen (£1.6billion) the previous year.

Nintendo, which does not break down quarterly numbers, said annual sales slipped 29 per cent to 1.014trillion yen (£7.4billion).

The Kyoto-based firm expects conditions to improve gradually over the next year, with sales of the 3DS offsetting an anticipated decline in Japanese consumer spending following last month's earthquake and tsunami.

Popular: Nintendo released the Wii in 2006. It has proved a phenomenal success, selling 86million units worldwide

Nintendo hopes its 3DS, which lets users play 3D games without wearing special glasses and was released earlier this year, will replicate the Wii's success

A statement said: 'Nintendo has not suffered any direct damage which will significantly affect our production. However, it can be predicted that there will be an indirect impact from individual consumption patterns.'

Nintendo hopes the hand-held 3DS, which lets users play 3D games without wearing special glasses, will stoke similar enthusiasm as its Wii console did five years ago with its motion-based controller.

The 3DS, which also takes 3D pictures and will eventually offer 3D movie streaming, went on sale in February in Japan and in March in Europe, the U.S. and Australia.

Nintendo said the 3DS had a smooth start to sales since its launch and it expects to move 16million of the machines in the current fiscal year.

Fifteen million Wii consoles last year, down 27 per cent, and expects to sell 13million in the current fiscal year.

The standard DS, meanwhile, dropped 35 per cent to 18million units over last fiscal year and is expected to drop to 11 million units this year.