Who doesn’t love a good rumor? French site 01Net (The guys that provided leaked Wii U and Vita details, and have also recently claimed a 3DS revamp is on the way, along with a $10 analog stick add-on for the current 3DS) claim to have a bit of info as to what Nintendo is thinking in terms of a release for the Wii U. We know it’s supposed to be sometime between April and December next year, but don’t have any more info than that. Well, 01Net thinks they do:
Ten months before the tentative release date – developers are still expecting a June 2012 release – the fact that Nintendo engineers are still struggling to make this supposedly final architecture function properly is worrisome at best. Could Nintendo have to make radical last-minute changes, and if so, what would be the cost? This unexpected development runs contrary to Nintendo’s reputation for carefully weighing all tech options long before any announcement. Inside the company, there have been talks of a delayed release, with September as a new tentative date. Being three months off-schedule doesn’t seem such a big issue, when compared to a home console’s life cycle. But this is not 2006 anymore. The industry is undergoing a radical mutation, and there is a growing amount of rumors positioning Microsoft’s next system to be unveiled during the 2012 E3 conference, and a relase in short order. If that was to happen, the Wii U would only enjoy a few months of ‘optimal run’ alongside the Xbox 360, which would essentially moot the much-touted ease with which developers can port 360 code for the Wii U. To succeed in its incredibly audacious endeavour, Nintendo will have to walk a very tight rope.
If the Wii U goes from a 2-year headstart to a several-month headstart, that could have some very serious consequences. And who knows where Sony is in all this, we haven’t heard a peep.
