Next-gen Wii to be launched within three years

Nintendo has begun showing off a second-generation Wii that’ll be officially launched before 2011, according to gaming sources.

In a report by gaming website What They Play, “multiple sources in the game development and publishing community” have claimed that Nintendo is currently giving early presentations of its next console hardware, which has been unofficially labelled as the “Wii HD”.

The sources also said that although the new Wii will retain the same style of gameplay, its core hardware will be more powerful.

For example, as the “Wii HD” name suggests, the new console will feature “digitally distributed and backwardly compatible content”, the moles maintain. That’s in addition to some form of on-board storage, such as an internal hard disk or solid-state drive.

Nintendo has already admitted that the Wii has a storage related “issue” and, back in August, a patent filed by the company was unveiled that made numerous references to holographic storage.