Nintendo’s Wii U saw plenty of 
excitement at E3. Lines at the company’s booth for a few moments of hand-on time were five hours long, as people jockeyed to be among the first to tinker with the next-generation system.
But outside of the Los Angeles Convention Center, the attitude towards Nintendo’s new machine was decidedly cooler — and in the days following the show, things haven’t warmed up at all.
Most companies ignore the rumor mill – 
sometimes to the point of it being embarrassing. Nintendo, however, is willing to admit when its secrets are spilled.
The company has confirmed the rumors that it plans to unveil a successor to the Wii at this year’s E3 (the annual trade show of the video game industry). The new system will be out in 2012.
While the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 
were born with 10-year life cycles in mind, the Wii hit the market with a much shorter projected lifespan.
With no support for high-definition graphics and shaky online multiplayer functionality, everyone including Nintendo knew the Wii would show its age first and would probably be the first console in need of an update.
Now there’s growing talk that the company could announce its successor as early as June.
The Wii has never been the 
workhorse console of this generation.
To keep it affordable and attractive to a mass market audience, Nintendo eschewed high definition graphics and, for the most part, online play when it was introduced. Five years later, though, it’s showing its age. And if online reports are to be believed, the company is ready to pull the curtain back on its next console system.
With rumors circulating that Nintendo is planning to announce 
its next generation console at E3 this year, Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris discusses whether the company should make its boldest move to date.
The rumors have been gaining steam for a couple of weeks now. Nintendo, they say, is planning to announce its next generation console at E3 this year.
While the company, not surprisingly, isn’t commenting on the chatter, it’s hardly going out of its way to downplay it either. And the second quarter lineup for the system (along with growing whispers about a looming $50 price cut in May) didn’t do anything to quiet speculation.
While the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii still have 
several years in front of them, the chatter has finally begun about the next generation of consoles.
Front and center in that conversation is Epic Games, whose Unreal Engine 3 has been a big part of the current crop of games, powering all of the “Gears of War” titles as well as “BioShock,” the “Mass Effect ” games and “DC Universe Online”.
