Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has been continually talking about a Wii HD launch for next year and even Nintendo lately has acknowledged that more and more consumers own HDTVs and are looking for HD content. During a recent investor briefing, Nintendo indicated that it may look at introducing a console with HD but that doesn't force HD on developers for all games.
That said, speaking to GTTV, Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime tried to completely kill any speculation about a Wii HD. He told host Geoff Keighley, "Michael [Pachter] continues to be the only one who believes that this is going to happen. I don't know how forcefully we can say there is no Wii HD."
It's not exactly surprising that Fils-Aime would deny the Wii HD. Whether or not we see anything in the next 6-12 months remains to be seen, but Nintendo's always working on new hardware behind the scenes. With Project Natal and Sony's motion controller both planned for next year, it's likely Nintendo will want to counter with something, rather than let Microsoft and Sony steal the spotlight.
Elsewhere on the GTTV show, Fils-Aime was also asked for an update on the next Wii Zelda, which Shigeru Miyamoto recently said would support Wii MotionPlus. Although the game is tentatively on track to launch next year, Fils-Aime reminded everyone that it's not officially announced or scheduled just yet. "We haven't committed to Zelda in 2010," he said.
With both Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M both slated for next year, the Nintendo hardcore base will at least be partially satiated. The new Zelda hasn't been shown in any form just yet, and Nintendo likes to take its time, so it's certainly conceivable that the game could be pushed into 2011.
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