Iwata: Wii Successor Not Coming Before April 2012, Stereoscopic 3D Not A Focus

In an investor briefing today, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata said the successor to the Nintendo Wii would not be available in the first quarter of the 2012 calendar year. The unnamed system, which the company officially confirmed for a 2012 release earlier today, is not part of the company's earnings forecasts for the current fiscal year, which runs through March 2012, Iwata pointed out in a report translated by Andriasang. Iwata said the new system was necessary at this time because "it became difficult for developers to surprise customers with the current Wii," echoing previous comments on the longevity of the system. A report from Bloomberg Japan also quotes Iwata as skeptical of the impact of stereoscopic 3D TVs on the next generation of consoles. The Nintendo president said he "[doesn't] think 3D TVs have spread enough yet" to provide a good base of support for the feature on a home console. Sony has made a concerted push to make stereoscopic 3D support a focus for its current PlayStation 3. A lack of support for the burgeoning HD standard was seen by many as a limiting factor for the Nintendo Wii. Elsewhere in his remarks, Iwata said the company would follow 3.6 million sales of the Nintendo 3DS through March 2011 with a target of 16 million Nintendo 3DS units sold in the current fiscal year. He also announced plans to release the glasses-free 3D portable in China and the developing world as early as this year.