Iwata: Wii 2 will be announced as close to launch as possible
“I am afraid to say that the history of entertainment is also the history of imitation. A great idea will promptly be copied unless protected through patents. At the same time, it is really important for our business to positively surprise people. Will you be surprised by our completed product if we told you how it is surprising three years in advance? Therefore, we basically disclose information on our products as late as possible. We believe this is the best approach for the entertainment products we are developing. Again, we are planning the next products for Nintendo’s continuous growth, but we cannot tell you what, when and how we will release it here. Thank you for your understanding.” – Nintendo Co. Ltd. President Satoru Iwata
It makes sense that Nintendo wants to keep their hardware a secret for as long as possible, as it prevents other companies from entirely copying their products. Of course, it ends up happening eventually (Kinect and Move, for instance), but for the most part competitors have a hard time latching onto what someone would announce when it comes so close to the device’s launch.
