Fils-Aime: Nintendo 'Not There Yet' On Wii Successor

Nintendo of America's president and COO Reggie Fils-Aime says his company's hardware developers are "not there yet" on developing or even seriously considering a successor to its Wii console. "We pride ourselves on the big innovative jump, typically in the area of the consumer experience," the executive explained in an interview with Forbes discussing Nintendo's future and current technology trends. "The way we approach that innovation, because we have hardware developers working side by side with software developers, is that when the software developer comes forward with an idea that can't be executed on the current platform, that's when we start thinking seriously about the next system. We're not there yet, from a Wii perspective." Fils-Aime made a point last January to deny rumors of Nintendo announcing a Wii hardware update at this week's Game Developers Conference. He stated that the company is confident the console has "a very long life in front of it." The NOA president reiterated his company's stance that the future of the Wii will not only be found in high definition graphics but in "groundbreaking new experiences" that Nintendo can introduce to gamers through technology advancements. When asked about the rapidly growing virtual goods business and whether his company plans to cash in on selling clothing/accessories for Mii Avatars -- a concept both Microsoft and Sony have jumped on with their systems's respective avatars -- Fils-Aime said Nintendo doesn't believe that the idea creates value for consumers. "We don't believe selling clothes or hats is something that the consumers will find valuable," he argued. "And candidly, if you really challenge the competitors who are playing in this space, I think they would be hard-pressed to show any true value from a consumer standpoint. What we think is important is providing real experiences." "So the content drives that. We think that providing information through the Wii and through the DS and DSi is going to be a critical opportunity for us. We're doing that now through the Nintendo Channel, we're doing that through a self-produced video segment called Nintendo Week. So we think those initiatives provide a lot more consumer value rather than trying to sell 'wearables' and action items for your avatar."