Nintendo: Portable Focus Pushed Back Some Wii Titles

Nintendo President Reggie Fils-Aime admitted that the company's recent focus on launching new portable hardware and a pair of new Pokemon titles has delayed some upcoming titles for the Wii. "Candidly, we had to push out some Wii launches so we could focus on our handheld business," Fils-Aime told IGN in a video interview, referencing both the upcoming 3DS launch and today's launch of Pokemon Black and White in the U.S. "We're already juggling two big balls. To add a third would be a little bit challenging -- or a fourth or a fifth," he said. Spacing out the Wii releases will give the portable hardware and software "room to breathe," Fils-Aime said, though he did hint that the company will be announcing some Wii content before E3. The Nintendo web site lists only nine Wii games due for release between now and early May, with none of those titles being published by Nintendo itself. The company revealed the existence of new Kirby and Rhythm Heaven titles for the Wii at a recent investor briefing. Fils-Aime also the Wii's 2010 sales decline in in the IGN interview, pointing out that the system's hardware sales actually peaked during its third calendar year, rather than the historical norm of the second year. Though the Wii declined from its sales peak in its fourth year on sale, which ran through most of 2010, Fils-Aime noted that the system was still selling better than in its second year, and that the Wii has been the first system to sell 7 million units in three consecutive years.