Nintendo could launch a next generation Wii within two years, a leading videogames publisher has forecast.

Yoichi Wada, Chief Executive of Square Enix, said he believes that Nintendo will release a “new Wii” by 2011, boasting functionality on a par with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 or Sony’s PlayStation 3.

Wada also told the Financial Times that Nintendo may launch a new controller for the Wii during the same year.

Although Wada didn’t speculate about what the new controller’s features could include, he said he rates motion control technology – such as that used in Microsoft’s upcoming Project Natal unit - very highly.

“As a user interface it’s fantastic and I think it [motion control] will become standard”, he said. ®

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