Analyst: Nintendo May Revise Wii Hardware with More Storage, DVD Playback

With the current console generation just now settled in most homes, many in the industry are thinking about the current set of machines lasting up to 2012, or even being the last set we ever need.

In the meantime, Nintendo's Wii might receive a facelift, says Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian as reported by EDGE Online.

Assuming the next console generation starts in 2012, Sebastian says Nintendo could use the next few years to "upgrade the Wii with faster processing power, DVD capability and/or greater storage."

Sebastian is far from the first to call out the Wii's common shortcomings compared to competing consoles like the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. He also recently called for the Nintendo DS to receive a refresh, a prediction echoed by other analysts.

Nintendo, per tradition, is keeping quiet on its plans. But with the company's reputation for surprising its audience with new hardware and providing hardware revisions, it's hard to imagine the maker following the rational predictions of an analyst.