Nintendo Responds to Next-Gen Wii HD Reports, Analyst Weighs In

Reports that a next-generation Wii will launch in 2011 and support high definition resolutions are nothing but "pure rumor and speculation," Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has informed VentureBeat.

Word of a new Wii emerged from recently respected industry veteran and ex-EGM editor John Davison. He claimed to learn of the new hardware from multiple developers and publishers who had seen a presentation of new system.

However, Fils-Aime was clear that leaked information from confidential meetings was "not the way [the public] would find out" about Nintendo's plans.

Yet despite the denial, oft-cited Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter still believes that Nintendo is secretly tinkering away on a high definition-capable Wii.

"A Wii HD would really position Nintendo well, which is why I'm absolutely convinced there is a Wii HD coming," the analyst told AFP. "Businesswise, they can't have people saying that their machine is a toy for my mom."