Square CEO Predicts New Nintendo Console by 2011

Yoichi Wada, chief executive of Square Enix, now expects that Nintendo will release a new console in 2011.

In speaking with the Financial Times, Wada said that the console will likely be on par with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in terms of functionality, and may pack in a different controller than the Wii remote.

Though Wada thinks that motion controllers have become a standard, he's not convinced they will become key to console sales, in part because of how difficult it is to develop fun games for the peripherals.

"Present game machines already have a lot of functions: they are a network terminal, a Blu-ray or DVD player, and a gaming machine," he said. "Compared to these three pillars, the [new motion] controllers are quite limited, so the impact may be small. They are an extension of the gaming function."