Next Nintendo console in the works

Is this a surprise?

Nintendo has has a relatively busy couple of years, we saw the release of the New 3DS/XL in Japan (we have yet to see a release in North America), Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart and more. What about the Wii U though? We saw that console release in 2012 and with the current generation of consoles (Xbox One and PlayStation 4), does it compete?

It's tough to say when a console has reached the end of its life, especially considering that some great games just released on the Wii U. Developing a new console doesn't spell the end of the current console though, it takes a lot of time for a new console to hit store shelves.

Nintendo has a couple of projects on the table; a new Star Fox and Zelda game being the main focus. On the subject of a new console, the creator of Mario and the man working on the new Star Fox, Shigeru Miyamoto, disclosed that the think tank has begun working:

We're focused on providing a robust line-up of Wii U software for next year. It seems like we've managed to do that this year and people are very happy with what we've done on Wii U. For the time being, our focus is on the Wii U hardware, but Nintendo as a whole has groups working on ideas for new hardware systems. While we're busy working on software for the Wii U, we have production lines that are working on ideas for what the next system might be.

His interview with Associated Press revealed this tidbit along with some ideas on the new Zelda and Star Fox — but nothing really too new.

[AP]