Predicting The Nintendo Wii 2 AKA Cafe

So there is now there is much speculation and rumor that Nintendo will release the console successor to the Wii as early as next year, some 3-5 years earlier than many expected. The general thinking was Nintendo would copy Sony and Microsoft’s 10-year console cycle, but it looks like Nintendo is now going to get a head-start on the competition.

The news is Nintendo will reveal the new console at E3, and it’s codename right now is Cafe. It will supposedly feature controllers with large 6″ touch screens, and the console itself will be as big as the first Xbox, with design cues that hint at the SNES.

I thought I’d throw together this concept of what I think the new console will look like. Because it is backwards-compatible with Wii, it will have a disc drive (goes against my prediction from a few months back). I also included a cartridge slot for 3DS games, as I think that might be the driving force behind the touch screens. There is no word if this console will also be 3D.

I kept the design similar to the Wii, but with nods to the SNES and DS. The iconic 4-button layout is for the power, eject, home, and controller sync functions. The ‘D-pad’ is just a light indicator for the number of controllers that are being used.

One day I will make the matching controller and possibly a few other console concepts before E3 2011 rolls around in June.

Large version:

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