Gamertell

The big rumor of the day is that Nintendo is planning to release the Wii 2 in 2010 and the newer system will include a Blu-ray drive.

The rumor comes courtesy of French language site Logic-Sunrise which cites a “very stable source” (at lest that’s how Yahoo’s BableFish translates it). It also indicates that Nintendo may be waiting to announce the Wii 2 until one month prior to the system’s release.

The Wii 2 features and other bullet-list items listed in the post include:

• A Blu-Ray drive (to help discourage piracy)
• Support 720P and 1080P for videos and games
• 2010 simultaneous worldwide release
• Some type of trade-in program for Wii owners to upgrade to the Wii 2

Again, these are unconfirmed rumors based on a foreign site. MaxConsole indicates that the rumor suggests Wii 2 will be available the third quarter of 2010 although the French site does not appear to mention Q3.

The closest ting to a confirmation is Shigeru Miyamoto’s interview with Popular Mechanics where he talks about the next Wii (not necessarily the “Wii 2”) as being “more compact and perhaps even more cost-efficient.”

I’m waiting for an official comment from Nintendo concerning this Wii 2 rumor.

Update: Nintendo’s official, although not surprising, response via a PR representative is: “We do not respond to rumors and speculations.”

Read [Logic-Sunrise (French)] Via [MaxConsole]

Photo: From Logic-Sunrise (likely an illustration).