Nintendo is launching the Wii U in the first half of 2012, according to SEGA EVP Alan Pritchard.



Pritchard was asked whether or not Sonic Generations would see a release on the console. He said, "The timing just doesn't work. Generations releases this November, and the Wii U is coming out next spring/summer.



"I think one of the things we don't have to do, or reduce where possible, is we don't want to port games."



Nintendo has only officially announced a 2012 launch year. The company's fiscal year starts on April 1, so the console likely won't see a release until after then.

President of Nintendo America Reggie Fils-Aime has revealed that the Wii U and its controller on display at E3 this year were "quite near final" in terms of their designs.



Aesthetically, the Wii U unit is consistent with the familiar, white, minimalist design of its predecessor.



It's a little bigger. But according to Fils-Aime, "The size is driven by the componentry and what's inside... when you compare it to any of the competitive systems, it's still dramatically smaller."



Fils-Aime also took the opportunity to stress that the controller was not a portable device, and was very different to a tablet in terms of functionality.



"It is a connected experience to the base console," he said. "It talks with the base console. It interacts with other Wii accessories whether that is a Wii Remote Plus or a Wii Balance Board."

Sony's Next Generation Portable (NGP) could be called the PS Vita.



Over the weekend, according to an anonymous source the high-powered handheld will be re-christened the PS Vita.

Since then a promotional picture of the PS Vita, discovered on a private blog, has been circulating the web. Furthermore, the domain names psvita.com and vita.scedev.com have also been found, lending credence to the rumour.

Of course, this information in no way confirms the new name, which means 'Life' in Latin. But with the handheld expected to hit stores before the end of year, it is likely that the name will be officially revealed at E3 next week.

It is rumoured that the power of the entry-level NGP has been reduced to keep down cost.



According to reports stemming from a tech site who correctly revealed Project Cafe as the code name for the Wii's successor -- the RAM of the NGP base model has been halved, from 512MB to 256MB. And it will no longer contain 16GB of internal flash memory, using an external memory device instead.



But rest assured, the 128MB graphics capability is said to be untouched.



If true, these cost-saving measures could have been introduced to keep the NGP competitive with the Nintendo 3DS.



The NGP is expected to be released before the end of the year.

The successor to the PlayStation 3 is currently in development, Sony confirmed during the company's investor meeting today.



Executive vice president and chief financial officer Masaru Kato was asked to explain the rising research and development costs for the company's fiscal year. "In the game segment, we have the NGP to launch later this year. So we have development expenses to be incurred for this product," he explained.



"For the home console, the PS3 still has a product life, but this is a platform business, so for the future platform - when we will introduce the product I cannot discuss - but development work is underway, so the costs are incurred there."



Nintendo recently announced plans to reveal its new console at E3 next month, with a full product release in 2012. Meanwhile, Microsoft began hiring for its "next generation console" this past March.