The worry when buying a new console is always, will a new version come out soon. When I got my DS, a matter of weeks later, the DS Lite came out, and it is always a niggling problem for console buyers everywhere.

Today, Satoru Iwata allowed everyone to breathe a collective sign of relief when he stated that no new Nintendo console is planned for the foreseeable future.

"Among the 295.6 million active users, 209.5 million people are playing with our products. To tell you the truth, we at Nintendo had set 200 million as an internal milestone, and we already surpassed it this spring! In addition, among 149.5 million of potential users - another room of expansion - there are 86.1 million people who have never tried Wii or DS yet. So numerically there is still a possibility to even double the current user population of Wii and DS."

"Thus we do not believe at all that the expansion has come to an end nor do we need a new console any time soon. So we have not set specific years for the lifespan of current game systems."

Great news for all that the Wii and DS will be continuing! But does that mean Nintendo are out of ideas? Of course not!

"Of course our employees are researching hardware and those in charge of hardware are already working on developing it. When our internal ideas and trend in the world match up, and when it's clear that we would be able to manufacture an abundant amount at an affordable price, we will be able to publicly speak about next hardware. At this time, we do not think that is in the near future."