Nintendo has been the king of gaming consoles for past three years, but this year sales of Wii have been in free fall. Nintendo reported that Wii sales fell 40 percent in Q2 2009 and 34.5 percent in Q3 2009. Resulting in sharp revenue fall for Nintendo. Talking to analysts and reporters at post earnings Q&A, Nintendo executive Satoru Iwata told, “The Wii has stalled”.

“Games of high demand could not be continuously released and the good mood has chilled,” said Iwata. “The mood of the market got colder than expected, and there was a difference in expectations, it will be difficult to recover from the slowdown in demand.”

However, Satoru expressed optimism over Nintendo’s ability to continue selling Wiis. He said, “Now we are preparing for next year and thinking about what to do the year after next.”

It is rumored that Nintendo will launch Netflix video streaming service for Wii, but there is a big if on Wii ability to handle streaming video, as the console doesn’t have the same horsepower present on Xbox 360 or PS3. Rumors are that Nintendo is planning to launch a HD version of Wii that will feature more powerful processor and graphics engine, which should allow it to handle streaming video. It is also rumored that Nintendo will introduce next generation console in 2010 or 2011 to better compete with PS3 and Xbox 360.
[Via CNET]