Analyze this: Nintendo's next console by 2010?

Even though the Wii is barely past its infancy stages, many can't help but wonder when the system's successor is coming out. As of now, those of us at Nintendo Wii Fanboy are content to put that question on the backburner and simply enjoy what we have in the present. Analysts are always hungry for this type of speculation, though, and Pacific Crest Securities has decided to throw their opinion into the ring.

So, what's their guess? According to PCS, Nintendo's next platform will be out by 2010. Evan Wilson of the firm stated, "We believe that peak industry sales will occur in 2010, given that Microsoft will likely introduce its next console that year and Nintendo will likely launch before then."

Now, we're not pretending to be analysts (okay, maybe a little bit), but we couldn't disagree more. We think the Wii will have a longer lifespan than three-and-a-half years, based on its current popularity and past systems' life cycles. Considering also that much of the Wii's success can be credited to the casual market, releasing a new console so soon wouldn't be a smart business decision. While core gamers and Nintendoholics would gobble it up, casuals would probably be more wary about dropping another few hundred dollars on a video game console in such a short amount of time.

The firm's analysis brings up another interesting question -- will Nintendo release its next console before Microsoft? While we agree that Sony will be the last to upgrade its hardware, it shouldn't be taken for granted that Nintendo will be first, especially since the company seems to be in no rush.

[Via Games Industry]