Screen Digest analyst Piers Harding-Rolls has suggested that an interim Wii could be released until the official successor is released in two or three years time.

Rumours, suggestions and demands regarding an 'upgraded Wii' have been around for nearly as long as the console itself. Exactly what the upgraded version would contain has varied over the years, most commonly focused on either HD graphics or a hard drive, but like many rumours these have eventually fizzle out.

Piers Harding-Rolls has touched upon these suggestions again recently while discussing the future of the current main consoles; the Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. He suggests the successors to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 will probably be released in 2014 and the successor to the Wii at the end of 2012 in Japan and in 2013 for the rest of the world.

He also suggests that an interim Wii could be released before this, pointing to the fact the DS has had numerous iterations over the last few years. However, he makes no suggestions as to what it could contain or when he expects it could be released.

“Our forecast actually incorporates the idea that there will be an upgraded version of the Wii available. There is potentially significant movement to come from Wii pricing in the future. If you look at the handheld strategy they've got the DSi and the 3DS, so I think they've got room to have to this iterative version before a 2012 or 2013 release.”

Obviously until any official word comes from Nintendo this should just be taken at face value; the speculative comments of an industry analyst.