Satoru Iwata reveals that the heightened risk of information leaking means Nintendo are forced to unveil their consoles earlier...

While Nintendo carved their own path this E3 with the unveiling of their next generation console, the elephant in the room is that Wii U is still a long way from launch; possibly over a year away.

If Nintendo had it their way, they would wait to announce a system the day before they could release it. But CEO Satoru Iwata has explained that the combination of Nintendo's reliance on outside hardware manufacturers and a recent upsurge of interest in what the company's future holds means that the risk of leaks to the press once a system starts development is higher than ever. This is the reason that Wii U and, to an extent, 3DS were revealed to the public disproportionally early.

In the past, when Nintendo did not receive as much attention as we do now, we did not have to worry about the spread of our confidential information since it did not have any value in society, but since the Nintendo DS and the Wii created a social phenomenon, "Nintendo's next move" commands great attention and extreme news value. Therefore, although we go to great lengths to ensure that this will not happen, there are cases where, even if a person receives information under a Non-Disclosure Agreement, the information is leaked because there is great temptation. Even for the Wii U, some people may be aware, if they had been checking the Internet, that information with true and false rumors mixed together was spread on the Internet before the announcement. Therefore, as for new hardware, even if we wanted to, it is extremely challenging to realize a situation where a product is announced and then launched the next day.

Iwata also made a distinction between Nintendo's hardware and software, the latter being unique as it does not require any external involvement to develop. This means that Nintendo games can be announced and then released in a very short period of time, although even then, consumers sometimes voice discontent with the lack of time to consider purchasing.