Reggie hints at when we could be learning about a Wii successor, but it isn't any time soon...

Despite Nintendo going to lengths to ensure the Wii has another successful holiday season, chatter continues to mount around the subject of the console's inevitable successor. As hardware sales slowly embark on their downward curve, the media hover like vultures, just waiting to pounce on Nintendo execs to grill them on when the next system is to be rolled out.

Today, Kotaku caught a few moments with Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. Reggie dismissed the notion that Nintendo was in a position where they needed to release a Wii successor by late 2011. He cited the incentives people have to pick up a Wii in coming months, including the limited edition red console and the release of Donkey Kong Country Returns.

Rather more interestingly, Reggie seemed to suggest when exactly we should be expecting Nintendo to announce a Wii successor.

"As we sit here today we're saying the Wii has many, many more units to sell. After we've reached an installed base of 45 million here in the U.S., we can have a conversation about the next generation."

For purposes of context, Reggie very recently and proudly revealed that Nintendo had sold 30.4 million Wiis in the US alone.

So was it a throwaway comment or a genuine insight into Nintendo's end target for Wii? Looks like we'll just have to wait and see over the course of 2011...