A Sega executive has stated Wii U will be out in spring/summer of next year.

So far Nintendo has been non-committal when it comes to the release date of the Nintendo Wii U, only stating that it will be out after the current fiscal year but before the end of the next calendar year, meaning any time between April and December 2012.

During E3 GameSpot spoke to Alan Pritchard, Sega's executive vice president of marketing, about Aliens: Colonial Marines primarily but also the Wii U.

Mr. Pritchard confirms that the footage of Aliens: Colonial Marines shown in the Wii U "sizzle" trailer was merely demonstrative but they have been using the Wii U dev kit and are looking forward to making games for it. The interviewer also asked if Sonic Generations would be released on Wii U and he responds by saying the Wii U release is too late to do so.

He describes the Wii U as "coming out next spring/summer" and this has left many fans speculating as to whether he has accidentally released the anticipated launch date or is just making an education guess.

It is unlikely Nintendo will announce a release date for a very long time but sping/summer is certainly a possibility. Until we find out we'll just have to wait and enjoy all the new information as it trickles in.