Nintendo has re-confirmed that gamers living in major markets can expect to find the company’s next home console, the Wii U, on store shelves before the end of 2012.

Speaking at an investor meeting recently, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata reaffirmed beliefs that the Wii U will launch by Christmas 2012 in regions such as North America, Europe, Australia and Japan – a wide launch window that was first pencilled in last year.

No word on release plans for other regions, such as Africa and the Middle-East.

The launch of the Wii U will take place in the latter half of 2012 and there will be plenty of reasons to get excited before the console’s release as Nintendo intends to ‘re-unveil’ the system in Los Angeles during this year’s E3, which takes from June 5th to June 7th.

Rumours doing the rounds at the moment point to the Wii U’s capabilities being roughly twice those of the Xbox 360, which has lead to game developers feeling disappointed at the apparent lack of power in Nintendo’s next console.

It’s all speculation at this point, but we’re definitely looking forward to hearing more about the Wii U at E3 this year and the system’s release later this year.

Are you?

Tags: dated, e32012, nintendo, satoruiwata