Not too long ago I said that we're looking at the end of the Wii era, and that we should start expecting something new from Nintendo sooner than later. Well, while it may not be soon, the company is hinting that we definitely shouldn't expect to see more of the same.

The biggest hints of change come from Yoshio Sakamoto, one of the co-creators of Nintendo's long-running Metroid series. "At Nintendo we always have the obligation to surprise users with a new game console," he said, which the company did when it released the Wii with its revolutionary motion controls in 2006. Now, at the end of 2010, Microsoft and Sony are only just catching up.

"We have never done what others have," Sakamoto continued. "We prefer to create something new that catches attention, and I think this will continue this time as well. Surely the new Nintendo machine will leave you all with your mouth open."

The company currently has plans to release a 3D version of its popular DS handheld, the glasses-free 3DS. Other than that, rumor has it that we could also be seeing an updated Wii sometime in the near future.

With the Wii, Nintendo brought a new way to play games, though the system fell behind quickly in terms of its graphical presentation. Here's hoping that whatever Nintendo has in the works will bring the company fully into the next generation in every way.

Via Kotaku