News : Sega Says Wii U Will Launch “Next Spring/Summer"

Nintendo will launch the Wii U next spring or summer. At least that’s what Sega Executive Vice President of Marketing Alan Pritchard said. In an interview with GameSpot, the Sega employee hinted at the date when Nintendo’s next console will be launching. But is this a prediction or a leaked fact?

The alleged launch period was brought up when GameSpot asked Pritchard if Sonic Generations would be released for the Wii U. “The timing just doesn’t work,” stated the Sega exec. “Generations releases this November, and the Wii U is coming out next spring/summer.”

Other sources have speculated on a similar release period. Mid- to late 2012 seems to be the estimated launch period, especially since Nintendo will likely push the console onto the market to compete against the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 now that the Wii buzz has settled. Personally, I think a nice summer launch would be kind of cool. We don’t get many of those, and I wouldn’t mind gaming on a new machine during my free time.

Returning to the Sonic on the Wii U topic, Pritchard told GameSpot that Sega will likely make a new game for the system. “I think one of the things we don’t have to do, or reduce where possible, is we don’t want to port games,” said Pritchard. “I think if there’s going to be a Sonic game for the Wii U, it needs to be built from the ground up.”

So who thinks the Wii U will drop next spring or summer? Do you want a standalone Sonic game for the machine? I think a solid Sonic game would be great to see released side-by-side with the Wii U’s debut.