Will next gen wii really be an Android?

Nintendo, once the master of gaming, lost that crown to rivals such as Microsoft and Sony until they released the original Wii console. Under powered, compared to its rivals, it none the less put Nintendo firmly back at the top and up there with it's rivals but until now it has always been seen as a fun family console but not something suitable for serious gamers.

Aside from the lack of high definition gaming, and having the sort of games that attract mainly casual gamers, the Nintendo Wii also suffers from its inability to easily be used as a multimedia console. In an era when its rivals consoles can play a range of different media formats Nintendos console has lagged behind somewhat in this department and if they are to attract more than their current customer base making their next console multimedia friendly would be a good idea.

A surge of "informed" rumour this week suggests that their plans for the next gen wii could be a big step in the right direction...IF they are true. Yes according to alleged tweets from engineers and at least one anonymous "insider" the new Wii, which has the slightly odd name of Wii U, will be compatible with the Android operating system.

Could this in fact be true?

Well it's not very likely given that nowhere in their promotional material do Nintendo make reference to what would, if true, be a very attractive selling point. Why would it be an attractive selling point? The Wii U supports SD memory cards and USB hard drives, if it also allowed the use of Android not only would it be usable as a full fledged media player (through the use of a decent Android media player) but it would instantly make a large number of great Android games available which would help attract a much wider range of customers.

With Android already full of great games (whether your taste be of the Deadspace kind or the less intense but equally fun Plants versus Zombies variety) Nintendo could travel the route Blackberry have with their Playbook tablet and allow their customers to run Android apps. The Wii U controller could indeed be used as an Android touchscreen device, it has a resistive 6.2 inch touchscreen and it also has a handy collection of buttons analogue sticks and a d-pad that would make playing Android games much more fun than on a phone or tablet so as far as the technology goes yes it is possible, and it would undoubtedly be great fun.

But the problem is that, as is the case with many eagerly anticipated devices such as iPhone 5 or the Galaxy S3, this is nothing more than extremely popular but unsubstantiated rumour, and when it comes to cold hard facts the truth is that Nintendo has always kept its system tightly shut so it would be out of character for them to suddenly go to the other extreme and allow a free operating system to be used alongside their own especially given that it would be possible, depending on how the Android compatability was handled, for any current Android malware or virus to infect the new Wii as easily as it could any other Android device (yes such apps do exist, and for those people who don't use common sense and check apps permissions before installing them it is possible for their device to be affected).

Would Nintendo really want to make an about turn and offer up part of their system to Googles jolly green giant? It seems highly unlikely given that there are no signs of Nintendos new Wii being any more open than the current one with the console maker again using a proprietary optical drive that will only read Nintendo discs and no mention of it being able to play external media files in the same way as for example the PS3 or XBox 360 can (although as can be seen from the graphics quality in this screenshot the new system clearly has the processing power to cope).

What Nintendo have done is make the Wii U backwards compatible with existing Wii products so that existing users can use their favourite games or accessories with the new console, that's a smart move on Nintendos part but as to whether making it Android friendly would be seen as an equally smart move, well it's doubtful.

It would be great for consumers and gamers, but it could also compromise the consoles security making it easier to hack or perhaps even expose it to a new breed of malware targetted specifically at Android Wii U's.

In the end it would be a big gamble for Nintendo and it's more likely that they will stick to what has worked so well for them with the Wii and avoid taking unnecessary risks.