The latest edition of Iwata Asks has discussed the hardware of the Wii U, and showcased the above photo of the Wii U with its internals for the whole world to see (just like they did with the 3DS XL). What’s interesting to me, however, is that Iwata said he “never imagined” the Wii would have a six-year hardware cycle. This ties in with something Michael Ancel of Ubisoft said in a recent interview:
…we thought Wii U would come out a lot earlier. We worked very closely with Nintendo [on Wii U] early on, giving them feedback on the various prototypes.
So it sounds like Nintendo had planned to release the system at least a year ago. I wonder if there an ultra-specific reason the plans didn’t come together. Maybe it was just Murphy’s Law at work. Either way, there’s more photos of the Wii U’s internals after the break.
Source:
http://wiiublog.com/this-is-a-transparent-wii-u-and-was-the-wii-u-supposed-to-come-out-a-lot-earlier/