Recent news indicates that Playstation and XBox are planning to launch new gaming consoles this year. What does that mean for Ninetendo's Wii, which has done less than stellar in the market? In 2011, Nintendo’s primary gaming console sold an impressive 4.5 million units. While that is impressive, especially since the company has  had the same console on the market, more or less, since 2006, what really needs to be considered is how much the Wii is not keeping up to the standards it needs to going into a new season of potentially new console launches.

Enter the Wii U

The Wii U is set to be the company's new console and it is expected to be released in 2012 at some point. The company has not provided many details on what the unit is, how it will work or how it will compete with other gaming consoles. It did mention that it will produce HD graphics with this system. Some also believe it will come with a touch screen tablet like computer as the controller. However, that's not confirmed.

It's a good thing that the company is releasing this product since there are now rumors that its competitors are ready to launch new systems as well. Rumors indicate that Microsoft will launch the Xbox 720. The PS4 may be in the works as well. Expectations are that the companies will announce these products at E3 in 2012.

For those who are gaming fans, have you given up on the Wii? Is it no longer your game console of choice? With sales still significantly high, it is likely that consumers will be interested in the new products but will they compete well enough with the competitors.