Reuters is reporting that Nintendo has confirmed Wii U's release in "key markets" by the end of the year. Said markets would include the United States, Europe, Australia, and Japan, all of which would get the system by the time the ball drops in 2012. More interesting is Street Fighter X Tekken producer Yoshinori Ono's recent comments on the Wii U, a console he says has changed since it was shown off last year.

"What was shown at E3 is not a reflection of everything that this console is going to be able to offer. We have been trying the development kits and some of its new characteristics will improve its possibilities." Hopefully said changes include multiple controller support, a multi-touch screen, and a built-in Zelda game at launch.

He explained that he wasn't able to go into more details for fear of Nintendo assassins striking him down (seriously, those are his words, not ours), but he did say "that Wii U will be a console with so many unique possibilities that it will be difficult to show them in the box they are going to sell it in, or be published in magazines and other media."

Challenge accepted, Ono. While we're hurt by his lack of confidence in our ability to convey the console's unique possibilities on the web, we'll be sure to use it to fuel our power and prove him wrong later this year when we get our hands on the final hardware.