The rumors have been numerous: Nintendo has a new system that will be more powerful than the PlayStation 3 or the Xbox 360. The controller will include a large touch-screen. It will be out in 2012. While the particulars are still a mystery, Nintendo has confirmed that there is new system is on the way, and we'll be playing it at the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo.

"Nintendo Co., Ltd. has decided to launch in 2012 a system to succeed Wii, which the company has sold 86.01 million units on a consolidated shipment basis between its launch in 2006 and the end of March 2011," the company said in a statement. "We will show a playable model of the new system and announce more specifications at the E3 Expo, which will be held June 7-9, 2011, in Los Angeles."

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata may not have told us what will be in the system, but he definitely gave hints about what we won't see. “We would like to propose a new approach to home video game consoles,” Iwata said, as reported by Bloomberg. "It's difficult to make 3-D images a key feature, because 3-D televisions haven’t obtained wide acceptance yet."

While Nintendo's portable systems are still doing very well, sales of the Wii have slowed significantly, and profits are down year over year. Nintendo needs a new hit soon to keep shareholders happy, although it's unknown how rumors of a more powerful system with an intricate controller would fit with the company's trend of releasing clever systems using off-the-shelf components and sold at a profit.