Game Informer reports, citing various anonymous sources, that a successor to the Nintendo Wii will indeed feature at this year's E3 ahead of its launch in 2012.

According to Game Informer, Nintendo has already demonstrated the hardware to publishers in a bid to encourage the development of quality third-party titles. Game Informer points out that Nintendo president Satoru Iwata himself acknowledged that this is something the company needed to work on in future, with many Western publishers left in the dark before the announcement of the Wii. "We feel a need to have closer ties with our third-party developers from the beginning."

One of Game Informer's sources had the following to say about the supposed upcoming hardware: "Nintendo is doing this one right. [It's] not a gimmick like the Wii." Unfortunately, little else has been revealed to Game Informer, although its understood that appeal to the Western market will be a larger consideration this time around.

Game Informer contends it attempted to contact Nintendo, and while representatives wouldn't be drawn, "they did sign off with an intriguing 'stay tuned'". To Kotaku, however, Nintendo delivered the stock standard "Nintendo does not comment on rumour or speculation" line.

UPDATE - 8.02am: Game Informer writer and associate editor Philip Kollar staunchly defends the validity of the story on his personal Twitter account against criticism from other journalists. Kollar reaffirms that Game Informer's many sources are absolutely trusted by the publication.