It was reported by Reuters that Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, has declared to investors that the Wii U will hit the U.S. and other "key markets" by Christmas.
The Wii U will be shown off at this years E3 and it is expected that Nintendo will announce a more detailed release schedule then.
An anonymous studio source recently told Develop that the new console will be twice as powerful as the Xbox 360.
Microsoft are said to be preparing an early demonstration of their next console at E3, with the new hardware said to be six times more powerful than the current Xbox.
With Nintendo showing off its latest console, and with Microsoft lifting the lid on their new tech, this years E3 is shaping up to be very exciting indeed.