UPDATE: A few more reactions rolled in over the weekend. Check the second page of this story to read them.

ORIGINAL STORY: Yesterday GI broke the news from multiple trusted sources that Nintendo will reveal a new HD-capable console by or at E3 of this year. While new rumors about the system have continued popping up around the web, we decided to gather some early thoughts about the timing and necessity of this announcement from various industry experts.

Shane Bettenhausen, Director of Business Development, Ignition Entertainment:

"I’m eager for this thing to be revealed! In my estimation, Nintendo actually needs to announce some details on its next home console at this year’s E3 in order to remain competitive in the home console race. As exciting as the Wii was a few years back, it’s truly showing its age and has become increasingly difficult for third parties to find success on the platform of late. The challenge that Nintendo faces is to make a console that has more to offer than just the valuable ‘Nintendo DNA’ and the incredible first-party support that we’ve come to expect. And gimmickry won’t be enough to make this a clear leader…I’m hoping that its specs and capabilities will really surprise everyone."

Denis Dyack, President, Silicon Knights:

"If this is true, I am very excited! With the Wii Nintendo showed innovation that resulted in growth for the industry, so I cannot wait to see what they have planned next. Of course, a new Nintendo console will also result in the next round of Nintendo games, which I look forward to playing on day one.”

Michael Pachter, Managing Director, Wedbush Securities:

"I have no [previous] knowledge at all, as I get all of my news from Game Informer. With that said, I think that the right time for a launch was in front of the launches of Kinect and Move, and think that Nintendo missed the ‘perfect’ time to launch in 2009. They could have launched at $300, and would have been competitive with Kinect and Move bundles and may have kept Wii households from upgrading to one of the other consoles. In my view, every Kinect and Move bundle sold cost Nintendo the opportunity to convert or retain a customer, so 2009 was the right time to launch. Once they passed on a 2009 launch, they should have pushed to get the Wii 2 out at the same time as Kinect and Move (late 2010), to at least compete for the market share captured by Microsoft and Sony. Once again, they chose to wait, and recent hardware figures show that they missed an opportunity. I think that there is still significant interest in a Wii 2, particularly from the very large Wii installed base, so it is not ‘too late,’ but it’s also not the ‘right time.'"

Lee Jacobson, Senior Vice President of Licensing and Digital Publishing, Atari:

"Nintendo has always marched to the beat of their own drum and never engaged in the same graphical arms race that defined the Xbox 360 and PS3. I for one am excited to see what their next move is at E3, as Atari has always done very well on Nintendo systems and we know that whatever they announce will be high-quality and speak to an audience that is uniquely suited for their system."

John Davison, Vice President of Programming, CBS Interactive/GameSpot:

"It's been clear that something has been brewing at Nintendo for a while, and the timing is absolutely right for them to be making some bold steps with a successor to the Wii. Although very successful for the past few years, they've been incredibly late to a number of parties, and there's a huge opportunity for them to embrace the changes that the audience now expects from a modern game experience. Beyond motion controls or HD graphics, which are a given, there's a lot they could do in terms of digital distribution, cross-device connectivity, and social integration to prove they really ‘get it.’ Do I think they'll actually do this? Maybe. Judging from the 3DS it's clear they're not completely ready to embrace all of the current trends, but they seem to be taking baby steps in the right direction."