Your Nintendo Wii is looking a bit dated, you want some new Nintendo excitement in your home - but when is the new Nintendo Wii U coming out and should you wait?

Nintendo has confirmed the official launch date as Christmas 2012.

Should you wait?

If you've waited this long you might as well wait another couple of months, especially if you like all things Mario, Zelda and others from the Nintendo Stable.

If you've already got a Nintendo Wii the Wii U will be backwards compatible with Wii games, and the Wii U console will let you use your current crop of controllers and Wii peripherals, such as the Wii Remote Plus, Nunchuck, and Classic Controller Pro.

If you can't wait that long, take a look at the Microsoft Xbox 360 with Kinect sensor. It will give you all the jumping around capabilities that the Wii promised, plus great graphics when you want a bit more serious gaming.

While it doesn't yet have the same controller tablet offering, the Wii U is promising - rumours are already starting to circle that it is coming via something called Xbox Smart Glass. Microsoft has also already demoed its Xbox 360 console working with the company's mobile phone platform in game, suggesting more such features could be in store in the future. 

Likewise the Sony PS3 can already connect with the company's handheld console - the PS Vita. Again while it doesn't offer the same groundbreaking interwoven gaming options, it does let gamers stream content to and from the two devices. 

Are you going to get a Wii U? Let us know in the comments below.