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Defending the Wii U specs, Reggie's stark message to Sony and Microsoft

Gamers won't be motivated by "faster processors and pretty pictures".

Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime has hit back at claims that the Wii U will be outdated and irrelevant when the PlayStation 4 and next Xbox launch.

Developers, including one from Battlefield maker DICE, have expressed concern that when the next consoles from Sony and Microsoft arrive the Wii U will suffer in comparison - at least in graphics terms.

In an interview with CNET Fils-Aime said both Microsoft and Sony will need to do more than simply up the power of the current generation in order to find success.

"In the end, our competitors need to react to what we're doing in the marketplace and need to figure out what their innovation will be," he said.

“It's likely that faster processors and pretty pictures won't be enough to motivate consumers. They need to react to what we've done and we need to continue innovating with the Wii U and we will."

Some have criticised the console for not significantly improving on the power of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, both of which are over five years old. CNET suggested Nintendo launched the Wii U too soon, but Fils-Aime rejected this.

"For us, launching new systems is about bringing new consumer experiences to the marketplace and we're doing that with Nintendo land and third-party publishers are doing it with games like ZombiU,” he said.

“For us, now is the right time to launch new hardware."

Nintendo has always said its focus is on the game experience - not pushing visuals.

"We do not focus on technology specs," the company said in April. "We understand that people like to dissect graphics and processing power, but the experience of playing will always be more important than raw numbers."

The Wii U sold 400,000 units in the US during launch week. It goes on sale in the UK this Friday.