Well, it’s certainly about time. Nintendo has confirmed that the rumoured ‘Project Café‘ – the whispered-of successor to the rapidly-aging Wii – will be playable at E3, and on shelves in 2012.

Sporting a 6-inch touchscreen on each controller, Project Café’s aim is allegedly to bring more freedom to the concept of the home console, and to take the gamer’s focus off the idea of a console as a plastic box tethered to a television set. There are no plans for 3D, because 3DTVs haven’t caught on yet (smart move), but beyond that, there are still very few details.

What details there are, though, can be viewed in the press release, which you can get an eyeful of here.