Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has told CNBC in a recent interview that the company had developed a new handheld in the last three years, but scrapped the hardware in favour of the DSi. The new handheld was reportedly complete and ready to go, but Nintendo decided against stepping on the toes of the DS’s runaway success.

“[W]hen we are launching new hardware, the most important is thing is to sustain the momentum. If introducing new hardware won’t do anything to do that, well…,” said Iwata.

No specifics were given as to what form this mystery handheld took, but judging by Iwata’s comments we imagine it was vastly different to the DS and DSi’s current form. A direct assault on the hardcore appeal of the PlayStation Portable, perhaps? We can but speculate.

Elsewhere in the interview, Iwata went on to squash any hopes of a Wii price-cut, saying that the company’s upcoming portfolio of games would do more to boost sales than any price reduction. Boo!