And they may still be right on the 3DS, though it depends on that ever-ephemeral notion of success, but it looks like they will have many natural advantages over Vita to keep it at bay (the biggest being the potential swing of Japanese third party momentum triggered by Monster Hunter)

I would certainly hope that Nintendo kicks it into gear and starts making some DS-type stuff for 3DS as well, however

The only reason why Nintendo needs the core gaming audience you speak of for the Wii U is because they made the Wii U. They aren't going to get the Wii audience with this console, so they are dependent on 360/PS3/PC owners to take the plunge. This is going to work well for them...

But seriously, the economy in the coming years and the ever strengthening yen will make the eighth generation hell for Nintendo. They will possibly burn through billions of dollar.

This is a pretty interesting article that I really liked. I hope it helps the, as I call them, silly Nintendo 64 kids to understand why everything is going so wrong with Nintendo lately. Among us Nintendo fans on this website we have quite regularly a clash of generations which is rooted in exactly what this article is about: Our definitions of Nintendo which are vastly different.

For the old guard, Nintendo's moves have been disastrous recently. This is also why we lost our good friend noname2200 who decided to look for another hobby after this year's E3. For the young guns who had their childhood defined by the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube, the outlook doesn't look as grim. In fact, some (if not many or most) welcome the upcoming 3DS lineup and Wii U with open arms. This is because the Nintendo we see right now matches their definition of Nintendo much closer than the Nintendo that created the DS and Wii.

If you could figure out how to make one game to satisfy two markets and your own artistic desires all in one shot, you'd spend a lot of time searching for it too

This is the only part about this malstromism that drove me to abject rage when it was at its peak around here back at the end of 2010, this narrow-minded sense that there is only one logical path to game development, and while i acknowledge that the market clearly exists for 2D Mario, untapped and in need of service, Nintendo as it is cannot provide all things to all people, and so they are bound to try to hybridize styles they have brought forth

The Wii U is even a tough sale to me. Yes, me! I was never less excited for a new Nintendo home console.

Much of the Wii's success is rooted in the console being so different to its competitors. The Wii U is designed to appease third party publishers and that alone guarantees that it will become much more like a PS3/360 successor than a Wii successor. The Wii U controller isn't all too different from a PS3/360 controller with a touchscreen put on it. The PS3 and 360 couldn't win the Wii audience, so this puts the Wii U also at a disadvantage. Nintendo throwing people a bone here and there with a Wii Sports sequel and others won't change the overall direction of the console which is vastly different from what the Wii was about.

The Wii U being able to emulate DS-like games won't be a big deal. There are certain types of games that are better suited to handhelds and others to home consoles. This is also because consumers define handhelds and home consoles differently, so a hit game on a handheld doesn't necessarily become a hit on a home console and vice versa. For this reason I highly doubt that Layton can become really successful on the Wii U. Trauma Center actually plays much more comfortable with a Wiimote/Nunchuk setup than a touchscreen, but it's a niche game either way. Every new Nintendo system features better graphics than the previous one, so this isn't really a reason to get excited about, because it's a given. It won't make the games magically better.

As for the third party games you mention, they all fall in the category of titles that people don't naturally associate with a Nintendo platform. Being able to play these games is certainly welcome to a minority, but it's not going to make Nintendo's console sell dramatically better. Worse, getting those games on the console will lead to trade-offs in the console's design that will make Nintendo lose customers.

Lastly, a DS Advance would have been indeed a better option. Affordable, great battery life, the usual games. You know, exactly what people expect from a Nintendo handheld. It's not like Sony actually posed a threat to Nintendo's handheld dominance.

The name Wii HD might just confuse some people, so I rather call it Super Wii. A console that keeps a similar controller, but makes reasonable improvements. Eliminating the cord between the two pieces, better motion sensing (especially in the Nunchuk part) and some adjustments to the buttons. The console would of course have better graphics, but that wouldn't be the selling point. Rather the next generation of motion controls. What we actually get is the Wii U which uses the exact same Wii controllers in addition to the tablet. The improvement is missing and that's what makes the system so disappointing.

Sounds more like your perception is playing a trick on you. The Wii/DS mentality mimics the NES/Gameboy mentality, so they are one and the same. You never made the impression to me that you are really a part of the old guard, because you always voiced similar criticism/concerns etc. as the N64/GC crowd, although not to the same degree. I think it's because you started to really get into video games in the early '90s, so you are somewhat stuck inbetween these two polarizing definitions of Nintendo.

Not at all; I’ve been a diehard gamer ever since I first played Pac Man in the arcade in 1980 (I was five), so I was already avid and front and center for the NES.  

Which is one of the reasons I do still defend the N64/GC… I’m a big Nintendo fan.  But no, I don’t agree that the Wii/DS mentality mimics NES/GB.  They’re quite different to me.  The Wii demonstrated disruption based on going a completely unique route from their competitors.  The NES instead started by trying something different (toy company mentality, R.O.B.) but prevailed with just great games and tons of third-party support.  I don’t see why 3DS/Wii U can’t go the same route as the NES:  Wii U will have the “Wii Series” games and (hopefully) the core/third-party games, similar to the NES having the black box arcade games and the core/third-party support, respectively. 

The same doesn't apply to adults though (adult when the NES came out). They gladly abandoned Nintendo when Nintendo decided to abandon them only to come back when Nintendo made the Wii.

Ironically, I happen to know a couple of gamers who were adults in the 80’s, and they both had N64s and GCs (big Ocarina and Prime fans).  However one of them doesn’t have a Wii.  Hmmm...    

Nintendo's handhelds never went through the same problems as their home consoles, because Nintendo always sticked to the same gameplan. Until the 3DS at least.

Are the mentalities behind GBA and 3DS really that different?  And even the DS had a very shaky start as far as compelling software, so their hand-helds haven’t been without their missteps (I won’t even mention VB).

The NES/SNES levels of third party support will never return while competitors to Nintendo are in the market, because third parties don't want it to return. The only way this kind of Nintendo dominance can come back is if Sony and Microsoft get pushed out of the market for whatever reasons. Of course this is something I'd like to see, because it would mean that the best first party and best third party games are on one and the same console again, but it's improbable to happen.

Well, I’m not suggesting that Nintendo would have that kind of third-party dominance again (nobody would have that nowadays), just that it would benefit them immensely to be on equal ground with the competition in that area.  Remember that third-parties shunned the N64 (expensive cartridge format, storage limitations), Gamecube (purple lunchbox, modest predecessor and bad timing), and Wii (limited hardware, different control scheme) for specific reasons, not because they chose to hate Nintendo.  The Wii U is coming off of a very successful system, has a great programming environment and great hardware, and it’s not launching directly against any competitors, so it doesn’t suffer from the aforementioned issues.

Hardcore now says the 3DS would succeed ?..  wow I must be really new to the internetz... coz what I remember its all doom and gloom for 3DS..(1)

I never said he didnt say wii and DS would succeed.. (2)

but now his the new generation nintendo doomsayers! coz his already dooming the 3DS and the not yet released wiiU.. no difference.. just a new generation doomsayer.(3)