The panasonic Q. I thought it came out stateside as well but I must have been confusing it with the silver cube that came with prime. This gamecube (the Q) was japan-only it seems. It played DVDs so Nintendo could better compete with the PS2. Problem is it was too little too late, and Sony had the lead the PS2 was unbeatable.

That and it has made quite a bit money off of Nintendo so far, they have been working together since the gamecube. Panasonic usually suppiles NIntendo is propritary discs and drives. And the occasional hybrid device (ie Q). I think the two primary companies that Nintendo does business with to make their consoles have been the same since the Gamecube. (IBM, Panasonic(Matsushita))

Wii U has a camera and a mic facing the user. Could be used in this generation.
But, if Nintendo has something special planned, they could save this for next generation... home console or handheld (there isn`t this tech in handhelds!).

I think it could be for Nintendo's next hardware platform which I think will be a portable/console hybrid.

I would like camera gestures on the gamepad camera.

Like the leap motion thing. Could be usefull.

The handheld space is Nintendo's bread and butter. I doubt we'll ever see a merged console; integrated policy & business structure perhaps but not one whole cohesive unit

No, pretty sure Nintendo has had a good relationship with Panasonic for a while, although if something actually comes out of the purchase of stock, that will be the first major collaboration with Nintendo besides help with optical drive/hardware stuff.

And nothing but evil came out of that partnership. ;p

Panasonic Q 2?

*Panasonic QU (prounounced as "Q") XD