That isn't bold... it's common sense.

I know. I was trying to fit in with the bold predictionists but obviously didnt manage. 

This is the typical tripe i hear all the time at neogaf. This is brand and financial suicide, not to mention wishful thinking. Nintendo will be riding this thing out.

If any console is garunteed to have an amazing year between now and early 2015 it's the Wii U with the software coming out.

This is about as logical as saying the ps4 will flop with the release of a new ff, grand theft, fifa, killzone, persona 5, destiny all within a year.

Then I think we'd see some major house cleaning in management.  There would be a lot of senior officials who suddenly decide to retire.  There are so many areas where Nintendo could have done better with the Wii U, especially considering the abandonment of the Wii.  They have to work to fix those things for the next console right NOW.  They have to be ready.

Doing their own thing from a creative standpoint is fine but that should not preclude them from watching the market and adding in the features and services customers want.  It doesn't matter if Microsoft or Sony did those things first, ignoring improvements is a disservice to your customers and a good way to get left behind as those features become standard in the industry.

It would also be a major blow to the Nintendo brand.  It might even prompt changes in the direction of the company, though I think that would only happen if the next console performed even worse than the Wii U.

Now, that being said, I don't think Nintendo has to be "number one" in the console race.  I think they could do quite well releasing a low-cost system that's profitable on day one.  However, they still have to make sure the games are there, one way or another.

Yes, please! Nintendo needs to start over as soon as possible with a new powerful and backwards-compatible system like the Nintendo Fusion which is hopefully announced at E3 2014.

The biggest problem of the Wii-U is that the tablet is too large and not standalone / mobile.

Yeah, the hell with them! worked with the Virtual Boy!

Erm............Genius prediction, my friend!

Nope. I don't see it being discontinued before 2018.

Even Gamecube chugged along for 5 years.