1) Cut the price of the Wii U to $249.99 and add a 250gb HDD. A 32gb SKU could go for $189-$199.

2) Have face to face meetings with 3rd party developers to get feedback on all the pain points on the hardware as well as working with Nintendo in general to get games on the platform.

3) Hit the talk show circuit to demo games

4) Overhaul the appalling online infrastructure.

5) Pokemon (a real game) on the Wii U

-try to cut wii u costs and drop wii u price heavily.
-bundle wii sports club and sell it with gamepad, wii mote for 150$. mk8 bundle would be 199$.
-promotion: give your wii back and get 50$ discount by purchasing wii u.(resell the wiis in india/china)
-carry the hardware losses, but with greater install base, games would profit more.
-launch sucessor in 2017.

1. Cut the price immediately by $100. That
old tech is not worth it's price.
2. Discontinue Wii U in about a year and give 20 free games to all owners for an apology.
3. Have a new console with more power than PS4 ready by black friday 2015 to get real 3rd party support. 3DS should be fine for a few more years.

1) What would you do to try and turn things around the near term (1-6 months?)

I would improve the value proposition via bundling. I'd focus on strengths with regard to local multiplayer and the fact that there is free multiplayer. I'd announce a free retro game a month, the kind from back earlier consoles but not big name games.

I'd work hard to get a bunch of cell phone games ported over quickly to sell in the $3-5 range and thus increase appeal for parent types who are not hard core gamers. Things like the various Temple Run games Candy Crush, etc. This would also be part of addressing the third party strategy. If you change the nature of the third parties, then the conversation about support can shift. People don't need more Triple AAA titles demanding a season pass and starting at $60 to play. We have plenty and the ones that are out there want to come to Wii U anyway because they need to be everywhere to prove they are a franchise.

I'd work hard to improve the value proposition of the console within the bounds of the software available on it. Part of what made the Wii so fun was things like Everyone Votes, etc. You have to build habits. Apple gives away a free song of the week for example. People would check every Tuesday for it. Starbucks gives you stars and encourages consumption that way. People who do something daily on their Wii U are the best advocates for it and will talk it up to others. So give them 10% off online purchases for a length of time after X check in's or Y posts on MiiVerse or something along those lines. This sort of thing can be done quickly.

I'd work to bring more types of streaming channels and content to the WiiU. Again the apps here could be developed pretty quick and don't need lots of extra programming or horsepower.

2) Which device would you discontinue first (3DS/Wii U) and what would your timetable be for the transition of both devices?

I wouldn't discontinue either of those two. I would discontinue the Wii and clear out inventory on it. I wouldn't craft or create any new variants of it. I'd find everyone of them, pop in a couple older games and blow them out with two Wii-motes next Christmas for $100.

3) What would be the your strategy for bolstering 3rd party support on the next home console?

Again if you can't win with the current equation, change the game. Bring a bunch of inexpensive cell games in for cheap and take a cut from the sales. I'd also go to all the free to play PC games and offer some cash for them to port their games over to Wii U. Finally do whatever it takes to get Minecraft onto the WiiU and 3ds.

1. Change the name to Wii 2/Wii HD, now (I believe biggest reason its bombing is that people are confused by its name)
2. Remove Gamepad from the box, sell it as accessory, no game actually relied heavily on it anyway
3. Lower console price by 100 bucks, they should be able to afford it now without the Gamepad
4. Rekindle 3rd party relationships
5. Invest a fuckton in relationship with core gamers, forget casuals ever existed
6. Revive one beloved Nintendo franchise

This way it will sell and people will remember it as a core gamer's console and not (sorry for using the term) a half assed Wii wannabe that failed trying hard to capture commercial and critical success.

Support Wii U and 3DS until late 2017.

Release the Nintendo Fusion in late 2017. Sold at a loss/competitively priced at $499.99.
Powerful, all-digital, micro-console with a 10 terabyte hard drive.
Powerful "Nintendo Tablet" capable of playing all games in 720p on-the-go.
GameCube inspired controller also included; connects to tablet and micro-console.
Rebrand Nintendo Network as "Nintendo Online"; $5 a month for $60 a year allows free Virtual Console access.
Competitive advertising.

Hardware is not used to make money; it is used to make games which make money.

Ya cuz discontinuing it is such a better idea.

Thats all u would do? Discontinue Wii U and call it a day? Would u release a follow up, if so what would u do to make sure it doesnt sell poorly like Wii U?

Sorry if im coming off as an asshole but ur post doesnt really address what the op is asking.

Bite the bullet and drop the gamepad for Wii U, allowing for a sizable price drop to enter mass-market territory and make the thing per-unit profitable. Build a Wii U successor with a Wii-like mentality where we completely ignore industry standards and go our own way (partnership with Google for Droid OS, though).

wtf is up with the post i wrote? i cant even read it. im on my vita  and keyboard lags on this site. thats why i dont go into as much detail