We spend so much time looking at the ins and outs of release lists, perhaps we don't look at the big picture problem that Nintendo may really be having. 

That is that Nintendo still basically views the home console business as something that should look like this:

Now there's nothing wrong per se with this, in fact it's nice to have contrast in the game industry ... the problem arises though when one's asked ... does this audience actually still exist?

Of course the Wii did great for about 4 years there as a new hot device, but barring a miracle type of controller gimmick (which fizzled out), it seems like this formula in general of making a console more aimed towards a Disney-styled family/kids audience just doesn't work. And even here I think a great deal of the Wii's initial success was driven by adults (not kids), prior to the the smartphone boom, the Wii was a novel way for adults who were hardcore gamers to have something fun to play at a house party/family function. 

Given a choice it seems like the general console buyer will almost always choose the console that's more aimed at adults first/only, (and here's the kicker) even kids. 

You would think Nintendo would at least dominate with the kids market ... but by and large, they don't. MS and Sony have just as many kid players as Nintendo does if not more, part and parcel of this is because by the time kids (especially boys) get to age 9-12 they want to start playing what they see their older brother/cousin/neighbor playing. They don't want the "kids console" anymore than the 25 year old does. 

As for adults, Nintendo has a great, loyal fanbase of adult fans and they do make the occassional game specifically aimed at adults (like Bayo 2) but this is a small audience. I think adults don't neccessarily look down on Nintendo, they like it, but given a choice between one platform that's made with kids in mind moreso than the other two that are made expressly for the tastes of teenagers/adults first, Sony/MS will generally always will that contest.

Nintendo is just fighting an uphill battle here in other words, that why their consoles have had such a hard time selling. They're trying to sell to a family/kids audience that isn't backing them up. They tried to double down on this audience last Christmas with marketing, but it was a big failure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsbeQeiwW9o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bso27e3Inzc

Yes but i don't even thinks that's really a strategy of theirs, they just don't know how to make games of other types. Its a competence issue, if they believed they could make a Halo or COD they would at least try.

Look at the Wii. Its far from failing.

With that said, its a hit or miss thing. But Nintendo clearly wants to target the whole segment and not just kids.

miss miss miss hit miss

It seems more of a miss thing and one fluke.  

No, women and children first. Always!

I am sure I read this back in 1995.....

Metroid outclasses both those games.

I always saw Nintendo internally struggling with what they want. They obiously do excellent games that work for everyone. But when it comes to Mature games, they don't want to do it themselves. It could be they don't know how. But then why not hire a team for those games? Or are they so scared, if they break their image. They are ruinined in some way.

But either way, they're getting screwed. I don't see their logic anyway I try to reason it. It's the same thing that goes on with them not wanting to match Xbox or PSN online system. What is the harm? They all have mute and report buttons. Maybe they think it's some sort of defeat if they just follow the leader?

Well, they aimed for the hardcorez with the WiiU and failed miserably, so I think they better stick with the kiddy audience.

The problem with this though is that adults don't accept this line of reasoning. 

If a product is designed even slightly for kids in mind, they pick up on that. 

Try selling for example a purple colored DVD player or cable box to an adult and you can kind of get a sense how insane the GameCube's design concept was. 

When adults buy an electronic product they don't buy the "kids version", even with the Wii U ... the controller looks like a ... child's tablet.