releasing a year before PS4/One isnt what hurt Wii U, releasing a year early and not having any key software post launch with a high price tag for what it offers is what has hurt Wii U.

had Wii U released at $250 and had a steady stream of software then things might be different

and no its not just graphic whores who want Nintendo to release a new console earlier than 2018, i personally want Nintendo's next console to be only a slight bump over Wii U and be unified with the next handheld that way Nintendo can focus all their resources on a central platform which allows them to have a greater software output. this also gives the next console all the japanese 3rd party support the handhelds are use to recieving.

the best way for Nintendo to be successful in my opinion is to have low cost hardware with a high software output and to differentiate themselves as much from the competition as possible.

I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but something important about the Fusion idea is that Nintendo would not longer be forced to make one Mario Kart for handhel, another for home console, one smash bros for handheld, another for home console, they could make only one of those games per generation, and dedicate the "free time" to make new games.

I don't think Nintendo should try to make powerful consoles. Power is really becoming less important. Many people can play the new gen games ok with PC's from 2008.
I think Nintendo should make their new console the most powerful thing they can make for USD250, with no gimmicks apart from being able to play the handheld games.

Nintendo only had more powerful hardware than their competition when they released their console one of 2 years later. (genesis 88, super famicom 1990)
SNES was more powerful than Sega Genesis (well, more colours, better soundchip, and some other things, Genesis had a faster processor) because it was released 2 years years after Sega Genesis.
N64 was much more powerful than Playstation, (although unfortunately it had cartridges), because it was released 2 years later. (94 and 96)
Gamecube was more powerful than Playstation 2, because it was released a year after Playstation 2.

If you want Nintendo to make a console more powerful than the competition, you will want the Wii U to last many years.

What do people seriously want from Nintendo? The Wii was massively successful but must people complained about how casual it is and now the Wii U came out and shifted the focus more to hardcore. It's almost completely ignored. I don't get it.

I think Nintendo could be more successful if they advertised far more and opened up to new games. The quality is clearly still there. Its just the image the company has that hurts it.

Fusion sounds like an interesting idea. Its how its used that counts though

But that's kinda the point... they were not close to being ready! They also did not have 3rd party support and you would think it would have considering it came out a year earlier... It's all moot, Nintendo will not release a year before everyone... not now and not until they are ready.

but the way ur talking is that releasing early in and of itself is a bad thing, when its not, its how u use that headstart that matters, Nintendo wasted theirs but there are a few examples of how releasing early helped various consoles.

Sega Genesis greatly beneffitted from the headstart over SNES by building up a fanbase and releasing their killer app, Sonic before SNeS released. as did PS1 over N64 by having games like Tekken, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil and Crash Bandicoot all release before or around the time N64 launched. the same thing with 360, they were able to get big games like Elder Scrolls 4, Gears of War, Saints Row, Dead Rising among others to give it a strong following by the time the competition released.

as long as u use it right, there is nothing wrong with releasing before the competition, u just canrt do what Nintnedo did with Wii U and release a console without key spftware not ready.

Nintendo has never used it correctly though.

With all the hardware issues the 360 had it could have easily went the wrong way! They could have done more damage to Sony had they spent that time tuning up the hardware and an even better launch line up... Sony would have buried themselves with the stupid launch price.

MS could have done more damage to the Sony brand.. but they kinda let them off easy and it allowed Sony to overtake MS in WW sales and gain momentum heading into this gen on top of the gaffs made by MS prior to launch. The 360 was my first console of last gen! I got a PS3 3 months later... however the hardware issues played a huge reason in making the PS3 my main console. I sold that 360 about a year later and went awhile without ever owning one..

Had MS launched at the same time with a even better line up I don't think I would have bought a PS3 at all or at very least MUCH, MUCH later in the consoles life span.

The gaming industry is different now, as much as people want a new Nintendo console they won't get it any time soon. Nintendo will focus on the handheld market and ride this gen out. Mark my words all 3 consoles that will be released next gen will be released within 0-4 months of each other.

I have been saying this for a while.  Nintendo loves the gamepad idea, and they have been preaching freedom from the tv for the longest time, as well as "hiding the box" in the living room.   There's been lots of talk about 3ds functioning as a wii u gamepad controller (esp. with the new model), & lots of Wii U fans love the gamepad play, but hate the range that it has to be near the console.  The marriage of HH + console has to happen.

I think the Fusion will be making games for the home dock (highest quality assets) that will scale down to the handheld (like Wii U - gamepad).  Ninty also will try and garner even more profit than usual, when it comes to the home dock hardware, so even if its $199 I don't expect it to be that much more powerful than the HH variant.  If they can hit near XB1 level, then Ninty is giving the option again to 3rd parties by not making things too difficult for porting.

As far as future capabilities, I do expect  telecomm. features, something like apps from your mobile provider that allows you to log in to your acct. for texting, and maybe even video calls etc.  

Nintendo Freedom Phablet + U-nity console = Fusion

If they make their next home console near XOne level (which is around 1.3TFLOPS), or even PS4 level (1.8TFLOPS) and if you're refering here to 3rd party multiplats, then Nintendo will be giving clear message to that exact 3rd parties that (just like with WiiU) they don't care about how easy is to port to their system, considering most estimates are putting next PS and Xbox around 15TFLOPS.