Some of you are watching sales and not profit. Production cost is down, and it is selling for a profit.
Uninformed user: "Drop the Wii U and release a new console or you're doooooooooooomed!"
Informed user: "That's a dumb idea, they just started to make money off of it and a lot of big games are still on the way, dropping it now would be retarded!"
I do not believe the Wii U has peaked just yet either, I think 2015 will be its peak year for 1 reason. No dorughts. It would have been this year but those months between MK8 and HyWA were too much. If Every single first party game comes out once every month next year along with each providing a 2week boost then 2015>2014. Eventually those boost will lead to a slightly higher baseline.

Agree with bolded, however if a console is released in 2017 I doubt it would be garbage after 2 years. I don't even see Sony releasing a console until 2020, so that would effectively give them 3 years. Not to mention cross gen games that BARELY look any better on next gen consoles (especially if Nintendo does decide to put out a pretty powerful console that would for all intents and purposes be a PS 4.5) that would last until 2021, which would give Wii U 4 years at it's earllest before the hardware could effectively be showcased as weak. That would only be around 2~3 years before they release their next console, and a great time to start rumors on the next consoles development. It would hit mid gen with a more powerful console which I think would bring players in when most are seeking out their second console. Their options would then be a console that is slightly better or worse, or one that is half a gen better! The problem is being more transparent about what is being released. I guarentee you there is more in store for 2015, so why are they keeping it a secret? Pretty much because it's tradition, and it's good when you're the highest selling console, but not when you're trying to find an audience.

AS for the last paragraph, half of what you wrote isn't even a problem. Online infrastructure? What's wrong with the Wii U's? Virtual console? It's great on the Wii U! What exactly is wrong with the eshop that would need years to accomplish?

I do agree with cross buy though, and having a better account system (which the only thing wrong with the account system is no cross buy, so they are technically the same issue). Let's not make things up that aren't issues.

This isn't really true tho. Its doing better than last year for sure, but between how bad last years sales were, and the release of what are likely to be Nintendo's biggest console games of the generation, that should be the case. If this was the start of a climb then things might be looking better, but this is more likely the peak of Wii U sales.

Nintendo shouldn't release any console at all, they should finish wiiu support in a year or two and transition to PS/Xbox/Pc so they are ready and capable for the 9th gen.

Thats where increasing deveoplment studio's come in. Nintendo said its not that easy to do that going from Wii to Wii U. They should be in the procceses making that happen now so they can support the U while also getting games lined up for their next console. Again, as the U gets more games and the price drops there will be more and more on the fence people willing to buy one. Just get the studio's to make the games and not spend too much time on getting third parties.

I just can't see this as peak. It's still selling at $300.  We knon price drops will come. There are alot of people on the fence. Some will adopt at $250. Others will at $200. By then the games will be there and we don't know all the games lined up. We got Captain Toad and Splatoon is coming. Both are new IP's. We still don't know what they have up their sleaves. Nintendo needs to ride out the U until the next round of consoles. And they can cause it will be viable till then.

Price drops will help sales for a few weeks, but after a short time they will fall back to what they were before the price drop, this time with less profit per unit. While we don't know the full game lineup, we can assume with a reasonable degree of certainty that its nothing near Mario Kart or SSB in sales potential.

I'm pretty sure the month SSBB's release still holds the NPD record for the all time high console sales in a non holiday month, so its sales potential is not to be taken lightly. I atribute the major difference between last holiday's Wii U sales and this years to it, rather than some sort of new baseline.

Nintendos development time has always been lower and cheaper than most companies. Thats not what I am talking about. Nintendo selfishly makes their consoles powerwise with only their ends in mind. Third parties are only ignoring them because not only is the fanbase weak but the console is weak as well. Its a simple fix really. All they have to do is listen to the third party. Nintendo doesnt listen to anyone but themselves.

Nintendo is in a rough spot. With an under powered console, they have two options. Release early with a slightly more powerful machine than PS4 or X1 just to try to get a jump on people who are eager for an upgrade at the time (we see how this worked with he original XBox and again with the WiiU). Or wait it out and continue to profit what they can through new software with the WiiU and try to Pull a Sony along side of the other consoles (Hardware and price advantage).

Either one of these will be hard for Nintendo because they will have to bring in a new gimmik to give it an identity separate from the competition (which can be very hit or miss), or win back third party support with option two. Third party support won't be hard to win back if many own the console, this is a proven fact. Consoles sold equals potential software sales, and none of the giants will be able to ignore sales across three platforms rather than two. The real challenge is winning the fanbase back, which at this point is easier said than done when you look at Nintendo console sales as a whole (excluding the Wii) and see that they have been on a decline since the Super Nintendo.

I think the best option for the WiiU is a combination of the two, a hybrid if you will. They need to lay low and wait it out while developing a gimmik for their console, and work on power and pricing. This way their first party will have features unique to the console for its already strong first party line up, and full functionality with multiplat games as well. I doubt price and power alone will save Nintendo next gen, they already did this with the GameCube and it failed compared to the competition. Nintendo can't survive off of gimmiks and 1st party alone either, we see that now with the WiiU. The only thing that will get the ahead next gen is being patient and putting ALL cards on the table while hoping for the best.

Releasing at the same time could work for them but it would be far more work What they can't do is release after which is what your OP seems to be suggesting ''Wait until the specs for next gen PS/XB are hammered out and then focus on making a box on par with them. ''

Both saturn and Dreamcast were killed by segas poor management.The saturn was launch a disaster dropping e system out of nowhere and it completely lacked  in software in a way which isn't comparable to any launch we've seen in recent memory. The Dreamcast suffered from Sega's previous failure as well as the inevitable dominance of the PS2. Again PS2 had all of the third party exclusives which really mattered at the time (GTA, Final Fantasy, Tekken, Metal Gear Solid, Pro Evo). Dreamcast, Gamecube and Xbox were all destined for sub 30m sales as long as most developers sided with sony. Take a second to imagine if todays equivalents (GTA, COD, Assassins Creed, Fifa) were sony or microsoft exclusive and how that would prevent real compition

And the xbox 360 was a sucess before the PS3 even came out, it had sold 8m units by jan 2007. More units then the Wii U sold in 2 years and higher then the original xbox. You gotta give credit where its due, and being a year early provided microsoft with neccessary chance in the same way it helped the PS1 against the N64.

You seem a bit out of touch with how third parties work,  its not gonna be an either or situation going forward. They will not have to pick between Nintendo system or the PS5. Architecturally, consoles will stay the x86 route as that is the most efficient for developers, logic says they will jump onto the Nintendo's new if its architecturally in line with what they're making at the time and targeting a similar audience. It also means utilising the additional power in early 3rd party games will be very easy. Its not comparable to the Wii U situation because the system is not signifcantly more powerful the PS3 and 360 and infact its CPU is weaker then the 360s hence the dodgy ports. Its an awkward system, that no developer asked for.  By 2017, PC versions of third games will likely be much better then the console counter parts as was the case towards the end of last gen. Nintendo weren't able to capitalise on it because they didn't go the X86 route, plus the wii u really isn't powerfull. Plus their launch year was weak. Plus it had a dumb ass name and a controller which just confused people...

Arrive early enough to get a headstart and capitalise off the dated ps4 and X1 with superior 3rd party games, get a year of being able to boast ''most powerful system ever'' but not so early that you're mid gen and aren't considered a real leap forward. Be in the same ballpark as PS5/X2 (the same way the PS2 as in the same ballpark as the gamecube despite being weaker), rebrand for a more neutral demographics (i.e not kids or family and definitely no wii in the title), create and market third party bundles and have killer first party line up for year 1 so people associate their brand with big future releases and not just mario. But thats how I see it anyway, arriving early is only a problem if its premature for reasons regarding tech or software. I can't see that being the case especially because the diminishing returns of new tech. If Nintendo can deliver near CG quality at 1080p-60FPS, then I don't see what PS5 being 1.5x more powerful will matter. A year isn't gonna allow them blow nintendo out the water unless they wanna go the $600 route or higher.