The main issue Iwata cited in this example was that porting from the Wii U/Wii and 3DS was extremely difficult because they are completely different CPU/GPU structures.

My guess is porting from Wii U to Fusion will be much (much) easier.

I think Nintendo can ask AMD if they can make a mobile chip (ala Mullins) but instead use the Wii U's architecture design as the basic blueprint.  

Throw in software dev kits designed to allow for easy Wii U-to-Fusion porting and voila, you probably have in the end something that's easier to port between those two than PS4 to XBox One porting is (which every 3rd party deals with with no/minimal complaints).

If anyone remembers back to last year the were mentions of a plan to create an IOS style software platform that links all their platforms together, what this would mean is any feature that on any platform would always be compatible with future platforms even peripherals. I imagine the Wii U architecture being absorbed means that its feature will be supported by the new software platform which would make them available on all future hardware.

Ok thanks. And what uses the PS4 and Xbox One?

What people are forgetting is the major advancements in technology we have had. Let's use Moore's Law that states and I quote from wikipedia " is the observation that, over the history of computing hardware, the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years."

Using this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Architecture

Look at the history, there is a constant line of upgrades with PowerPC and the last major one for x86 is x86-64 (I wouldn't call multi-core processing an upgrade, multi-CPU ability has been around for ages, i've seen boards with 2 P4s in them.

So yes, I see Nintendo absorbing the Wii U in it's new console in 4 or 5 years with the next portable running on the same architecture for easy porting. Power PC is here to stay and chances are it will be running on a higher clocked hex core or something for their next console

I think really there's only a handful of games they absolutely would want to port to a future Nintendo platform

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Splatoon
Xenoblade X
Bayonetta 2
Zelda U
Captain Toad
Pikmin 3

I think these games had their sales potential most crippled by the Wii U's lack of market success.

Releasing them again on the next-gen portable/fusion device makes a lot of sense.

Also other games that are currently in development like SMT x Fire Emblem could be a dual release if porting is easy, and that makes sense too as this type of game would likely sell more on the handheld than Wii U.

For things like Mario Kart 8 and what not, I think they'll just let that be and move on to Mario Kart 9. Ditto for Hyrule Warriors 2 instead of porting HW1, etc. But they could anyway if they wanted to. But the above games may not be getting immediate sequels or had higher dev costs that maybe weren't recouped last time around. Xenoblade X for example doesn't look like a low budget game. 

I think PowerPC is out. ARM will be the CPU for both the portable and home variants. But maybe they can come up with some hardware/dev kit tweaks that allow for easier porting even on the CPU side. GPU will likely be AMD as they've been hinting at that, so that should be much easier to match. 

PowerPC runs way too hot for a portable too. 

x86-64 :)

ppc is not here to stay. It's not dead but dead for consoles. The use-case for ppc nowadays is totally different.

There's no reason why a Wii U processors (CPU & GPU) can't be included as part of an APU as a separate chip from the main one in a similar fashion to how Sony uses an ARM chip for their background downloads.
Maybe instead of having an MCM (Multi Chip Module) like Wii U does now, Nintendo gets a partner chip maker to design a single APU, that includes all of the technology on Wii U's MCM, but builds it into a single die, thus making for a simple part that can be installed on the motherboard of their next console.

The Wii U APU can function like PS4's ARM chip, while also handling backwards compatibility with Wii U and Wii games.
Being that Wii U's processors are made on 40 and 45nm fabrication processes and we'll be moving to 14nm in the not too distant future the energy requirements of such a chip will be miniscule, we're talking roughly a 3rd of the power consumption of Wii U's current chipset, likely less than 10 watts.

Failing that Nintendo could just make Wii U's CPU and GPU a part of their next console's APU.

That's what I think "absorbing Wii U's architecture" means.

Personally I hope Nintendo gets off this whole "must use virtually no power" kick they were on with the Wii U's design. While it makes for a low energy bill, it absolutely stunts the system's capabilities compared to what's possible with a little more energy.

I hope they decide to go with around PS4/XB1 levels of consumption for their next system.
Both of those systems are pretty cheap to run, very cool and with silicon getting much smaller it just increases what's possible from a developers POV.

"When this happens, home consoles and handheld devices will no longer be completely different, and they will become like brothers in a family of systems."

Isn't this in referal to the their next handheld?

Maybe they intend to the support the Wii U for longer then many of us expected and this is talking about how they're going to align the handheld with the Wii U.