Predict WiiU will flop? Close enough. Nintendo fans can be so unkind sometimes especially that Nintendopie kid. There's more than one person in that thread who knew wiiu would flop but if anyone had said 13.9M they'd have been lynched. http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=145235&page=1

Predict Switch will be huge? Check. (reveal trailer predictions http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=221574&page=1). Wait for dip in share price and put virtually all your money on Nintendo? Check.

If after the umote reveal someone would have told me that Nintendo has no intention of using it for backwards/sideways compatibility for DS/3DS under a unified account system, I'd have been even earlier with the wiiu doom. It wasn't until e3 that became absolutely clear to me and I lost all hope in Nintendo. Not only were they not unifying their software, they also decided to force that stupid f'ing screen into Wii Sports.

I thought Wii would get software that was HD+extra screen on the WiiU and portable/3D on 3DS. One game playable across multiple devices. I'd like to have seen how well Mario Maker and Splatoon would have done on Wii.

As for predicting Switch's success, that's easy for anyone who ignores the 'Wii was a fluke/Nintendo is lucky' or 'smartphones killed handhelds' myths. 

Switch low end = 100M

Switch high end = best selling console of all time

'Permanent decline' sales predictions were nonsense from the start. It stems from people believing in some core Nintendo-bloc from the 1980s that only plays Nintendo and has been shrinking from 60m to 14m (must mean the Sony core is only the 15m that bought a vita).

Unified software confirmed/increased output guaranteed - All talk of 'less than GC' should have stopped here.

Hybrid confirmed - The minimum becomes 3DS sales (worst selling hh) assuming it's competent at being portable.

Reveal trailer - Holy shit this will destroy 3DS!!! New wiimotes!?!? Portable multiplayer!!!! Preorder confirmed!!!

Launch presentation - Everything, including the price. $300 meant Nintendo wasn't worried. After Gamecube, Nintendo must have been dreading failure to price Wii/Wii Sports so low yet after the even more disastrous Weewoo they increased the cost, didn't bundle software and told everyone they'd be paying for online multiplayer. Either crazy confident or just plain crazy.

Using the system/Zelda - Sleek, fast, serious, no twee jingles/animations and other quirky bloat. It's a shame Zelda couldn't do the same but that's a minor complaint. Zelda showed that Nintendo was totally back on form, maybe even more on form than ever before.

Now I need someone to explain why it can't become the highest selling console of all time when it's a 'DS' with no competiton from either PSP or Wii, portable local mp, X360+ graphics, combined handheld and home first party output including new IP, the likely possibility of being dual use ie high dust collection resistance like a modernday PS2 (youtube/netflix tablet with easy tv-out dock and remote, FU Apple!), support for classic, split, motion, and touch controls along with whatever that IR camera is for and tons of possibilities for different models.

Splatoon looking like it's going to dethrone Halo as 1st party shooter king and CoD possibly fracturing/declining. Zelda at the top of it's game and a league ahead of the competition again. Arms looking like the only credible challenger to Smash, and Pokemon, 2D Mario, 3D Mario, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart still have no competition in sight.

But apparently it's still too early to call.

Have I tagged this thread? I'll tagging this thread.

Tagged

Such things always remember myself about Gamespot's April Fool's Joke of 2006, where a fake analyst explained in detail why the Wii would succeed. It go laughed off for about 250 posts and then came the release... and the following 150 posts where mostly about lauging off those guys who where laughing before launch. Too sad it's comment section doesn' exist anymore, was always a great read.

The best part: Every single point of the fake analyst did come true at some point during the Wii's lifespan - exept that they didn't take until 2010 to become market leaders

Tagging.

I remember the ultimate irony in that article was the Chrono Trigger comment as the Wii eventually got CT on the VC, Gamespot for the good part of 7 years got destroyed over the article as not only was it an unprofessional article but a heavily fanboyish one. The comments section can still be read if you click the comments button.

Great OP. What the successful launch has already proven is that the hardware's hook has broad appeal, which gives the Switch a major headstart over the 3DS and Wii U even beyond what the early sales might indicate. Those two systems were always handicapped and never truly overcame it.

In terms of software, Nintendo has many more arrows left in its quiver, just from their established franchises. Catch 'em all on one system and try to find at least one new killer app, this thing will go over the top.

I would love to see demographics on NS/PS4/X1 owners, so we had an idea of where the industry is going.

If NS/PS4 keep this pace up, not only will it mean the industry is plenty healthy, but also we'll know who gamers are and will likely be.

#inb4pcmasterracecomment

I'm not sure if this was posted before but I'm going to leave this here anyway.

http://www.vgchartz.com/article/267594/why-the-nintendo-switch-may-struggle-to-sell-well/