It was the N64 where third parties jumped ship, so if you're going to go by that logic, your "dark age" should have started in 1996.

2001-2005 may have been a Dark Age, but 2006-2010 was the most successful period in their history.

I know that, but that was before the NintenDOOM narrative started and Nintendo was still considered a serious competitor in the console scene for next gen gaming since they mastered and set the standard for 3D games. Really during and after the GC days Nintendo consoles became that gaming company everyone knows but no one talks about in a cool sense anymore other than longtime Nintendo fans and kids i guess.

Not even in a nerdy sense like console wars, it's always been "Playstation! VS. Xbox! VS... Nintendo i guess?" ever since, speaking of Xbox, GC also lost to this newcomer and then decided to back off core gaming with the Wii for good, some will tell you that Nintendo was never about specs and horsepower but we all know that's utterbullshit. Yeah the Wii is their best performing console yet, but that's why i said they got a big break, from the bad sales even so Nintendo was still viewed as that console "your grandma plays for bowling" and it only got more embarrassing with the WiiU. Sure things are looking better with Switch  and it's a great console but in my pov Nintendo has lost their footing with consoles a long time ago and only now are they actually trying to fix and learn from their past mistakes.

Here's the thing; this narrative of Nintendoom/hardcore vs casuals is something only forum-going gaming enthusiasts really care about/believe in, and they represent probably 1% of actual consumers. The truth is, we are a small minority, and the average joe doesn't think about gaming the way we do. The key to success is to appeal to the mainstream majority, not a niche cadre of pixel-counting "Nintendo is for kids/soccer mums" geeks.

But that's exactly what i'm referring to. - The core gamers are essentially these nerds/enthusiasts vocal minority on forums and gaming websites that take gaming seriously, there's nothing wrong with that but that's the way it is and when the average core gamer, even Nintendo gamers, doesn't view Nintendo as a console competitor but as something else or  better as a third party developer than you know something is going wrong with Nintendo consoles.

- The mainstream majority are not core gamers but casuals who follow trends and they didn't view Nintendo as "cool" the same way they viewed the PS3 and 360 if they wanted to play FIFA? they bought a PS3. Call of Duty? Xbox360. Red Dead Redemption? Xbox360. GTA 4 and 5? PS3. Most nextgen core games don't appear on Nintendo consoles which is another reason why Nintendo consoles have a big disadvantage and when they do have these games, they usually don't sell well which goes back to my second point.

- I dare say 80% or 70% of Wii's sales were casuals and their kids and by the time WiiU launched those casuals and kids jumped ship to PS4, Xbox One or their phones. I don't hate Wii i love it but the fact is it didn't do Nintendo any favors in the long run by 2010 the Wii was known as the "dust collector" because most people just stopped caring about it. Great sales yes, but it made Nintendo lose even more third party support and just been left to do it's own thing.

The self-described core gamers vastly overestimate their own importance. They are a tiny minority who just happen to be the most vocal whiners. Consoles don't succeed by catering to the 1% of forum-going nerds, they succeed by reaching a mainstream audience.

2015 and 2016 were very painful regarding new content. To compensate, I joined Steam and played a lot of backlog Nintendo games I hadn't played (Mother Trilogy, Xenoblade Chronicles, Fire Emblem Awakening, etc.).

I missed out on Xenoblade Chronicles X until picking it up recently (and still just barely started it) due to how long Xenoblade Chronicles took me.

I've had a lot of great memories with the Wii U, and will have more in the future. Still, it could've been much more.

Really my only disagreements with the essay are on Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (my two favorite Wii U games). Mario Kart 8's antigravity was an interesting enough twist for the formula, as was the addition of other Nintendo properties. I also disagree with Smash Wii U lacking in content over Brawl. Yes, the Adventure Mode was gone. But we had more than 15 more characters, more stages, more trophies, more music, etc.

I get what you're saying but my point is Nintendo consoles have not received the same "mainstream acceptance" as they did before 2001 or what Sony and MS consoles had over the years. When N64 launched teens/young adults were all over it because it was viewed as the next big thing in gaming but that didnt work out for WiiU. Nowadays Nintendo needs to work their asses off to impress young adults to lose that kiddy image.

Again same goes for 3Rd parties. Sony and MS don't even need to try to cater to them because theyll jump on the bandwagon the second they announce a new console, the same can not be said for WiiU and Switch.

The Switch is going to massively outsell the N64. Nintendo's mainstream image is positive currently, if it wasn't the Switch wouldn't be selling as well as it is.

I agree Switch has sold great so far but we don't need the Switch to be another Wii nor another N64 best case scenario is if it becomes another but better SNES (great exclusives, great 3rd party support, lots of games, lots of variety, make it cool again)

The Switch is already cool. Nintendo's marketing has been on point selling it as a trendy product primarily for 20-40 year olds and the payoff can be seen in its sales, both of hardware and of software.