1. The Wii U problem.
To fix the Wii U problem, there is only one solution and that is to buy a major 3rd party publisher. Nintendo's brands alone aren't enough to attract enough consumers and 3rd parties will only support the system if it sells a lot or if they are paid. Rather than paying them, buy one. I would suggest buying Square Enix. Nintendo is buying back about 8% of its own shares in anticipation of such a move. You take a controlling stake in SE for a few billion and Yasuhiro Fukushima gets a seat on the merged company's board. Games already in development are down-rezed and ported to Wii U such as FFXV, KH3, and the next Tomb Raider. The exclusivity of these cult-favorite titles should sell an extra 10 million or more Wii U's and help the system dominate in Japan where Sony will now have few key exclusives for that market and XBox is an afterthought. You also give Wii U a mild re-design with a smaller, more ergonomic gamepad and possibly fresh branding for fall 2014. With sales picking up, Japanese dominance, and a different demographic targeted, some other 3rd parties such as Capcom, Konami and some others will likely jump on board further pushing Wii U's to core gamers that were previously skipping it and this 3rd party support pushes more systems, making the system competitive with PS4 in sales and a solid profit for Nintendo. More importantly, it sells the brand to consumer new and old, readying the next system which will see a better launch.
2. The next system.
The next system is prepared now to launch in 2016. It will lose Wii branding, going with something new or something that triggers nostalgia such as Nintendo Entertainment System 2. It will feature a new controller that is much smaller than the gamepad but with a small touchscreen for menus and to make it look cool. This will be the only controller supported and can function in a Wiimote way if needed. The system will be 2-4 times as powerful as PS4 and have an excellent OS and Online infrastructure ready to go. It will price at $399 with an online subscription. It will link heavily with Nintendo's next handheld (which will have the same branding theme and target casual customers heavily). The following games will be started now to be ready for launch: EAD Tokyo's next 3D Mario (Super Mario Universe), Mistwalker-lead Final Fantasy XVI in classic style, an outsourced (to Shin'en?) F-Zero and two new IP's from Eidos Montreal and IO, with one being a 1st-person shooter and the other a 3rd person adventure. Other teams will move on to NES2 project as their Wii U projects wrap up over the next 2 years, giving solid support for Wii U but then making sure NES2 games are ready after the initial launch. The NSMB and Wii- teams are split into smaller groups that make or re-make classic styled downloadable content or party games which will be free to online subscribers, making the subscription seem worthwhile.
Essay Pro