Iwata says a single title could save the Wii U

[Soundwave]

shikamaru317 said:

Soundwave said:

Pokemon is an 18 year old franchise that appeals mainly to an audience that Nintendo already has.

That's not what Iwata was talking about, he's talking about breakout new franchises (which Pokemon was ... in 1996). Unfortunately he doesn't really seem to have a game to back up all his talk with.

Perhaps not, but it could turn the Wii U from a total flop into a console that outsells the Gamecube and N64. A huge 3D open world Pokemon RPG with amazing graphics would sell a Wii U to most of the 20+ million Pokemon fans out there.

I'm going to take a wild shot in the dark and say most Pokemon fans are probably Mario and Zelda fans too ... seeing as how they were raised on systems which prominently feature Mario and Zelda. So I don't think it's really that diverse of an audience that Nintendo would be gaining

Pokemon in 3D could not save Nintendo from having their worst handheld sales since 1997/98. It's not a be all, end all solution. A lot of Pokemon fans would be content to just play on the 3DS too rather than paying $300 to play a non-portable entry.