I feel like Nintendo is in big trouble at this point. Here's why:

[Frogger]

I agree with most of what's been said here. My disagreement starts at the idea that they should have two four-year consoles in a row. Should they release a new console in 2016? Yes. Should it be "conservative?" Absolutely not. There are definitely things it needs to do. Paid online? Never. If Nintendo plans on taking any loss anywhere, it should be in providing free online, not on hardware. The console Nintendo releases in 2016 needs to be there main console.

I agree that it should be more powerful than the PS4, but it doesn't need to dwarf it. It just needs to be able to have a competitive price. Whatever they can build for $300 with a 1TB built in HDD while still selling at a profit. It only needs to edge the PS4 out. It doesn't need to outright decimate it. The PS4 is the 10 year console. That means this theoretical console would have at least 6 years of being the most powerful console.

The console needs to have the same architecture as the PS4 and XBO, whatever that is. It needs to be extremely easy to port games over. It needs to be backwards compatible.

As for Nintendo, they need to start making major acquisitions NOW. The fact of the matter is, they simply won't be convincing third parties that their games will sell until after Nintendo does well with more diverse software. In order to do that, they need to go overboard with exclusives. I've said it before, and I'll say it a thousand times: Nintendo doesn't need third party. Nintendo is the only console manufacturer around who can be completely self sustained, like Disney. In order to do that, they need to start acting like Disney.

Buy Capcom. Buy Sega. Make TV shows. Make movies. Tie them back to Nintendo games. Buy stock in Konami. Buy stock in Bandai-Namco. Buy a ton of stock in Square Enix. Get exclusives from all three. Build and buy at least five new western first party studios. Make new IPs like Sunset Overdrive and God of War that appeal to the west more directly. Have a software environment that benefits from 3rd party presence, but isn't harmed by third party absence. The 3DS does this. It's time for the home console to.

Buy a company that works with the cloud. Turn NNID's into a cloud based account like iTunes and Pokemon bank. Have it so that all games bought on this new Nintendo console and the subsequent handheld can be stored into this cloud, just like with iTunes.

Create an NNID app. Make it feel more like Instagram or Facebook for games than what Miiverse feels like now, which is... I don't even know. Communities are good. The current profile customization isn't. Make people want to check their phones for Nintendo. Allow eshop purchases through the app. Allow people to edit the screenshots the post. Allow people with private profiles to post whatever they want on their private profiles that only their friends can see, free of censors. Allow Tomodatchi-like Mii customization. Allow the next handheld to tether its internet to your phone's network through this NNID app.

Get modern. Add achievements, party chat, larger friends list, and everything else that is standard now. Get progressive. Think of something that hasn't been done yet in that regard, and do it. The loyalty reward idea is good. Playstation now/Netflix is not. Virtual Console will be fine once you quit resetting it every generation. Cloud storage would fix that.

Further integrate handhelds and consoles. Allow users to play every handheld on the big screen and stream every console game on the go.

Nintendo can get out of trouble, but they need to start laying the groundwork NOW.