Nintendo has always been more of a family company.
Their games were never meant for this or that market, despite of how they look. Multiplayer has also been part of their DNA.
Before smartphones and tablets came, Nintendo was a very good, if not the best, way to families to play and have fun together.
It`s not that those new devices have become an alternative, it`s more that, seeing as they are basically single player devices, they have kinda broken that family frame. But the problema is, it seems that parents are more willing to buy them for their kids and let them be, than buy a console that only plays games - and for 50-60$ each.
Nintendo needs to find a solution for that, to bring everyone together while offering kids and parents what they want the most.
If they somehow can offer a console and a tablet of their own that can work together, they might do it.
Make an ecosystem where you offer individual and colective fun in ways that kids and parents are willing to go to.
From NES to GC, Nintendo did offer a good level of variety for all crowds, but that changed with the Wii and especially with the Wii U. And if Nintendo learned anything this gen, that will change after the Wii U.
I`m not so sure MS and Sony have a hold on the kids market like Nintendo does. MS tried going after that market with some games and what succeeded was actually a device: Kinect.
