Nintendo's next console won't be x86 based. I would bet $100 on it.
It will be an ARM mobile CPU (v8) and an AMD low-power (consumption) mobile part which will allow for Wii U quality graphics (perhaps with better lighting/shader effects and more RAM) on a handheld. The home version will be the same chip overclocked with more CPU/GPU cores and more RAM for 1080p play at home.
Even on the GameCube ... Nintendo had most of the same third party games as the XBox and PS2 ... it just didn't help. That audience is owned by Sony/MS, there's not a lot Nintendo can do to win them back.
They need a way to expand their appeal in a different way.
The Avengers *are* more popular than COD. Marvel's IP is the holy grail of appealing to just about every imaginable demographic. No one has made a game for this IP with any care, the way Batman has gotten with the Arkham franchise. Enter Nintendo.
