In the eyes of the consumers, Nintendo holds a special position when it comes to innovation. People usually talks about how their hardware is unique from its competitors (Wii vs PS360; WiiU vs PS4-XBone), with varying degrees of success and reception. However, in the software aspect, there's always a big group that talks about how tradicional usually is the big N about their games, with again, varying degrees of success and reception.
Nintendo had to reinvent themselves multiple times during their existence, but they always had a couple of cards they could count on. And it seems that trend continues even to this day.
Fron a hardware perspective, we have to compare the Gamecube, the Wii and the WiiU. The Gamecube is the most traditional of the three, but even a strong lineup and a really cheap price (i think it was 99$ during some periods) was steamrolled by the PS2. The Wii was basically an enhanced GC with motion controlls, but that new aproach made all the difference, becoming the best selling Nintendo home console. The WiiU tries a mix of both elements, approaching to a more focused audience and adding the gamepad, but once again, it's failing to gain audiences.The same with the handhelds: GBA was just an portable SNES, and the DS almost doubled its sales when there was not that much difference in power.
From a software perspective, Nintendo has always had Mario, Pokemon and Zelda as a basis to support their systems, with other smaller IPs around them to add variety to the mix. And even though sometimes the public critisice those franchises for a supposed lack of innovation, the numbers agree that those games are more succesful than the ones more different (NSMBWii vs SM Galaxy). Also, while some new Nintendo IPs get the sales but not the praise, while others are the exact opposite (the Wii series sold ridiculously well but it's often dismissed as a casual thing, while on the other hand we have Xenoblade, a highly praised franchise that has sold poorly).
So, what do you think is the better angle for Nintendo? What can they do for the 9th gen? Should they become more riskier and take more chances with their main franchises, or they need to have those bases as always and innovate with their other IPs? Should they follow the leader in terms of hardware or they should try to do their own thing? What of these options do you think would be more profitable for the company?
