Iwata: “Wii U Is Not Over Yet”

[DélioPT]

SJReiter said:

DélioPT said:
It would be good if Nintendo didn't have to jump to a new console and just wait the usual 5 years, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Nintendo's biggest sellers for the home console are already out and Zelda is the last system seller they have left.
Also, despite DK, MK 8 and Smash being released in 2014 the overall sales for the year were what 500k more than 2013, which was a dysmal year.

Wii U hasn't got the diversity, 3rd party software, room for a price cut while maintaining a profit, to keep the console afloat 5 years, when GC barely achieved that with a way better library of games, lower price and enough money being made on the system.
Nintendo will be forced to do something big and they better do it sooner rather than later or their future in the home console market will be at risk. Investors are not going to like seeing Wii U losing revenue alongside 3DS.

You couldn't be more accurate in your assessment of the Wii U. I do think it will remain on the market the requisite 5 years, however. I just can't see a new home console releasing next year. You are dead-on though about Nintendo's future in the home console business being at risk. I don't want to sound like an alarmist or a pessimist, but any impartial observor would have to agree that the direction Nintendo is going in with the Wii U is disasterous. I agree they need to do something big, like a complete rebranding of their company, perhaps.

I really can't see how they can sustain Wii U gamewise and financially.

Nintendo hasn't been able to deliver a consistent release schedule and this year doesn't seem to really improve on that.
If they can't do that in the best years of the consoles, how can they do that towards the end when Nintendo will be heavily invested in games for the next handheld - which is going to need even more manpower.
What new games or old games are there to support the fall in HW sales in 2016 and 2017? The library will be so small and will lack so much diversity that sales will probably fall faster than in older generations. And they starting point to fall is so low that will be hard to keep at retailers. Remember when Wii U started selling bad and all those retailers started cutting the price and giving it shelf space? At the best, the same thing will happen again.
Wii U's business is so small that software royalties earned couldn't even cover the losses on the system for 1 1/2 years.

That's really what's coming for Wii U in 2016:

no system sellers like MK and Smash (one per generation), Mario (confirmed that the new one is being developed for next gen), Zelda (the new one will arrive in the 3rd full year in the market);
Even less games because Nintendo will be focusing on the next handheld and home console (look at the end of GC and Wii's lifecycles and you'll see how little support they had);
Even less revenue being made by falling sales;
Retailers will give it even less support because there just won't be enough new games or system sellers.

Can we really expect Nintendo to just release a new console during Christmas in 2017?