Prediction: "Cartridges" will return for the Nintendo home console

[DanneSandin]

RolStoppable said:

DanneSandin said:
As far as I can remember Iwata's statements about their future consoles he's said they're aiming for a unified OS, something akin to iOS where you have the iPone and iPad. Did he really indicate that the devices would share the same games? Let's remember that iPhones and iPads both have their own exclusives....

What he said most recently is this:

Iwata said:

Your question also included the "current notion of thinking about home consoles and handheld devices." When it comes to how dedicated game systems are being played, the situations have become rather different, especially between Japan and overseas. Since we are always thinking about how to create a new platform that will be accepted by as many people around the world as possible, we would like to offer to them "a dedicated video game platform with a brand new concept" by taking into consideration various factors, including the playing environments that differ by country. This is all that I can confirm today.

Which to me means that games that can be shared between a home console and a handheld will indeed be shared. This doesn't rule that either device can still receive its own exclusives, but we already know that it's feasible for a lot of Nintendo IPs to exist in a very similar form on a home console and a handheld. The chances that a new platform will be accepted by as many people as possible increases with a steady flow of software, and that can be achieved by sharing games between devices whenever it is feasible. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS can be considered a glimpse of what is to come.

This could also simply mean that they'll make it a lot easier to port between the two consoles; you mention Smash Bros 3DS/Wii U, and that's almost two different games. I'm not even sure they're running on the same engine. Maybe they're aiming at using the same engine for both devices to shorten development time, but that doesn't mean you'll have the same game on both systems, or that you'll be able to actually continue your play session on either devices.

I hope you're right, I'd love for this concept to be true! But the question is, which scenario would Nintendo make the most money from? Make one game to switch between two devices, release one game on two different devices with no save transfer without double dipping (essentially porting the games between the devices), or have the same engine working on both consoles but developing different games for each device.

All three scenarios have their pros and cons, but which one makes Nintendo the most money?