NX (meaning the hardware Nintendo will reveal next year) is or includes a handheld. There's no way they aren't revealing a new handheld next year, basically. Iwata has said that Nintendo's next platforms will be based on the Wii U architecture, so BC should be easy to implement. The Wii U will not be blessed with as long a life as its predecessor, however its software is very strong and has strong legs. With BC on their next platform, games like Smash, Kart, Splatoon, the Marios, even less popular titles could continue to sell decently well into the Wii U successor's life. Lots of gamers missed out on these due to skipping the Wii U, selling them a much more compelling console that can play all of these excellent games at launch is a good idea.
Also, and I can't stress this enough, you gotta have the eShop including the entire Wii U Virtual Console available in its current state on their next console on day one. 3DS and Wii U both had a soft launch with the eShop / VC coming months later and it was a disaster both times. Absorb that eShop and all of those games into the next console. Make sure people can play Shovel Knight and Pushmo and Punch-Out!! on their NX right out of the box.
