'Permanent decline' sales predictions were nonsense from the start. It stems from people believing in some core Nintendo-bloc from the 1980s that only plays Nintendo and has been shrinking from 60m to 14m (must mean the Sony core is only the 15m that bought a vita).
Unified software confirmed/increased output guaranteed - All talk of 'less than GC' should have stopped here.
Hybrid confirmed - The minimum becomes 3DS sales (worst selling hh) assuming it's competent at being portable.
Reveal trailer - Holy shit this will destroy 3DS!!! New wiimotes!?!? Portable multiplayer!!!! Preorder confirmed!!!
Launch presentation - Everything, including the price. $300 meant Nintendo wasn't worried. After Gamecube, Nintendo must have been dreading failure to price Wii/Wii Sports so low yet after the even more disastrous Weewoo they increased the cost, didn't bundle software and told everyone they'd be paying for online multiplayer. Either crazy confident or just plain crazy.
Using the system/Zelda - Sleek, fast, serious, no twee jingles/animations and other quirky bloat. It's a shame Zelda couldn't do the same but that's a minor complaint. Zelda showed that Nintendo was totally back on form, maybe even more on form than ever before.
Now I need someone to explain why it can't become the highest selling console of all time when it's a 'DS' with no competiton from either PSP or Wii, portable local mp, X360+ graphics, combined handheld and home first party output including new IP, the likely possibility of being dual use ie high dust collection resistance like a modernday PS2 (youtube/netflix tablet with easy tv-out dock and remote, FU Apple!), support for classic, split, motion, and touch controls along with whatever that IR camera is for and tons of possibilities for different models.
Splatoon looking like it's going to dethrone Halo as 1st party shooter king and CoD possibly fracturing/declining. Zelda at the top of it's game and a league ahead of the competition again. Arms looking like the only credible challenger to Smash, and Pokemon, 2D Mario, 3D Mario, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart still have no competition in sight.
But apparently it's still too early to call.
Nov 2016 - NES outsells PS1 (JP)
Don't Play Stationary 4 ever. Switch!
