When you can show me another company that only sold 21 million console last generation. Yet the made more money than the company that sold 143 million consoles. Then I say stick to their business plan. Even when they are failing the still are making more money than their rivals.

I kind of understand where some comments concerning Nintendo`s future, come from. Doesn`t mean that i agree, but it does raise some questions.
Although i believe that there will always be a market for handhelds and home consoles, i do believe that all companies should expand their offerings as to not only appeal to as many costumers as they can, but to make them feel they bought more than a game`s console and that way they can take more out of it.
I think that this is where part of the fear resides. When Wii and NDS launched they brought something new: they added a new way to interact with games that made them accessible to play and enjoy. Of course that that ment more to the non gamer and casual gamer than to the core gamer.
Thing is, this non gamer and casual gamer is being more actively swayed to games from Ipad, farmville and others.
Does that mean that they will stop playing consoles to play those games? Not necessarily. So what`s the big deal?
The problem is that it`s easier for someone to change habits when those same habits aren`t deeply rooted. That is to say, it`s easier for those kind of gamers to change their "experience" with games than for someone who actively plays and is passionate about that.
And that´s what happens when games that are cheaper, provide a quick and enjoyable experience (remember the quick trainings of Wii Fit and Wii Sports?) and share a deep community (farmville) for interaction fight for your attention.
Like Reggie always says, Nintendo is fighting for attention with TVs, videos, Ipads, other consoles, movies, etc.

When a "fresh" way to play comes to the center of attentions (like Wii and NDS) you risk losing attention to your product.
What Nintendo needs, in that regard, is to renew itself and present something that still surprise and entices people to play it`s games.

What i don`t agree with is that Wii U, which no one knows anything about, be it games, interface or applications, is being judged already. When actually, we do know something that might be evidence that Nintendo might triumph: the desire to keep surprising all gamers - and we know Nintendo can - and the controller itself.

has he commented on the other two? i would like to see what he has to say about them. didn't people say that the Wii would fail and that it would be Nintendo's last console?

is an analyst job to say things until they become true (i know what it is just in case no one got the sarcasm here)? does he know how to do his job? has he said anything about Nintendo that has happened?

does he know anything about the gaming market at all?

Maybe because people are thinking of RIM and the fact the tech companies need to innovate to stay alive. (Note: not that Nintendo isn't or won't)

There are some parallels between RIM and Nintendo though. RIM has black berries and playbook, and Nintendo has Wii and 3DS. They're not like Microsoft or Sony who can just sell the console business off completely if things go sour.

Also there seems to be huge changes in store for the industry. Apple is an innovator and if they want a certain space they'll likely get it. Also, Netflix might start a game rental service and Wii U is reporter to have 8 gigs. This raises the question as to whether it won't be possible to download rentals.

Another item is apps stores. Smart phones and tablet PCs have them, why don't handheld consoles? It seems like they're moving in that direction, but it could be too slowly. Also, how do you compare apps with actual games? In a way cheap games devalue the price of games which hurts a business model that relies on games that range in price from $30-$60.

There's also the MMO space and Social Networking games. Which markets play these games?

Another aspect is motion gaming. Yes Kinect has controller less gaming, SONY has MOVE but the WiiU is keeping the same motion controller. It's definitely fine now. But in 5 years will it be enough? In 10 years?

There are a ton of reasons to worry about Nintendo's future. If I had more time I would try to research the topic more thouroughly. This is the kind of discussion that need rigorous analytical work on the differnet markets, market trends and growth potentials and all that Jazz.

What`s RIM? I honestly don`t know! :D

"Also there seems to be huge changes in store for the industry"
That`s really true! That`s why can`t rely on something that isn`t new anymore. Actually i think that mixing normal controls with an Ipad kind-of-controller, was a smart move, very smart move actually. Just hope Nintendo knows how to capitalize on that.

I honestly don`t think Apple is eager to change it`s games business model. Thing is they get a ton of support, a ton of willing ready to support it, because it`s cheap on both ends. If they go Nintendo, Sony or MS' way , it won`t be cheap any longer.
About the apps, if Nintendo played it`s cards right, they could get part of that - they do have a touch screen! :)  With a memory built in or sd-card, you could download some games or apps for your entertainment!

About the motion controls, i don`t think Sony or MS will risk leaving behind all those that bought Kinect and Move. Nintendo didn`t do that and it had a reason to do it. Why? Because it can make those 2 types of remotes interact or just play with them separetely! A wiser move as making it compatible with Wii games.

There are reasons to make us think if Nintendo is secure. But isn`t that normal? Everytime a new console is released, it has to face an evolving market.

We said that before, and look what happened, Nintendo will be fine.

I dont think Ninty is in any real trouble, but the 45 year old housewife thing is sorta true, not saying that people like that wont have more than one device, but the more devices they have the less time is spent on either one, especially when the app stores crap is so cheap and some of them are giving them away. Ninty is trying to get the core and i think that is a good thing, however lets be frank the housewife is not going to be buying the CODs, Battlefields, Metroids, or any core gameing series. People like that will probably buy 3 or 4 games a year tops

Sony should just call the next playstation the ps720 just to piss off MS

Oh, RIM makes BlackBerries. It's in the news a lot here in Canada cause they're Canadian.

Yeah Nintendo should get on the apps trian. PSVita seems like it's better suited since SONY released the Xperia Play. So they have some experience running both the Android and the PS OS on one device.

Yeah you're right. The market's always evolving. Tech companies need to be built the right way so they can adapt. The worst thing that can happen is pressure for Nintendo to continue to make consoles because of their history in a market where consoles aren't profitable.

The reason I replied to this thread was because of a talk I heard by Geoffrey Moore, author of Escape Velocity, who discusses tech companies and what they need to do in the future. A lot of tech companies are trapped by the successes of their past which leads to their downfall.

haha But I don't want to be so gloomy. Nintendo will be fine for the next 5 years due to it's first party and other blockbusters it has on its hardware anyway.

"Tech companies need to be built the right way so they can adapt. The worst thing that can happen is pressure for Nintendo to continue to make consoles because of their history in a market where consoles aren't profitable."

That`s why Nintendo needs and will keep innovating to keep being of value to all the non core gamers and core gamers aswell. If Nintendo tries to settle for less it does risk being left behind.
Although innovation is key, Nintendo needs to make sure it innovates in a "surprising and fun" way, as Mr Iwata likes to put it.
I believe the new controller will help Nintendo differentiate itself from the competition, let`s hope it can really keep making software that lives up to Wii Fit and Wii Sports.