Why would they drop the tablet? That's what makes the system. Wouldn't mind if they went with regular analogs cause I'm not to fond of circle pads. Even though the ones on the 3ds is better than the ones on the psp. I would still rather regular analogs. Other than that and a little more beefier console to not be far behind the ps4 and xbox 720, they don't need to change anything else.

Nintendo isn't rethinking the WiiU itself, but they're certainly rethinking something about its design. The security details they're concerned about are likely related to a small but significant change in design they've made, and they want to keep it under wraps for the time being.

I also don't think they're changing the release date, but I will admit it's certainly a possibility.

Design prolly changed again

i hope they do. a console that only supports 1 (tablet) controller is all sorts of fail. even moreso for the successor to the ultimate local multilayer console. i personally like the tablet controller idea on this one but as rol has stated here and elsewhere -- it really goes against everything the wii consumers wanted in the console.

If I were Nintendo I would be rethinking the whole notion of a 5-6 year console cycle, frankly. Hardware is getting better and better, to the point where it's becoming difficult to convince buyers to put aside a platform they're already used to and make room for a different one - unless that difference is really significant.
Casual gamers are independent adults,  people who are more likely to make educated buying decisions. These are people who don't easily buy into fads and as long as their Wii/DS are still working and serve their purpose, why should they upgrade?

If what made Wii and DS such a success where their unique features, then offering similar features in a new console isn't a very good proposition to existing customers. Similarly, if Nintendo wants their user-base to move on, they have yet to make a strong argument as to why the user-base should care.

Better graphics and 3D are not a selling point, because they don't really change the experience. For people who are new to gaming, this experience is broadly defined as convenient interactive entertainment, and no more! It is not defined by video resolution or the amount of buttons on your controller etc. If anything some of the design decisions like lower battery life in the 3DS or a complicated controller for Wii U offer a less convenient experience than their predecessors.

I believe many non-gamers who got into gaming with Wii and DS have essentially 'ticked the box' next to that niche of their life and are content with what they have. It's good enough for their purposes because gaming is not a central activity in their lives.

Nintendo would have been much wiser to present a new console/handheld as disruptors to their existing ones, just like how Wii was not perceived as being in the same product family as PS2/GC or PS3/360 but as something else that filled a previously unaddressed need in the consumer's lifestyle.

But since Wii and DS were marketed as lifestyle devices pretty much from the start, it's not surprising that consumers don't see a need in having more of same in their lives now because the impact is gone. It's like trying to sell somebody a new vacuum cleaner when their first one still gets the job done. Most people won't care that the newer machine has more features and improvements, because they simply aren't in the market for vacuum cleaners right now.

It's a shame because I do think Nintendo could have maintained a market for software on their existing platforms if they wanted to... But I guess they feel that selling games is beneath them.

In that case it's a good thing they are going to make all that profit on hardware /sarcasm.

The problem with the 3DS was its design which resulted in its name being irrelevant as to its own identity. The Wii U is following this path. The design is similar to the Wii and the sole U makes it sound like a mini-step system. For example take the DS line. DS and DSi (an i was added). Consumers will yet again be unaware that this will be an entirely new system.

To me what Ninty really needs to do is package the WiiU with the wiimote+ also and its cool.

They canceled showings due to "security concerns"? The Wii U looks pretty bad, but it still doesn't deserve threats of violence. WTF is wrong with people?

Fair enough about the vacuum cleaner thing, I probably took that a bit too far. My point was to illustrate how the average user doesn't need more than one device of a certain type, as long as the current one is still functional. This is doubly true during a recession. Apple has shown a better ability to differentiate between their different products: Computer, iPod, iPhone, iPad - at least when I look around me I see people who don't consider these devices to be competing with each other for the most part, which is the best situation for Apple obviously.

If you want an entertainment related analogy how about DVD players vs. upgrading to BluRay, in which case the response has largely been consumer apathy?

The reason I don't think this is exactly the same as Nintendo products is because these devices really have basically zero value on their own, and are completely dependent on external content to have any use at all, not to mention the fact that they have no exclusive content to allow them to make a unique proposition. Of course you could argue this just illustrates the importance of (exclusive) content, which it does, but I think there is more to it than that.

I do believe devices such as iPods or Wii/DS were in a way more similar to an "appliance" in the sense that they appear to offer a unique service that the consumer needs in their life. I also believe this "appliance" like way of presenting them (what I called "Life-style devices) is the same thing that allowed these companies to offer what were in the end of the day similar products from a functional point of view, without worrying about cannibalization.

Hence the vacuum-cleaner analogy, but I agree that it is incomplete in the sense that it doesn't address the critical importance of content to the device's image. Maybe a better way of thinking about it would be to look at the package "platform+killer app" as a Life-style device, in the sense that it allows you to do something you couldn't do before.

So in that sense you could think of "iPod+iTunes" as a Lifestyle device, or "iPhone/iPad+App Store" as another one. Same goes for "Wii+Wii Sports" or "Wii+Wii Fit".

Don't forget that I am referring strictly to the "casual-crowd" when describing these devices in such vague, simplistic terms. It still makes sense though because it goes along with the notion that Nintendo failed to capitalize on the "killer app" half of the package during the second half of Wii's life. As long as there would have been such an application released every 6-12 months or so, the "appliance" known as "Wii+Game X" would continue to fill a unique function in the consumer's day to day life.

This, as far as I understand, was Nintendo's strategy from the very beginning to make video games relevant again, but they failed when they thought they could piggy back on the device's reputation in order to introduce "core" videogames to the masses (instead of more "killer apps") without breaking the association they were trying to build.

The DS did this better by having a more gradual shift that extended over a longer period of time, and also by having more (and better) transitional experiences for the consumer. Not only did they follow up Nintendog's and Brain Training with NSMB, Mario Kart and Animal Crossing, there were also crucial transitional propositions like Layton and Tetris and the other (well made) training games (like more Brain Training, Art Academy etc.) and the "Mario & Luigi" series and "Cooking Mama" and Tomodachi Collection and so on, not to mention the ultimate killer app that is Pokemon.

Incidentally, not only did the Wii not have as many of these (not ones that were very good anyway) but the home-console follow-ups it did have many times didn't offer anything unique to the consumer that didn't make them feel like "more of the same we already had on the DS". Examples of these are Brain-Training, Cooking Mama, Animal Crossing etc. The games that did execute the jump to consoles well were the ones that offered new experiences such as Mario Kart and NSMB Wii (in these cases this was in the form of local multiplayer) and therefor had a significantly unique identity.
Of course it is also important to remember the DS was never expected to have as high an attach rate as the Wii either, so I guess it also required less "killer apps" per consumer to be considered a success.

From this I can suggest that a game like Mario Kart 3DS will not do much to move hardware, since in the eyes of the consumer the combination 3DS+Mario Kart is not really different to DS+Mario Kart, and therefor doesn't warrant a $200+ dollar investment. This has already been proven with Nintendogs+Cats IMO.

In terms of better hardware, I do agree with you that DS was in more of a need to receive an upgrade, but that it was also allowed much more time (and software support) to really shine on its own and refine its own identity. But even then content is still king and as long as there is no "killer app" for 3DS the proposition is incomplete and the device serves no meaningful purpose, since it has no unique identity.
(And just to be clear, the addition of VC is totally insignificant in this respect.)

Currently I fear the same will happen to Wii U.

edit: sorry for such a dreadfully long post, but I just had to make one more thing clear - regarding my initial statement about the hardware cycle. The reason 5-6 years maybe needs to be reconsidered is that as hardware gets more capable and offers more features, it can often take more time until it has built up a significant enough library to have its own unique identity in the eyes of the consumer.
From the point of view of a cautious buyer, you should never purchase a console until several years have passed since its launch, because only then do you actually have a good idea of what you are buying.

I sadly agree... Nintendo will have to go through what Sony did in order to get people to upgrade... Hopefully they don't lose as much money as Sony did.