I agree.  As long as they can maintain some semblance of a balance, I think they'll be ok.  But this approach is really going to increase their dependency on third parties and I don't think that is a good thing.  Focusing on what Malstrom calls "Super Gamecube games" isn't really going to help Nintendo. 

I have to confess that I'm not confident in this "new" Nintendo business model, but I hope I'm wrong, after all it's not good the game industry to have big companies like Nintendo facing problems to sell their consoles.

Wow Nintendo solid plan. Abandon the strategy that made the Wii a huge success and instead follow the Gamecube route. Brilliant!

This is just stupid. It's like Nintendo actually believes what the gaming media says is a successful system. Nintendo simply can't disrupt the red ocean of gaming due to them having no real IPs that appeal to that crowd. Add to that the negative image the Wii gave them and the majority of the core gamers will want nothing to do with the Wii-U.

If they follow this strategy then the gaming media will simply switch gears from Nintendo is to casual to Nintendo is to Kiddy. And as we know the gaming media has a huge influence on the core gamers and can easily get them ignore/hate Nintendo's new console. The only people who would get it are Nintendo fans.

Did they not learn anything from the succes of the Wii and failure of the Gamecube?

Edit: Oh and they would be abandoning the new casual crowd. While a lot of these gamers are fickle, I do believe that quite a few of them now have a brand loyalty with Nintendo. When they see that the Wii-U doesn't cater to their needs then they will simply find an alternative i.e mobile gaming.

It seems to me like some people really need to re-watch the E3 trailer from last year. There will be Wii Sports, there will be Wii Fit and there will be New Super Mario Bros. Everything is fine. And mass market is still their second priority.

Focusing more on the core gamers is the right path for them to take if they really do want to expand their market.

How about making games that appeal to the people that bought the Wii AND games that appeal to the core gamer? Why not go after both groups of people instead of abandoning the massive group that bought your last system? But what do I know? I'm just some 39 year loser that posts in a video game forum.

Don't worry a single bit. The 3DS had no problem selling except for unaffordable features (3D mostly). Once Nintendo reduced the price, all was back to normal.

As long as Nintendo maintains its marketing strength and keeps the price low, they are safe, Mario always sells. And I believe NSMB is a launch title, or rumored at least.

Remember, the strategy isn't to ditch the casual market from the get go. It's only reducing its emphasis in the preliminary stages and handpicking key titles (like NSMB) for launch, and then increasing the output as the gen progresses.

That's what he means by evolution. It's coded speech, it always has been.

But they aren't abandoning the Wii strategy entirely, they're just calibrating it to include an agenda for core titles as well.

It's win-win.

Yes it's a risk, but this is business, and Nintendo has much to lose if they don't diversify fast. Putting all your eggs in the same basket was never a strategy I learnt.

Wii Sports and NSMB are all but confirmed Wii U launch titles, along with CatchMii if you can and friends.

Nothing to worry about guys, just breathe in, breathe out.

Think about it. The cube was suffering from a poor market image (inherited from the N64, carried on proudly with the look and feel, purple colors and uncool controller).

To launch a vaccuming game was not a good idea back then. Today, that's a different story

I agree, but Nintendo shouldn't be telegraphing it like it would be the other way around.