I think Nintendo needs not to play it safe, because this just might be their biggest console launch in history. I think they should pack in a game, ala Wii Sports, that shows off the system casuals, and also should launch with a hardcore title like Zelda (even a remake would do), and have good launch window 3rd party games, with a killer app maybe Metroid in 2013. This is certainly not the time for Nintendo to play it safe. Oh and all for no more that $350.

you're forgetting that development budgets for HD games are larger (meaning man power).  a few hires here and there probably doesn't mean more games just the need for more people to say even with prior productivity.  when nintendo was raking in billion dollar yearly profits they should have been investing that in studio expansions. 

That's true.

Don't forget the new $200 million R&D facility they are building.  Remember, R&D to them also means games as their internal development teams used to be known as R&D Groups.

They are doing more than just hiring a few names here and there.

Hence why Sony needs to make a price cut on the Vita to competitively match the 3DS right now.

Me personally I'm very happy with my Vita and the games but clearly there are millions of customers out there who can't see the justification of the price of the current Vita so Sony needs to cut the price right now, sacrifice profits for the time being and sell like crazy. I mean there is simply too much of a gap between the 3DS vs Vita sales in Japan that it's a joke.

Cut the price, assure all developers that the Vita is the right investment and things will change dramatically.

Iwata noticed this problem earlier on and did something about it and so far I think it's paying off for them despite sacrficing profits. So Sony, people aren't calling out price cuts for no reason.

We'll see what the Wii U will provide and hopefully it's has some good and original stuff headed it's way at least within the release window.

This is one of the remarks made by our former president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, and is widely known in the video game industry: “Our consumers do not want to purchase the game systems themselves but want to play with the game software.”

Nothing has changed, Mr.Iwata, nothing has changed. I buy a Video Game system to play Video Games I don't care about facebook, netflix, or the like. Nintendo's job is to make the games consumers are willing to pay for. The hardware is just the vehicle, the software is the driver.

I know this may sound strange that I'm suggesting Nintendo copy Sony but I think what they really need to do is pump up 1st party production capabilities. They just don't have enough studios to handle a handheld and home console and see both without droughts or rushed software.

I really think they should have some of the guys from Retro Studios fly out and help modernize the development of their Japanese based teams to help improve output in much the same way Sony does with members of ND and SSM studios by having them advise the other studios and share technology and workflow.
2. Once that has been achieved they should be able to splinter off more of their larger dev teams into smaller dev teams while still being more efficient overall and possibly having enough coverage to fully support 2 consoles simultaneously.
3. This in combination with a similar amount of outsourcing and 3rd party moneyhats should have Nintendo systems rolling in software.

what Nintendo really needs is a big western studio, either in Europe or the US/Canada, preferably both!
If they had a studio in the Americas and another in Europe, each capable of one yearly release, that alone would be enough to be a game-changer.

Nintendo bringing out the damage control already!

So far, the 3DS has had two price points - 250 USD and 170 USD. The original DS sold at 150 USD at launch and didn't even sell half as well as the 3DS when aligned. It was when it received a 40 USD price drop and a new 130 USD model (DS Lite) was released that it began to sell well.

The fact that some games were 2D - was not a key factor in the success of the DS, The pricing strategy clearly was.  

Evidence (as I have posted numerous times before) -

* The weeks that New Super Mario Bros. launched on DS, DS sales actually went down in 2 out of the 3 markets.

* The weeks of the price drop and DS Lite model released, sales skyrocketed in all three markets.

* 3DS sales were also up in all three markets the week of Ocarina of Time 3D's release, the week of Mario Kart 3D's release, and the week of Super Mario 3D Lands release.