The Gamecube was a failure because it finished LAST (barely 20 million units sold), and was largely ignored and ridiculed. Just think about it for a second. They didn't even beat the Xbox, which was a newcomer. That's pretty much pure fail for Nintendo.

I see your point but what makes you think Nintendo won't be outsourcing the TVII to a capable body.

With all their "Hollywood" experience Sony was still flying blind. They were doing something new.

Nintendo would have learned a lot from Sony. They are now in a far better position to provide a half-decent service because Sony was the guinea pig.

No need to reinvent the wheel.

I am not saying that you are wrong about it being  let down early on, just simply that Nintendo have the advantage of watching someone do it first so it won't be as difficult for them as it was for Sony to get it right early on.

I made a thread months ago that said this is exactly what is happening this coming gen. They will all be TV connected smart/internet/gaming devices. Gaming is no longer the only or even primary function.Just one of many features and as 2013 rolls in you'll see big competitors from Apple and Google (as well as its OEMs).

This is why Nintendo needs to stick to that one component of the Gamecube philosophy.

The purpose of a console is to be an affordable conduit for a large amount of games. The price will be the point of establishing consoles continued viability. If they stick to that, they will suceed

I guess it's just weird for me to call a profitable console a "failure."

Plus it had three of the most highly rated games of the sixth generation: Metroid Prime, The Wind Waker, and Resident Evil 4. Although RE4 wasn't an exclusive. Anyone who ignored and ridiculed the Gamecube sure missed out on some all-time great games.

I dunno. I just don't like augmenting news reports.

There is a difference between saying that that the Wii U will decide the future of the new gen and that the Wii U marks that its over.

Games only consoles no longer exist, and I am even including the Wii in that statement. The Wii U is Nintendo's least games oriented console yet, so I have no idea what point this article is trying to make. Dedicated gaming machines died with, well, I guess the DS. Even then, the popularity of the "training" genre on the DS could lead one to argue that even the DS was not 100% all about traditional gaming.

But Fils-Aime has faith. "To buy into a console, consumers need a very clear, understandable, and persuasive reason," he explains. "We believe that's games."

What Fils-Aime is saying here is that games will be what differentiates a console.  That will be Nintendo's first party games.

gaming console pretty much was on the verge of dying when PS2 and Xbox came along and the GCN was the last thred of life for it. That plug was yanked off after the Wii was released, it clearly does more than just gaming since the Mii arrived at the scene...