Holy crap... welcome back stranger.

I have to say I am right with your until you get to your predictions.

In the past, I was with all of your predictions and usually had similar ones (albeit smaller totals) with the big exception of the 240m lifetime. I never saw that coming.

However, this time, I think you are being a bit too generous. For months now I've said Wii U will rebound and should reach 8-10m. I even have a thread tracking the launches of last and current gen. (see sig)

For that to happen Wii U needs to start turning around quickly as there will be a great amount of battles this xmas. With EA being total asshats and skipping Wii U this holiday for the sake of MSony, it makes it very difficult for certain segments of gamers to compare Wii U to the others. Probably because there would literally be no difference in the games and EA, as you demonstrate, want MSony to win over Nintendo for political reasons. (I fully agree)

Though based on the slow uptick of sales last month, I'm having reservations of them even meeting the 8m number before 2013 closes. I will hold my final reservation until the end of August. Of course it will also depend on the holiday marketing/sales Nintendo decided to do in each region. I know UK has been pricing very aggressively, but it will take some serous bundles with high in demand software to make it all happen.

That's exactly where I thought he was going too. Figured he's say the amazing base Nintendo is building for idie's would push them up to the bigger leagues and thus directly compete with larger studios while giving Nintendo a brand new 3rd party base to move forward on.

Sure Sony and eventually MS will also offer them similar free publishing rights, but with Nintendo also giving them developer tools FOR FREE with every dev unit, that's pretty big in itself.

Actually you get Unity Pro 4 with Wii U tools just for having developer status with Nintendo, a process that is fairly simple. I've been on top of that as someone that plans to develop for the system. You don't need as much of an essence either which is good. Also, I hear devkits apparently 'cost about the same as a Gaming PC', from what an indie dev says. 

I sure hope not, competition is what keeps gaming cool. If wasn´t for the Mega Drive, we would never even have a Super Nintendo.

The thing is the videogame market IS threatened in what it wants to do (to be interactive Hollywood with bloated budgets, and production value and cast of thousands), by a bunch of indie guys and a flood of content that can be done fairly inexpensively. The videogame industry wants a few AAA stuff that sells over 5 million copies at $60 a pop (and more with needed DLC), so they can keep their large pool of people together so they can eat. They also want to be able to afford specialists up the wazoo, and a decent sized QA team of testers to be able things work, and are polished. And they want to follow the impossibly larger project and game worlds, and also try to be culturally relevant by telling stories the masses can praise as being very significant. And they want their awards shows to not be laughing stocks, that no one cares about. They want to matter in the big picture, realizing that what you did wasn't just make a bunch of toys for children and young men who are just big boys.

All that is threatened by the Indie side of things, and the flood of ideas, with some good ones rising to the top. And it will be at this point. And probably should. What people want here, that I described, that makes you feel you are part of high culture is NOT sustainable economically. You had someone at Ubisoft say that the industry can only sustain about 10 of those titles a year. It is NOT sustainable at all. And look around everyone. Seriously look at this content you so love. What is it really? Tell me the mechanics aren't derivative in the top stuff. Does it really take chances at all? Ones you do love that do take chances, you clamor for sequels, but do they come? Where is the sequel to Beyond Good and Evil, for example?

This is not sustainable. The only question is whether or not a flood of indie stuff can make up the difference. You have a flood and a few winners. Sorry, but masses of people aren't eager to drop over $60 per game for stuff. Maybe they do ONE and they play it with their friends. But, they don't sign up to play The Old Republic, which cost obscenely to make, apparently had to copy World of Warcraft because WoW did sell, and has to be free to play. And that is Star Wars, with a HUGE budget. And they can't get people to pay money to play it, because it is too competitive.

Ok, all this being said, maybe one wants to argue, "But, but consoles are different! We get fewer titles and the cream of the crops!" Oh great, yeah, you get fewer titles, because you want to restrict what is on it. You want to hide behind the Nintendo seal of approval, because you know that means you don't get flooded with content (I write this saying that IS what helped in the post-crash 1980s). In short, your crying for that console makers deny you content for your own good.

Yeah, Nintendo and them are threatened by Indie side.  But that is their problem, not mine.  AT BEST, I have a shot being on the Indie side at this point, and certainly not getting into the industry on the established side.

So, richardhutnik. As an indie game developer yourself. Will you be supporting Nintendo with your upcoming games?

You seem to agree with Iwata on a great many...things.

I am "Indie" in the area of doing stuff and not working for a publisher, thus freelance.  I do tabletop games, so it is less of an impact than other things.  I was just saying that, considering where I am, and how I am generalist and just architect game designs (not a specialist) it is VERY hard for me to land a job with a game company.

In regards to Iwata, I see what he has said regarding the direction of the industry, and how it is of concern for his financial wellbeing.  However, I don't think the Wii U successfully addresses it, and can reverse things.  Cutting specs doesn't help either.  It is just there are trends now that are a problem.  On this, you can see prior posts I have, right until the announce price point, on the Wii U, and I thought it really had a shot.  But my viewed changed after actually playing it.

In regards to how they changed regarding Indie, I don't know what they have done, but I do know what they did on the Wii was HORRIBLE.  People actually DEFENDING Nintendo not paying a cent to developers who made titles that sold on their system, if they didn' make a certain sales threshold.  That is HORRIBLE, and seriously discourages attempts at really weird and offbeat stuff.

*claps*

Damn right.

John Lucas