Replacing Wii U early would be the end of Nintendo in the home console market. Nobody really remembers what killed Sega, do they?

considering that Nintendo is still on the gaming business they for sure know more than us (kids still on diapers) about how to handle their business. If they re not making money is because everybody has a rough day, some have rough months. Or like PS and XBOX divisions some have rough years, so i don't about this threads wanting Nintendo to do this or that, few of the gamers in this community have even a degree on Economics reason why is hard for us to understand that. One of the problems the immature people face everyday is that they think they know everything.

this again?

people really need to think hard before they come to the conclusion that releasing a new console will be the best move for Nintendo

Maybe they do :(.

Just maybe that's why they are asking for it...

apt as always.

i'm not sure what nintendo ought to do in the home console biz.  i don't think nintendo can recreat the sucess that was the wii and their home consoles will continue to be a financial burden.  i also don't think nintendo can do well as a third party studio(s) for MSony because they rely heavily on reinventing their franchises on new hardware.    ...maybe sony/ms would consider a partnership that allowed nintendo intimate access to their hardware to allow nintendo to create well integrated gaming periphrial that they could sell/make games for.   politically,.. probably not.

but cutting the wiiiU off early can really only hurt nintendo. 

edit: oh and,.. even if nintendo wanted to put out new hardware next year it would be basically impossible.   you can't just engineer new hardware design, figure out how to manufacture it, get 3rd parties preped for it's arrival with stable APIs, and all the other logistics in a year.    there is a reason each of the big 3 start designing their next gen hardware almost immedialy after launching the current gen hardware.   3 years minimum prep time,. and that would be crazy fast turn around.

Soundwave and I have been on the same wavelength about what the ideal solution is: Google partnership, hybrid console-handheld that can work like Chrome TV, being a console when you want it to be and handheld when you need it to be. Mobile graphics tech is accelerating such that they could easily match or slightly best PS4 when it's time to retire 3DS and Wii U in 2017 or so. Google  partnership allows them to get an OS that the everyman knows, and Google won't care about hardware so Nintendo gets the hardware control they've always demanded, thus it can be a full-scale android device without undermining Nintendo's creative control, allows them to retreat from the console space without actually surrendering anything, and keeps them running as a handheld, and Nintendo's software teams will no longer have to be divided, since it's all for one purpose.

umm..

ps4 level tech shunk down to the size appropriate for a handheld will, even in 2017, be quite expensive.   doable i'm sure but still in the $300+ range which is quite a lot for a handheld.  the vita at $250 was sold at a loss at launch and still didn't quite match the ps3 specs.  so either nintendo will have to have the most compelling game ever created OR support other stuff:  phone calls, google's app store, GPS, MP3, camera, and all the other that is standard and will be standard in a smartphone device by 2017. 

if they support all that other stuff then it could be a really cool device.  ..but nintendo doesn't seem too willing to split their focus on all that extra stuff.  i think that would be quite a shift in their thinking that i'm just not so sure nintendo has the kind of leadership willing to make that kind of an adjustment.

a cool idea that i would be willing to take a sizable bet doesn't happen.

A lot of the focus is on things that don't really matter. Nintendo focusing on smelly "hardcore" gamers is not going to generate more sales at all.

What matters to Nintendo's success is releasing compelling software, and generating interest in their product. They were able to do this with the Wii and DS, and to a lesser extent the 3DS. The Wii U has been out for a year and just got its first game that is remotely interesting. There are still no major games out for the Wii U, no flagship Mario or Zelda or any kind of new franchise that is incredibly interesting like Wii Sports was to the Wii.

Saying that Nintendo has been strong on the software front is false, there have been nowhere near the same number of titles announced or released as there were for the Wii. By this time last year, flagship Zelda, flagship Metroid, flagship Wii Sports, flagship Mario Galaxy. For Wii U, one year in and the only really great thing about it is that we have flagship games coming out at undetermined times way in the future, but Mario Kart is JUST 6 months away! Nintendo should have never really done this, it was a really poor software development schedule. They should NEVER launch a console without flagship software.

Pervert.

On topic, Nintendo's problem is one of potential audience.  Without the casual market, Nintendo software appeals to a narrow focus.  On the other hand, with third-party driven machines, Xbox and Playstation appeal to the entire market.

Nintendo wins the fans who care the most about platformers.  Fans of all the other genres?  They will mostly gravitate to other consoles.  Sony, especially, has worked to appeal to as broad an audience as possible, with World Wide Studios developing in most genres, and I get the impression that Microsoft is going to follow suit with all their new studios and partnerships.

This is the primary question for Nintendo: how do they entice fans of other genres, besides platforming, to buy a Nintendo home console?

It seems they're trying, finally, this gen, but it might be too little, too late.

Nintendo is in your living room right now.
They don't need a new console. They already have one.

It's called the Wii U & it will rule the living room for gaming in the 8th generation.

See the following for more details.
UNITY - Nintendo & Wii U Finish The REVOLUTION

John Lucas