I can see Nintendo releasing a new console in 2016.

Slightly modifying the design of the console and lowering the price of the console won't help that much in the long-term. The tech industry has shown time and time again that if a product is desirable, people will be willing to pay top-dollar for it. If it isn't desirable, then lowering the price can only do so much and might send a message to consumers that the product is of little value. People might say they'll buy it if it's $XXX, but when it is that price, they might still say it's not low enough because it's not a product they really wanted that much anyway. Not to mention that they'll be incurring further losses.

I think the problem is, to large extent, is the Gamepad. It looks confusing to kids/casuals and stupid to hardcore gamers.

They basically have two options right now: either relaunch the system at a cheaper price without the Gamepad or try to communicate the value of the Gamepad by investing into titles that use it. If they kill the Gamepad, they make the system almost indistinguishable from the PS3 and the X360 and piss off the people who bought the Wii U with the Gamepad baecause they'll feel like they've wasted their money. If they focus on the Gamepad, they risk continuing to repel hardcore gamers and confuse kids/casuals. I think they should go for a compromise: sell the console with and without the Gamepad and invest some money into the Gamepad to communicate the value to those who bought it with the console and those who are interested (and with bundling). They can then evaluate demand and leverage shipments and their strategy from there. What thye said in their investor meeting seems to lean toward the latter option, but we still have to wait fpr E3 to see what they plan to do.

The problem, though, is that it's not working particularly well for Sony as a whole. And that's despite having decades of experience in a variety of non-gaming industries.

And there is a metric crapton of wellness-related devices around right now, so whatever they're trying to do would be released into a crowded market. The odds that this will blow up in their faces is really high. We need to see more about what they're actually doing, because I'm not the least bit convinced even attempting it is worth the risk.

They already said they would continue to make consoles. They didn't call QoL a third pillar for nothing.

It should have been pretty clear from the investor meeing that QoL is a means of expanding their business rather than changing it fundametally. Most of what they said in that meeting seems like the result of a proper kick in the arse with disappointing Wii U nad 3DS sales. They're finally reopening themselves to M&A, working more with third parties, licensing thier content, which will increase their profit and assets so they canh better support a  console. 

That's what I don't get about this article. QoL is supposed to be a third pillar; they made it pretty clear in their investor meeting that they'll continue to make consoles. Either he misunderstood or he's simply stretching.

BUt didn't Iwata say in the investor meeting that it's going to be launched in the 2015-2016 FY?

That's why they went on a hiring spree, right.

I think the reason they haven't announced anything yet is because they're trying not to make the same mistake they made last year, which is blow everything in a February Direct and leave nothing for E3. There aren't all that many first-party games from Sony or Microsoft that we know about beyond 2014 either, so I'm not sure why some think that there aren't many announced Wii U games beyond this year.

lol @ the people saying "Yeah, that makes sense, I mean what is coming after Zelda?"

Considering Nintendo typically plays it very close to the vest (except with Smash announcements way ahead of time), we never really know much about WHAT is coming a year+ down the road on most of their consoles.

But just for argument's sake: Retro's next project(s), Monster Games' next project, Next Level Games' next project, just a wild guess but another Platinum Games exclusive (I think they'll keep that relationship going), a new Animal Crossing, a Camelot or Next Level developed Mario Sports title, another nd Cube developed Mario Party game, some type of Nintendo developed NFC related title, high probability of another console Paper Mario game, the possibility of whatever Sakaguchi's next big project is being Wii U exclusive, Monster Hunter 4 inevitably being ported to Wii U as well, etc.

There is still a strong chance (and a chance is better than nothing) that we see things along the lines of another Excite racing game on Wii U, maybe a Wave Race (long overdue), Miyamoto has mentioned wanting to see Nintendo make another F-Zero and Star Fox, we could always see something like an Endless Ocean 3 (which could be pretty impressive in HD), Treasure and Nintendo have had a strong relationship for years so we could always see another Treasure exclusive. There is inevitably going to be some kind of Metroid game on Wii U, it's just a question of whether it will be another Prime game, or if it would (hopefully) be another actual Super Metroid style game at long last. I think the relationship with Good-Feel will continue (or hope it will), so considering they made two Wii games, I'd say we could possibly expect to see them make another Wii U title after Yarn Yoshi ships. I would honestly expect them to come out with some other kind of Nintendo Land or Wii Play or Wii Sports type of title that makes greater use of the touchscreen/two screen development possibilities, etc.

I dunno. I just think people glooming and dooming now isn't all that different from when people were glooming and dooming back in the N64/GC days. Wii U may not be king of the jungle this gen, but there is no way that Nintendo's next console comes ANY sooner than late 2016, and honestly 2017 seems more realistic. Nintendo tends to like to get the most out of their console investments, and it's not as if they don't have a ton of first party, second party, and third party studios under their umbrella to continue handling both 3DS and Wii U development. In fact they opened a new, bigger main office in Japan just to facilitate more developers. Whatever this QOL stuff they do is, they have already strongly intimated that it will be a separate venture for the company to make money outside of just purely video games. And they also stated in the same speech that they would remain committed to making game consoles.

Neither they, nor the Wii U, is going anywhere anytime soon, so people need to just calm the hell down, and enjoy the games as they come.

The reason Sony isn't doing that well is becuase they're spreading themselves too thin by working on too many different products. There are a whole lot of different products that just "exist" due to not doing enough unique and not being promoted well enough.

Health and wellness is a large market and one that can be worth investing into if you give it the time and effort it deserves. People often complain that NIntendo plays it safe too much and this an opportunity to create alternative sources of profit and can benefit gamers by taking health and fitness games off NIntendo's platforms.

This still could backfire, but as you say, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.