Not to take anything away from the OP or the erm...OP, but this has definitely been said. If you actually get to the core of any thread that lays out Nintendo's problem, it always comes around to this: perception.
So yes...totally in agreement here. Each generation of children that come into the market tend to tilt it in speceific directions and that tilt tends to last until the next. The PS1 really took games more to a PC level of interaction/gameplay, eschewing kiddy graphics for the more grown up (and geek-based) level design. The kids who cut their teeth on Tomb Raider instead of Mario, Final Fantasy VII instead of Secret of Mana, and Syphon Filter/Medal of Honor instead of Contra, sent the gaming world clamoring for realism and updated kill animations.
Nintendo did address this once. They pretty much doubled down on their own aesthetic and created a gaming system that didn't cater to the children (or teens) of the day, and instead focused on a gaming system that would appeal to people of all ages. Nintendo instantly reemerged as the definition of video game once again with the release of the Wii and caught everyone, especially the developers, by surprise.
It was actually the developers' lack of faith in Nintendo from the outset that would eventually undermine the success of the Wii even as it flew off shelves. Late to the party developers released quick ports and shovelware to capitalize on the "overnight" success of the Wii, glutting the market with half-baked titles guaranteed to bomb and guaranteed to reaffirm what those developers wanted all along: a PC in Console's clothing that would limit the development costs for multi-platform releases without their assets being siphoned off by the odd requirements that Nintendo's innovation is known to place on them.
So really, you're looking at a developer-inspired self-fulfilling prophecy whereby teens and bros alike are treated to multi-million franchises that are devoid of any real uniqueness and innovation. All the while Nintendo is saddled with the claim that it doesn't respond to the market and rehashes their IPs. Could you imagine the success Nintendo would have had had the developers and publishers gotten behind the success of the Wii and the WiiU instead of the PC clones?
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