1990s/early 2000s Nintendo >>> modern Nintendo. The only thing that keeps it even close is EAD Tokyo's brilliance. 

Games like this (original IP from Western devs) would not get made today under Iwata:

I loosely agree with the thing you said about new IP's. They'd be nice but look at how little they've done, at least any one after Wii Sports. Some western devs to do other IPs would be nice. Donkey Kong Country is amazing and that's a Japanese IP done in the west.

I disagree, they should monopolize the Japanese market. Eventually people will get bored of Call of Duty and the hundreds of clones of it that make up the majority of Western developed game sales currently.

You say that, and yet here we are, the PS4 sold more in three months than the Wii U did in fifteen months. The Wii may have had some massive sellers, but before that? The GameCube and N64 both did pretty poorly compared to their competition, and the Wii U is on course to do as much as they did. The Wii was a fluke. People are interested in Nintendo's franchises, sure, but only under the right circumstances; a much, much lower price than the competition, and a flashy, unique marketing gimmick to make it cool. If Mario, Donkey Kong and Pikmin were enough to sell consoles with their "global appeal", Nintendo wouldn't be in the position they're in. 

Meanwhile, Uncharted sells a minimum of 5million units a pop, The Last of Us sold over 6 million, Gean Turismo typically sells a good 7 million without even breaking a sweat, typically far more, and every God of War game (aside from Ascension, being an unnecessary prequel) sold at least 4 million units too. Sure, not all of their franchises sell that much, but they're usually all profitable, having sold 2 million units. 

Nintendo definitely need to expand. That isn't even up for debate. I bought a PS4 at launch, and still have no interest in buying a Wii U, and you know why? I've owned every other Nintendo console, and eah one just gets a new iteration of the same few games, and it's really getting old. I can't get excited for more Mario, more Zelda, more Super Smash, more Mario Kart, more Donkey Kong, more Metroid, more Kirby, etc. I want deeper games, with new characters, new worlds, new stories, Nintendo offer none of those things. And until they do, I don't think I'll ever bother going back. 

well i bought a wii u at launch and still have no interest in buying a ps4. seriously, what is so great about ps4? i really just do not see it. im going to make a thread about it as soon as i have enough posts, but i really want to see what it is about the ps4 that people are happy about NOW. i am really curious.

anyways,

we are talking about games here. specifically western games and western studios. sony didnt sell that many ps4s because of the games they had at launch, i think we all know that. so that point really has nothing to do with whether or not nintendo's big sellers last generation compared to sony's are sustainable or enough to carry them through.

i dont know exactly what youre arguing here. nintendo is a profitable company. their games dont need to sell millions to turn a profit whereas sony's do. you say nintendo needs to stop making new iterations of the same few games, yet you mention smash bros for some reason. we are about to get our fourth version of the game (since 1999) whereas uncharted 4 is going to be around the corner (since 2007). that also goes for god of war. donkey kong just recently got revived, and while i do feel like tropical freeze was a copy past effort, dkcr was a very welcoming breath of fresh air. mario kart gets ONE game per platform, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. thats how it should be. it wold be criminal to release a console without mario kart. 

But since they won't be getting third-party games anytime soon, they'll need to do extra to stay afloat.

No. They aren't. Third party won't help because no one will by them on Nintendo.

I disagree to a certain extent.

I sincerely believe that Retro Studios should have more autonomy. Furthermore, Retro should expand and become a 2-team developer where one would develop franchises tailored for the NOA and NOE markets. Nothing more, nothing less.

Nintendo's concern should not be in creating Intellectual Properties specifically tailored for Western markets; instead, Nintendo should seek new partnerships with already established properties and develop new properties that have worldwide appeal - Mario & Company are great but Nintendo's arsenal, though arguably the largest in gaming, needs to be larger.

No. They aren't. They haven't been for three years now.

Here's the thing. Nintendo doesn't need your dollar. They need his dollar. You already have a Wii U. You're not the reason the Wii U is failing right now. He is. Nintendo needs to cater to him. They're already catering to you.

It's not about what games the PS4 has right now. It's about what games people expect to get over it's entire life cycle. Clearly, there are more people in the west who care about the next Uncharted/God of War/InFAmous than care about Mario/Zelda/Metroid. Nintendo needs to cater to them because right now, they aren't at all and it's costing them major sales. Nintendo's current IP out put isn't enough anymore. This whole Nintendo games save Nintendo consoles thing is a myth. Nintendo needs to play nice with the west if they want to thrive with the west. They need to make everyone look over and actually get jealous of their line up, because right now the only people interested are people who were already going to get a Wii U. Who they need right now are people still deciding whether to get PS4 or XBO. They need curveballs.

Nintendo needs its own Sunset Overdrives/The Order: 1886's/Destinies/Project C.A.R.S.'s/The Division's right now. They need games that they know people in the west will look at and automatically want, "fanboy" (I hate that stupid word) or not.

They don't need you anymore. You've done your part. They have you on lock. They already know how to please you. And me. They need to start pleasing DeadnBuried, because he'll never get a Wii U the way they're doing thing now, and the majority of the western market is exactly like him; que sales figures.

Their current properties are not enough. Most western gamers want games Nintendo just isn't providing. New people making the same games won't do anything, just like a western studio making Sonic won't suddenly make Sonic Boom sell better in the west. They need new IP that western gamers want and aren't getting from the Wii U.

Did you even read my comment?

''Nintendo should develop new properties that have worldwide appeal - Mario & Company are great but Nintendo's arsenal, though arguably the largest in gaming, needs to be larger.''