If the next Nintendo handheld has roughly 360/Wii U level visuals, it's the end of the Japanese console business entirely too IMO.

Those graphics will be "good enough" for the vast majority of Japanese players even for hardcore games that things like a PS4 will be rendered moot.

Console. I'm not a fan of handhelds.

I wonder how much uproar there will be when it starts to dawn on more people that there won't be a traditional 9th gen console from Nintendo ...

It would be better for them to do just a handheld, but I'd rather be just a console. I tend to enjoy their games on consoles more than on handhelds.

When they make a true fusion console, i.e. a handheld device that can be connected to a TV and controller when at home, I doubt there will be much of an uproar. If done right it's the best of both worlds. Providing ~ Wii U graphics on a mobile device with TV out and controller in should be easily within Nintendo's capabilities. Perhaps the controller part is not even necessary, but I'd appreciate being able to use e.g. a Wii U Pro Controller with it (or similar) instead of the device itself when at home. 

I think it will basically be this, but not with a TV out. For one that would be a pain in the ass to have to hook up/disconnect all the time. 

My guess is either there will be A) A small "dock" that relays the video signal from the handheld to the TV ...

Or B) There will be a setup like a seperate "home device" (think Vita and then Vita TV) which is basically the handheld chip in a box that hooks up to your TV so you can play the same games on your TV with a controller if you want. 

My guess is Nintendo will choose option B, as that still "sort of" is a console, but not really. 

For me personally I prefer consoles, so I would prefer they made a console and wouldn't care if they skipped a handheld. For Nintendo though I think we know that is not going to happen.

Handheld, please!

Cheaper to produce, cheaper to have games for, cheaper accessories!

Cheaper all around!

Handhelds have been far more consistent for them, but they are also a sub-industry that is sinking faster because of competing handheld devices.

That said, I'm still voting for handhelds. Imagine if Nintendo did not have the 3DS right now...

Looking at the 3DS and imagining its successor (already an incremental upgrade allows the system to run Xenoblade), I'm gonna go with handheld. The savings in cost and advantages in portability outweigh the losses in power and resolution.