They're not quite living up to industry standards when it comes to certain features. I get that they don't wanna compete specs-wise, and I'm fine with that. But their other features are lagging behind. That's worriesome as it shows that they can't really handle things like that, and that means that the interactions between their future home console and portable (the brothers/sisters) might be clunky. Looking at past experiences anyways.

I'm kinda hoping for something aking to the 3DS cartridges to replace DVDs for Nintendo next gen, saving the game on the cartridge - but having the option to also save it on the hard drive on the console and "in the cloud".

Their HW is always robust and good, but the SW inside, that's what they're lacking. And getting "the most important part(s)" isn't going to cut it for Nintendo. They need to be at the forefront, together with MS and Sony, innovating what it means to play. That's what they did with NES, N64, Wii, GB and DS (And SNES to a lesser degree). Classic systems.

It's not that they can't, it's more that they chose not to.
They have been messing with the internet since the NES days. Still they were behind because to them, it was a matter of making a profit on that end.

What they are missing now is the social aspect of it and the account system.
I'm not sure that HW isn't to blame for them not doing something more in the social side. Maybe the low RAM (compared to PS4 and XB1) doesn't allow them to do certain things.

I don't think cartridged will replace DVDs.
They probably cost more than DVDs and do hold more space.

That Fusion hardware makes me excited. It really sounds wonderful to be able to play outside any great complex homeconsole Nintendo game.

the thing is, Fusion doesn't need to outsell WiiU/3DS combined(most likely 80+ million). It just needs to have a large enough install base for Nintendo's IP to sell on and to make a profit.

Having a unified handheld/console will make hardware R&D costs significantly less since they are essentially making the same hardware just in different casings instead of 2 completely different devices.

it will also significantly help Nintendo's internal software output. We are already seeing it this gen that Nintendo struggles to give strong support to two seperate pieces of hardware at once. this will only get worse next-gen if Nintendo keeps their hardware seperate. Nintendo's next handheld will likely be in HD as well which will make software for it much more expensive and time consuming than 3DS software and if the next console is somewhere between PS4 & PS5 in power then dev time/costs will likely be much higher than Wii U.

this type of scenario would likely see both Nintendo platforms have awful 1st party support which would lead to poor sales and most likely losing a lot of money. honestly I can't see anything other than a Fusion platform being Nintendo's next step.

Yes, thats the point though, isnt it? Nintendo used to be innovative and leading the industry in ALL aspects. Theyre not any more. Anyways I hope youre right and Im wrong; I hope  Nintendo gets its act together next gen and baffles our minds

I wouldn't really expect Nintendo's next handheld to be as powerful as the Wii U, or the battery life would be terrible.

I could be wrong, but I don't see the big value of compatibility for handheld games on a home console, because inevitably they would look bad on a big screen.   Not saying there would be no interest, because we know there is some interest in this kind of compatibility, but I don't think it would be a sales driver for the console.  Also it probably would imply the need for a Gamepad for touch input, which I'm not sure is a good idea for cost reasons.

I feel the Wii U is ACTUALLY a VERY EARLY prototype of what the Fusion is going to be. I feel some how Nintendo is going to make a Tablet based system you can carry EVERY WHERE and not just play in your living room. And when you want to play it as a console, they'll have like a dock to connect it to and maybe insert games and controllers to and such.

And maybe it'll have control parts you can add to it that have buttons to fix control issues Tablets and Smart Phones have. Making a tablet that has all these features would revolutionize the gaming market once more, and Nintendo would be in the spot light again...

So since Tablets are more for casual gamers than Hardcore ones... I think Nintendo is just full of hot air...

Any thoughts about the design fellas? I'm hoping for a clam shell design, similar to the 3/DS. That's the best way to make the console portable (small enough) and still get a decent screen size.

As long as fusion could play Wii u and 3ds games on , but you need both handheld and home fusions, a good ammount of people would buy both.
And it will count as the double of sales.

But my concern with fusion is the price.
A near to Wii u handheld would cost too much, even in the next 2 years.
The home console above ps4 even more.
They will probably bundle both in a single pack. This would cost arround 600$ at the time. This could be the worst barrier to the consumers.

There is no "Nintendo Fusion" yet, it's only speculation on the part of some folks.

But if it DID exist in the future, and was what people propose: a hybrid home console/portable system? It would sell very well. Why? Because it would take the sales their portable system would usually get, ALONG with the sales the home console would usually get. And it would also get all the games, presumably, that their portable systems usually get, including better third party support, since it doubles as a portable console itself. And that includes multi-million-selling mainstream Pokemon.

On the one hand, it would suck, because you wouldn't have two separate systems, with two separate sets of games to look forward to. On the other hand, the hardware would be unified, no two separate sets of specs, and you'd only have to buy one console. The real question would then become, would Nintendo and the many companies under their umbrella, continue to pump out the same quantity of games that they have for, say, Wii U AND 3DS, for this one console? Would it get superb first party support with NO real droughts, ever? Or would Nintendo slow down game production since it's now just one system? If they were smart, they'd do the former, not the latter, so that even if 3rd party support WASN'T there (though I think it would be much stronger), they'd have a very nice flow of Nintendo published games, as well as eShop games.

To me, that is the only MAJOR problem that Wii U is having. Yes, the weak current 3rd party support does suck, even though I don't personally buy most of those games on PS3 either. But the major drawback for Wii U, hasn't been the lack of multi-console ports. It's been the droughts that the system has suffered, months-long stretches where hardly anything, even from Nintendo, has come out for retail. Granted, 2014 wasn't as bad as 2013. But it still had it's lulls, and that shouldn't be the case. Nintendo has enough Wii U games in development, at least a COUPLE more of those should have released at some point in 2014, but they didn't. So I guess the theory is that maybe, if they had on "hybrid" console, it would also get the kinds of games DS/3DS have gotten, and thus wouldn't have those droughts, as Nintendo wouldn't have to split it's development between two systems.

I see the pros and the cons for the idea, honestly. I like the idea of their being a separate portable system, as there has been one since 1989. But on the other hand, only having to buy one system, and that system hopefully getting ALL the games that two normally would, would definitely have it's perks. So who knows....

But it most certainly would sell better than Wii U has been, to answer the OP's post. That doesn't mean that I want this "Fusion" to happen anytime soon, mind you. I personally like and enjoy the Wii U just fine, and think that both it and the 3DS have several more good years ahead of them. As a Wii U owner, who has invested time and money into the system, I want Nintendo to take their sweet time making the next console, and in the meantime pump out as MANY good games as they can for Wii U, because quite frankly, I want my goddamn money's worth, lol. I want this new Zelda, I want a (GOOD) Star Fox. I want a (GOOD, NOT Other M) Metroid game. I want to see more than one future game from Retro. I'd like to see Wii U entries from studios like Next Level and Monster Games. There's tons of potential for great games on Wii U, and I'd like to see at least AT LEAST through 2016, getting continuous support from Nintendo and it's subsidiaries and partners.

So I'm in no hurry at all. If this "Fusion" didn't actually happen until, say, 2017? I'd be totally cool with that.