Nintendo sets themselves apart more than Sony/Microsoft do from each other.  Their platforms have a gimmick that their console is built around to differentiate them and thir exclusives are nothing like Sonys or Microsofts.  The problem isn't being able to set themselves apart its that they are trying to hard to set themselves apart when the consumer's want what the competition is doing, and they're moving away from that. 

It doesn't help that their leader is insecure about this company's ability to compete, not really a trait you want in a leader.

Nintendo is not good at competing so we always have to challenge [the status quo] by making something new, rather than competing in an existing market.”

http://www.vg247.com/2013/10/10/iwata-nintendo-is-not-good-at-competing-so-must-offer-something-different-than-the-status-quo/

Well hes right though...

i would say wii u failed initially by trying to be all things to all people. it's only now that's it's carving out an identity for itself that it's having some well-deserved if modest success. the quote you're referring to is a statement of principle... that it's better to be apple and invent the ipad and then have samsung and everyone else copy you than it is to be the copycat. same way the wii mainstreamed motion controls and then you had ps move and kinect trying (ultimately unsuccessfully) to outdo it.

anyway, they'll do fine this cycle. they'll sell at or around gamecube levels, produce amazing games and move on to hopefully greener pastures in 2017.

At the start of this gen they were touting about how they were going after the hardcore market again and the Wii U is a terrible console to do that with, if you say your gonna go after the hardcore market at least give a half decent attempt.  They put a piss poor effort into it and then went, well we can't compete with Sony/Microsoft...

Which is a terrible mind set to have.  It is not easy to make something revolutionary and more often than not a product trying to do that will fail.  Lighting struck with the Wii, chances are its never gonna happen again. 

Well maybe thats what he meant? "We cant work properly with third party developers, so we cant compete with MS and Sony..."

When did they even try to work with third party developers?  Sony actually went to third parties and asked what they wanted in their next console to continue to receive support from them.  Ninteno did not do anything close to this with the Wii U, they came up with a gimmick that was hard for third parties to utalize in a way that would offer any selling point for their games and offered an underpowered console that had different architecture from the other 3 platforms that all have similar architecture. 

Building ur console then going to third parties and being like put your games on here because were Nintendo isn't working with third parties. 

Absolutely continuing the trend. Nintendo fans are some of the loudest in proclaiming their software superiority, but that software is selling to a continually decreasing fanbase. I'm still a part of it, but I recognize it's not a sustainable model unfortunately. They need 3rd party which just doesn't sell on their system so they're stuck. I have met a lot of old Nintendo fans who just aren't willing to invest in games anymore despite belittling my PS4. They're always anxious to play MK8 or SSB on WiiU now with me but they won't go out and buy one themselves. They'll just trash on non-Nintendo because of nostalgia.

i don't understand the 'chances are it won't happen again' line. i mean, chances to begin with were that the wii would never happen/succeed and, guess what, it did. and it happened just as the ds set the record for best-selling handheld. so that one-two punch was even more unlikely. i know this is vgchartz but let's not slip into the console sales equivalent of astrology here.

in any case, what i was trying to say, and what iwata was saying in your quote, is that nintendo at this point in its life as a company values originality over everything else. the wii u didn't work out for them as they hoped, that much is clear. but do i think originality will be rewarded in the long run? yes i do. they're already in the black and will be for the forseeable future with new 3ds and the wii u's 2015 line-up plus the legs of smash and mario kart. more importantly, the wii u is not superfluous at this point. it's distinctive, if nothing else. and that's not something that can be said about xbox one/ps4.