Could be a game changer for third party support too.

Many dev houses are familiar with the Android dev environment, so they could make a game for the NX, and then have a version for other tablets.

But in this scenario, probably a lot more third party NX projects will get greenlight because publishers will like that they can take the games to Android tablets/phones in a snap.

I mean if you're Square-Enix, do you make Final Fantasy VII Remake for the PS4 or Android OS + NX? Nintendo could finally be on the right side of the sea tide change. Square-Enix's upper management might decide the Android + NX approach is the more profitable way to go. 

This seems like a pretty dumb move.
The tablet/mobile market is pretty crowded and even Sony is struggling in that market, what would make Nintendo so successful?
Why make mobile games available on your handheld console that will compete with your own specific portable games? This would not help sales in any way and would not entice 3rd parties the least.
Maybe this is a way to make Nintendos mobile games available on their HH? THAT would make sense

I'm not 11 years old anymore either, and as such I have actual financial responsibilities. Kids can afford anything, all they have to do is ask their parents to buy it for them. The answer may be 'no', but it's not because the kid couldn't afford it.

I believe that the best end product for "we the gamer" is a variety of products at differing price points. As it stands Nintendo produces the most affordable gaming hardware of any respectable quality, and that's an excellent option to have. Doubling the cost of their machines does me no favors.

Basically I don't give a shit about fancy specs, because modern smartphones have those in spades and yet I get much more satisfying gaming experiences on my 3DS or, hell, even on my old GBA SP. Keep the price point low. Keep power consumption low (thus keeping battery life high). Keep making great games. That's all I want. I already have a phone. Make me a video game console.

To be honest I spend $250 for the 3DS this gen (bought it at launch) and $350 for the Wii U. That's a $600 hardware investment to (basically) play Nintendo games. 

The set up they have right now isn't cheap. 

If I'm spending that kind of coin, give me something reasonably powered. I spent $650 for my PS4 (launch) and Vita combined ... and that's far better hardware. It's not an unreasonable request. 

You can change parts of Android, so if this idea came to fruition, I can imagine Nintendo adding some DRM layers and some exclusive content.

Well, I don't mind if Nintendo gets or makes some mobile games as long as they keep doing their great traditional handheld and console games.

Well put.

I don't know. Android has been around for quite a long time, and piracy on mobile devides is easy. The only reason mobile piracy isn't more widespread is because most users go for the freemium or really don't put that much time on those devices anyway, so why bother? A gaming console/handheld is something interesting to hack, because the investment and the reward (in terms of money saved) is important, way bigger than the saving you could do on mobile devices.

I fear that, if this is true, the NX could become the next PSP. Selling a lot of hardware, but really easy to hack and patch, hurting software sales a lot, EXACTLY what Nintendo needs the least.

Buying consoles at launch? You walked into that yourself. I bought my 3DS for $160 and my Wii U for $225. I literally spent 35% less than you did for the exact same machines, and got some extra games thrown in for good measure.

From your perspective, the two consoles were underpowered, because you bought them. From mine, they were overpriced, which is why I did not. The difference is that I don't relate their power to their value, meaning the Wii U could have been twice as powerful as the PS4 and I still wouldn't have paid $350 for it unless it had an amazing lineup of releases that simply demanded a purchase.

Video games in general are not cheap which is why it's great to be able to buy a handheld and a home console for under $400 when the next-cheapest alternative is the PS4+Vita combo at $700. Next gen I want Nintendo to aim for that $400 combined price of both platforms, not $400 apiece.

There are potential risks with Android ... but at this point what options does Nintendo really have?

The traditional market won't work for them because third parties have washed their hands of the "traditional Nintendo hardware".  And even if they made the bestest traditional systm ever it would still find itself over-crowded and playing by Sony/MS' rules. 

The Wii model only works for them if they could get casuals away from their phones/tablets with some kind of new wacky thing-a-wazoo controller that will change the world. My guess is they don't have that this time. So that's out.

They're down to 7 million 3DS shipments this year and Wii U is a consistent cluster fuck for sales.

I think internally they're making big changes, and for good reason. They can't possibly keep going the way things are now.