Why would kids prefer an ipad for gaming, it doesn't have the controls for decent gaming and its not really portable in the same way. I think mobiles are more appealing as a replacement for handhelds than tablets.

I don't know the ratio of units sold between smaller 3DS models and larger but both have proper gaming controls and have the folding design that protects the screen when not in use.

The 2DS I guess is a sort of tablet design in that it doesn't fold but does have gaming controls.

The only thing seperating Nintendo from tablets and mobiles really is decent controls, robust portable design and exclusive games. To me those remain the important differences I'm not disagreeing that a larger screen wouldn't be good though.

Lets also not forget that Nintendo just don't do additional features well. They won't pay for it basically. A tablet sounds like a multi-use device but Nintendo won't do that. The wii u has very little additional functionality compared to ps3, 360, xbone or ps4.

Unless there is some great idea that works in tandem with a tablet I just can't see Nintendo being stupid enough to go down this route. Even if it carved out a place in the tablet market that would only force other companies to further discount an already saturated market.

What people really want from Nintendo is game experiences and if this software is exclusive to Nintendo hardware then the hardware needs to offer value. That value may be through the hardware being widely supported with third party games or the hardware itself performing well for reasonable money with a decent selection of first/second party games. It has to be an appealling package.

I think its going to be difficult for Nintendo unless their new product really does compete against other platforms somehow. I've never known the market to be so saturated with gaming devices be it set top boxes, consoles, low cost pcs, handhelds, tablets and mobiles. So many operating systems to choose from including customised versions of existing like Amazon products. 

The consumer is absolutely spoilt for choice.

All I'll say is this ... Nintendo's next handheld won't be a dual screen setup. It's not going to be just a souped up DS with Vita graphics.

It'll either be a tablet style design like the Wii U tablet or something really out of left field like a donught shaped screen or something.

You can call that whatever term you want ... tablet, gaming tablet, semi-traditional handheld, modern handheld, dildo, supercalifragilistic gaming device, whatever. I don't really give two craps about semantics.

Not only that I think there will multiple layouts of the next handheld over time as well.

NX has to change the game for Nintendo. If it's just "here's 3DS-2 and Wii U-2 with better tech" they are beyond fucked.

I also think the DS games on the Wii U tablet is Nintendo testing the waters to see how dual screen games could function on a single screen handheld ... and it functions just fine for the most part. I'm having a lot of fun playing Mario Kart DS on my Wii U tablet (ahem).

I don't know why the OP is taking so much heat for this thread, it actually isn't a bad idea.  I would go as far as to even say that the console component of NX should be closely tied into this tablet concept.  Kids nowadays are growing up in front of tablets far more then they are in front of televisions or dedicated handhelds. Nintendo needs to get kids back to playing their games because, aside from the Wii, every console they release is losing more and more of their core audience. It's not realistic to ask Nintendo to continue to go head-to-head with Sony and Microsoft by releasing another traditional TV-based console... Heck, I believe even Sony and Microsoft might be starting to see the early signs of a stale market for the high-end TV-top console.

Contrary to popular belief, now is not the time for Nintendo to play it safe with their next console (or handheld). If Nintendo continue's its current trend and the next console sells less than the Wii U then Nintendo is in major trouble. They need to get ahead of the curve just like they did after the video game crash of 1983. I really believe that the mobile gaming world is experiencing a very similar crash right now with the increasingly large number of low-quality titles flooding the market. I think Nintendo is in the perfect position to rise above the garbage heap by offering gamers a dedicated mobile environment where they can play games that have a guaranteed seal of quality (just like they did in the 80's).

If Nintendo wants to get ahead of the curve again, though, they need to be embracing the platforms of the future (just like how better and better TV's were the future back in the 80's). Today, the future is the smartphone and tablet.

Then fit this in your pocket!

Or the Atari Lynx:

I dont know why gamers in general are against change, they arent going to do a typical handheld and they are just going to have to live with it. Every thing theyve been saying recently is pointing towards a change, and a typical boring handheld like the vita is what gamers think is enough? No, they shouldn't do that, nintendo knows thatd be dumb, they are changing and its a good thing to, willing to change is what makes a company thrive more often then not.

and no, who ever posted the 2ds. That is not a tablet nor is it as eye catching, it looks like two screens and a lot of wasted space.

It totally depends on the game. Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, Nintendogs, Pokemon, Fire Emblem, Ace Attorney, Professor Layton, Ghost Trick, most handheld-Zeldas, Brain Age, Tomodachi, Mario & Luigi, Art Academy, MineCraft, Puzzle & Dragons, Hotel Dusk, Last Window, Scribblenauts and most Lego games would work fine on a tablet with touch controls, Mario Kart and other fun racers would work fine with motion controls.

I can see the next Nintendo handheld being something closer to a original GBA/PSP/VITA in terms of design but a full on tablet would be suicide. Nintendo won't fork over the dough to have it able to do full on tablet options or the app market place to make it worthwhile.

Not to mention, while they have obviously noticed most prefer the LL/XL line for the DS/3DS, they also know that the bigger the screen the more expensive and the Nintendo portables have always been built around being relatively inexpensive for both Nintendo and the consumer. THE one time this wasn't the case was the 3DS and we see how that started off.

The design of the next Nintendo handheld won't be innovative, but it will service the needs of Nintendo and other developers. It can still be clam shelled like the GBA SP/DS/3DS and just have one true screen.

Your definiton of work fine is not the same as mine. Most games can be played with touch screen controls but with much inferior feel that massively reduces playability. Anything where reaction time is critical is best played with proper controls. Also for Nintendo to abandon decent controls and accept touch screen controls only with tilt control etc would make their life even more difficult to compete. I don't think I'm being old school believing dedicated controls are still critical for gaming. However I totally accept the casual gaming scene has already moved to such controls without problem for most mobile devices/tablets etc but is that really where Nintendo want to compete. I still believe portable dedicated gaming hardware has its place but it has to be clearly better experiences than typical mobile/tablet games.

So what defines a tablet? If the screen is X or Y-size big? If it's a little smaller it's not a tablet? I think this is all just silly semantics. 

Nintendo offers a non-chamshell 3DS (2DS) already, likely they will offer the portable NX in a couple of different configs, not sure why people can't wrap their head around this idea. 

As long as Nintendo doesn't do something retarded like use a propietary or resistive touchscreen again (which no one else is using, thus they have to pay more for it) you can get a 6-7 inch 1280x720 display for peanuts these days. Even cheap-ass $150 tablets being sold at a profit have screens of that resolution/size. 

As for apps, that's where using a Nintendo OS, but having an Android back-end could be smart. They could theoretically get access to thousands of Android apps, which they could control on their own eShop (like Amazon does with Kindle) giving them tons of functionality without having to pay a dime. 

Konami, Sega and now maybe Nintendo?