You're being entirely unrealistic. Look at the ramifications of the japanese gaming industry after they went into "hibernation mode." Third parties aren't going to just throw a temper tantrum and stop trying to make money just because mean old Sony won't let the PS5 come out and play yet.

Third party "influence" wasn't enough to shorten the last generation, and it won't shorten this one either. The PC will never outpace the console market. No matter what happens, PC will always be shackled to the specs of the current generation consoles. There will never be some mass exodus to PC from 3rd parties because the consoles are taking too long to upgrade. Publishers will keep making games and consumers will keep buying them. 

Not if Nintendo knows what's good for them. They should have a much more powerful system than the PS4 or X1 when it is released. If they just level the playing field again, then it will be another loss for them.

I don't understand why you can't see them making a console that is more powerful that the PS4. That doesn't make sense to me at all. It's not like the PS4 is super powerful or untouchable in the slightest. The reason that Nintendo is making games at 720P is because they are limited by the tech in the Wii U, not that they are unable lol. BTW, Mario Tennis is developed by Camelot not Nintendo.

You are entirely right about that. Thirds will go where the money is.

I think so. People like to forget, but the main reason why PS4 is the leader is because of x86 and 1080p. If NX is more powerful than the PS4... lets say enough to do 1080p and 60 fps with little issue, then that will be more than enough to last next gen. Resolution won't become a issue again until TVs with higher resolutions than 1080p become commonplace. Sony could push PS5 with hardware that goes above 1080p but there would be no point. Almost all TVs won't utilize it. So it becomes a non selling point to the average consumer.

Nintendo just needs to make sure that their next console has the x86 architecture for easy ports and then almost all 3rd parties will have no excuse to not port their game to NX. That and make sure that their online infrastructure isn't a joke like people like to claim about Wii U. It will need stuff like party chat, and the like. If they do then all their ducks will be in a row. Especially if NX has a 3 or 4 year head start on PS5 and Nextbox.

I guess my concern isn't so much about Nintendo only being able to make games at 720p as it is to do with the length of time that it is taking them to make those games.  I'm just worried that it might take 6+ years to see the next Zelda game if they try doing it at 1080p.

That said, you could be right about Nintendo wanting the NX to be more powerful than the PS4.  I think if Nintendo does want to make the NX a PS4 killer then the key is going to be that they win back those 3rd parties.

The issue when it comes to Nintendo and game development is that their handheld and console game dev teams were all separated. It meant that they were all doing their own thing and it wasn't organized or fast. But Nintendo took both their teams and put them in one building. They unified their teams so that their game development goes smoother. I wouldn't expect the droughts that Wii U and 3DS have next gen. If anything both handheld and console will be able to play the same game but at different settings.

A slight upgrade over Wii U is fine with me, similar to the upgrade from GameCube to Wii.

This is true.  Plus they'll have Gamefreak, Intelligent Designs, Retro Studios, Monolith, etc... all working on one platform.

Don't they? thats why the Wii U is doing so well then, regardless have how good Nintendo first party is it's not good enough to make up the gap third parties leave.