The truth is that no company in the console market is in a confortable position right now. Sales are lower than last generation and nobody knows for sure if someday they will be up again year-to-year.

Ok, the PS4 is selling better than the PS3, but this is only happening because the first two years of the PS3 were terrible. How long will its sales keep the current status? And the 3ds sales?

The problem with Nintendo is that they are not pushing development for the WiiU as they should. 3DS became a success after a price cut, several launches of traditional Nintendo franchises and some good surprises (Kid Icarus Uprising, Luigi´s Mansion, etc.). As for the WiiU they´re focusing on Mario or Mario-related games - with very few exceptions - DK, Pikmin, Kirby, Wii Fit and now Starfox.

They should take a few risks and develop other franchises like Animal Crossing, Metroid, Pokemon (even if it´s just a spinoff, like Pokken), Excitebike, Punch-Out, Fire Emblem, Rhythm Heaven, Sin & Punishment..... we all saw those franchises in proper form on the Wii, why not on the WiiU? That would not only please its fans but also keep their reputation as a good developer.

Right now, their situation is dissapoiting.

Wii U unique only for a tablet controller? Lol.

And you can play Just Dance on the Wii U, XBox 360, XBox One, PS3, PS4 today too. That's kind of a difference. 

The other problem with this whole premise is women do play video games -- the just play a ton today on smartphones. There have been many studies that show women play more smartphone games than men even and are the driving force behind huge hits like Candy Crush. 

The Wii did not really have to contend with this for most of its main lifecycle now that casuals get their "I like to play 2-3 hours a week" fill of gaming in from their phone, there isn't really a need for an entire console in their life dedicated to play games. They just don't need it. 

Wii U has Wii Sports and Wii Fit and Wii Party and Just Dance too ... so why is that not cool anymore? Because the whole "Wii" concept is old hat. To engage casuals you constantly need new fads to keep their interest. Nintendo is not very good at providing that. They understand how to make a hit and then sequelize it for like 20-30 years, they did not understand that they continually needed to make new fads though. That was beyond them. 

Smartphones solve this challenge by simply having hundreds of a casualware titles ... when you have such a flood of games eventually something like Flappy Bird will break out. 

The casual market is just different, it's much more fad driven, like the pop music industry is. Nintendo is just not well suited to that rat race because what's hot today is not what's hot 2-3 years down the line which makes it a much more chaotic market. 

Yeah and all they need to do that is to take heavy losses, sell some buildings, and liquidate many jobs. If they had the cash MS and Sony have, I'm sure they could've had both uniqueness and on par hardware for their consoles.

Hasn't Nintendo only had one year of lost profit since its forray into the gaming industry? If that is true, Nintendo is doing just fine from a profit standpoint. If anything, its Nintendo's warchest of IP and continual profitability of their consoles that have greatly helped throughout the years. The Wii was a galaxy busting explosion in terms of both sales and profit. The Wii U isn't Nintendo's last nail in the coffin like some believe.


As Shadow-Sam pointed out, had Nintendo opted for a different console based memory format, the scales would have been different. Instead, they did not, and they would not dominate like they have been until the Wii. There is no need for Nintendo to panic because of a console with porus sales. It does give them motivation to do better, but the Wii U has been profitable for them.

It has nothing to do with being unique. It's the lack of games that's the issue. The pad is great and most I've heard from those who own one is how great it is. If Nintendo would have used some of the money they made off the Wii to hire developers and increased their ability to create games there would mostly be no issue. Sure there would be to those who don't like the pad. But for the most part it's no where near the issue that some are making it out to be. Nintendo was under this delusion that just saying we are catering to the core was all it took to draw them. So they cheaped out in true Nintendo fashion. I understand that in business you want to make as much profit with the least amount of capital used. But some times it can hurt and they were to cheap for their own good. If they have the games there wouldn't be these threads.

They do have that cash and they should use it if they want to remain competitive. This is no excuse.

It has nothing to do with being unique. It's the lack of games that's the issue. The pad is great and most I've heard from those who own one is how great it is. If Nintendo would have used some of the money they made off the Wii to hire developers and increased their ability to create games there would mostly be no issue. Sure there would be to those who don't like the pad. But for the most part it's no where near the issue that some are making it out to be. Nintendo was under this delusion that just saying we are catering to the core was all it took to draw them. So they cheaped out in true Nintendo fashion. I understand that in business you want to make as much profit with the least amount of capital used. But some times it can hurt and they were to cheap for their own good. If they have the games there wouldn't be these threads.

fair enough, I approve of those fixes =)