Absolutely yes

I don't think you should have used the word relevant. Sure, Wii U sales are much lower than Xbox One and PS4 but the fact that Wii U is still being talked about a lot on gaming publications/websites and forums, and delivers high quality games makes it relevant.

As to whether nintendo can compete again to a higher degree, yes I think so. Although I seriously doubt that NX will reach Wii heights, I think it will do better than Wii U.

It's not a mental trap, many huge companies have tried to push alternatives to iOS/Android. Microsoft has spent billions trying to push Windows Phone OS. Blackberry used to rule the market. They're getting crushed like nothing. 

I think you underestimate how finicky people are about their phone OS. You wanna see someone freak out? Replace their iPhone with an Android or vice versa and you're likely going to have one angry customer on your hands. 

Smartphones are very important to people, outside of their wallet it's basically the most important thing people have with them. Probably even moreso than the wallet ... having lost my smartphone once, I'd rather have lost my wallet (easy enough to replace credit cards and get back my driver's license). 

There is no fucking chance Nintendo can make an OS comparable to iOS or Android, lol, the Wii U interface is laughably basic ... Apple and Google spend *billions* of dollars developing those OS and have thousands of employees that work on nothing but the OS. Nintendo is rinky dink game developer that had like 50 people develop the Wii U OS. And they sure as hell would not get app support. They can't even get video game developers to support their video game consoles (lol), they're somehow going to top Microsoft and Blackberry and get app support on par with Apple and iOS overnight? No chance. 

If they every figure out that the consumer is always right, maybe. Seriously. It's not our fault that were aren't interested in your console, it's your fault you made one we're not interested in. 

Yep, nothing stopping them.

They've lost some goodwill with the Wii U and general interest from the gaming public and third parties but nothing to that can't be reveresed with well designed hardware, top tier 1st party support from day 1 and some decent marking.

I see it as highly likely the NX will perform at least at Gamecube level. The Wii U had so much wrong with it, NX will effortlessly outperform it. Whether Nintendo could ever be a market leader again or be at least competitive with the market leader seems the more interesting question.

that is true, because microsoft really drop their prices and have an X1 kinectless bundle to have a good competition aganist PS4 in the US market.  While Wii U still doesn't have a price drop and retaining their rediculous $299.99 console.  

OT: I would say Nintendo can produce a relevant console that has decent number of sales around N64 numbers.  They really need to have good specs that can bring 3rd party games to the NX system. 

Nintendo's consoles are highly relevant... leagues beyond flamebait.

I think there's too many factors working against them, they would basically need a miracle gimmick for the console (and how would that work with a unified handheld?). 

Truthfully I think the new 1/2 pillars for Nintendo are are no.1 the portable NX and no.2 smartphone games. Those are the two things that will drive Nintendo's profits from 2016-2020+.

The console NX I think will be more like an accessorie for the portable NX, for the sake of Nintendo's past legacy and for the 15-18 million or so Nintendo fans that just must play Nintendo games on their TV. And it's no/low risk for Nintendo if the NX console is basically just a souped up version of the handheld chip that doesn't require it's own separate software development (as games will be shared).

It's kinda like Apple ... they make the iPod Touch, which doesn't really sell that much compared to the iPhone and iPad, but it's for people who don't want an iPhone or can't have an iPhone (ie: kids who are too young for a phone) and it keeps the iPod brand alive in a technical sense.

But in terms of competing, there are lots of problems namely by 2016, the PS4/XB1 will be past 80+ million in users and have a library of hundreds of games by then and probably be $299.99 in price. Just gonna be impossible for Nintendo to make much/any traction there, we saw how much trouble the GameCube had and the PS2 only had a year headstart/18 months (in Japan). This would be a full 3 year headstart.

That and the portable Nintendo systems are getting more and more powerful and more and more able to handle ALL the Nintendo IPs, not just bite sized/massively scaled down versions. The next Nintendo handheld will be able to handle fairly high-end 3D and do just about every Nintendo IP justice even in 3D on a large scale. So that really leaves the Nintendo console in a "does anyone really need this other than core Nintendo fanatics?" predicament.

It will really be hard for Nintendo to be relevant, even if they release it next year - supposedly when console sales start going down.
It will come down to how Nintendo is perceived around that time, how its competition is perceived and what NX brings, in terms of promises, games and HW, to the table.

I think that, most of all, it will come down to promise and what games we will find in NX.
The usual Nintendo games won't cut it; no meaningful (exclusive) 3rd party in the long run? Not going to cut it either.

They need to show that NX won't just be another neat HW filled with your typical Nintendo game.
That's when you'll get your average gamer attention!