Nintendo always makes sure they have a business model that makes money. Wii U selling poor? They still make money on each console.

I know that people call for a Wii U price cut but then it goes against the way they operate. Do they want to sell more consoles, sure they do, but they are happy to see this gen out selling "below par" and still come out of it with profit.

I rather them just go ahead and become third party.

This.

It's like as if NX will be Nintendo's last chance at home console making. Sure they're not profiting like in the Wii/DS days, but they haven't lost as much as we make them out to be. What if NX sells only 20 million but gains a profit? Or a $200 million loss per year? As mentioned, we could all be senior citizens by the time Nintendo is in any position to file bankruptcy if they lose about $250 million per year starting at 2012. As of now, we don't know how much they'll spend on NX in terms of hardware.

They don't necessarily have to win 1st, but to earn profit. I mean, they did it throughout almost all of their 30+ years in the game industry with exception of 2-4 years, which says a lot considering they've been in third place for home consoles for 3 of the last 4 generations. Now with all their newest ventures outside of traditional gaming, who knows where this will go.

Seeing as how NX is likely to be a platform (as in portable + console(s)) ... 20 million would be a monstrous dissapointment. 

^ you don't think the majority of 3DS owners will transition to NX if that's the case?

One thing that many people don't seem to realize is that "Nintendo-like profits" is referring to $100 billion yen ($800~ million USD) which is roughly what they were averaging from FY 1990-2005, not the Wii/DS like profits.

You raise an increibly valid point but I am not going to pretend that I can decide that magic number that is deemed sucessful.  I would say if pressed that it needs to sell something near the average of Wii and Wii U sales.  Thats somewhere in the region of 60 million.  No matter what happens Nintendo is not doomed.  Take a look at the Xbox One.  It is not seen as the winner, but it is also well know and accepted that it is selling faster than the 360.   The flagpole, as it were will change, but lets start there.  Don't take this thread too seriously.  I (OP) am actually very hopeful.  This situation is a 'what if'.  I believe that everyone is fasinated with the NX.  We all can't wait to see what it is and I fully expect it to launch with strong 3rd party support. 

You definitely could be right here and your words are almost certainly more informed than mine are.  That said, I can't help but think back to what Steve Jobs once said:

“A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them.”

Back to your example, I just think Nintendo might just be that fairly smooth guy who's been off his game lately because he's been overthinking things.  If he only decided to turn off his brain for a minute and go over and be confident with that beautiful lady by keeping things simple and natural, I think that he could hit that perfect one-liner.  Even if he doesn't necessarily win her over, just getting in a couple great lines and getting her laughing could give him that confidence and momentum needed to do even better next time.

I really believe that the NX should try to be the console that I am trying to describe above.  I believe that Nintendo still has enough brand power and consumer trust that they can throw their weight around and create something that is pretty cool, even if it isn't something that people aren't necessarily asking for.  I mean, if Nintendo made a slick little handheld NX that had on-screen buttons and used the gamer's mobile phone to do graphics processing, I could see this being something people might be willing to slide in their cramped pockets alongside their smartphones.  It might not be what people are asking for, but it might just have that same Nintendo charm that sold all those Gameboys with monochrome screens back when SEGA and everybody else was shooting for console graphics on portables.

Exactly.  It's like everyone who argues that the NX is going to sell around 20-30 million always disregard the possibility that the NX could be a platform with multiple form factors -- one of them a portable -- and instead see things as this black and white consolewar race between the Xbox One, PS4 and NX where the NX is only a console.  It's like everyone who takes this stance likes to forget that to 3DS owners, this is just business as usual in terms of generational progression if the NX is also a handheld.  To me, with the assumption of mutliple form factors along with a unified library, the NX would need to sell around 80 million total units to be considered not a failure.

Dunno what people think of as a comeback. I don't think Nintendo needs to dominate to maintain a healthy positin in home consoles. If they can sell 30-40 million home consoles in the NX generation that will be a godd result for them and a sustainable player base, especially for sales of Nintendo games. There's nothing dominant about that, but with Wii U staring down the barrel of