What do you think Nintendo's tactic should be for its next console? VR? Amiibos? 5 teraflop GPU? Matrix-style upload to the Nintendo Network?

As with the Wii U and GameCube, core Nintendo fans will always buy the Nintendo console for the first party titles, but if the next console is to be relevant (as in sell a successful amount), will it have to incorporate virtual reality and/or augmented reality? I'm going to say yes for several reasons:

1) Controller innovation doesn't seem to be popular

 People seem to be happy with the existing xbox/playstation traditional two joysticks pad layout. The reviews for the steam controller have not been terribly successful, whereas the xbox elite controller seems to have done well, showing that gamers are happy with the current controller setup. Also the obvious point is that the Wii U didn't sell well and has arguably the second most innovative controller in the last decade.

2) Selling on just hardware power alone would be very risky

If gamers truly cared about the raw power of consoles, steam machines would be all the rage, but there certainly is no proof (that I'm aware of) showing this. Also, while the PS4 was lauded for being more powerful than the Xbox One, the difference in graphics isn't all too noticeable. While a new Nintendo console could provide massive leaps in term of power, it's debatable how much this would be reflected in games other than first party titles.

3) VR/AR seems to be red hot at the moment

Currently, VR seems to be very popular with all the metrics we can look at. The Oculus Rift is getting rave reviews, with critics stating the similar verdict that while the Rift isn't perfect, it's the beginning of something very big - VR that actually works. Even with the price barrier of VR headsets, sales so far seem to be doing well, with PSVR in the best selling lists on Amazon for the US, Canada, UK and Germany. Beyond that, analysts are predicting the VR market in the next few years to be worth over $4 billion dollars, showing that there potentially is a lot of room for growth. For a company to release a console that does not address this potential revolution in gaming would strike me as a company that would be behind the curve.

Solution?

Nintendo doesn't have to necessarily make a headset - it could make a console that is "VR/AR ready" easing the stress on consumers wallets, or create something more akin to Samsung VR gear that would work with a handheld. Either way, I, for one, believe that Nintendo's next console will struggle to be relevant if it ignores VR/AR.

What do you think Nintendo's tactic should be for its next console? VR? Amiibos? 5 teraflop GPU? Matrix-style upload to the Nintendo Network?

O_o... Do you want to maybe wait to see if VR sells first?

Seems to be selling well if preorders are anything to go by - if Nintendo wait until PSVR is released and they sit back for a year without doing anything, they'd lose precious time.

Plus, what do you think Nintendo should do with its next console?

I think it's too early to tell with VR, and AR doesn't seem to be the sort of thing that would sell the product, if we're going by how it is used with the 3DS, so i'd say no.

We'll see. Provided NX is powerful enough, it wouldn't be all that terribly difficult to add a VR accessorie.

I think Nintendo understands the importance of VR and Kimishima did say that they are investing in the technology. But as of now, VR is still in its novelty stage. Although it's becoming much more complex with PSVR's bundled VR title and many other games on Oculus, it isn't something that many people would spend hours doing. The headsets that you need to play these games are rather large and imo, not comfortable at all having experience with Oculus and HTC Vive.

Like the Wii, how long will it take for "Oh, I'm in the game" novelty to wear off? You could argue that this feeling of always being in the game will never wear off but to be honest...I can't tell the future. But, most of Nintendo's games are 3rd person so 3rd person VR games aren't really favorable at the moment. Most VR games are selling you on being in the game so having a 3rd person character really destroys the point here.

I personally don't think that EVERYBODY has to do VR. Nintendo is an entertainment company. That's what keeps them alive. They've been doing things differently from all the others and that's part of their DNA. It's worked and it has failed in the past. When they suck, man they suck hard. But when they throw that "Nintendo Hadouken" there's no dodging that one. It's gonna hit and it's gonna hit hard. I don't think VR is crucial to Nintendo's success. We'll have to see how VR pans out over the next year or so.

As a wii u owner I have to say the gamepad is pretty terrible. What it really needed to be was a joypad much like the ps4 and xbone but with a small touchscreen display instead it was just horrible with a large number of issues not least it was really uncomfortable for small children.

VR is the future but we are in the first generation and its likely the 2nd gen will kickstart the market. I do feel Nintendo need to provide a VR console but the best timing may be the next gen after NX.

Nintendo like to sell shit hardware at inflated prices with a few gimmicks added. Wii sold well but it taught people that Nintendo consoles were substandard with low performance and many migrated away from Nintendo to more powerful consoles like playstation and xbox. Now Nintendo have to fight to get those consumers back with NX.

No. They are already relevant and will continue to stay relevant with how things have been going lately.

I guess this is an answer to the discussion made on the other thread. Based on your comment on the other thread, I am gonna keep my opinion to myself because I don't work in the field related to product management so my opinion is going to be pointless anyway.

I believe Nintendo (just like any other company) should valorize its streghts first and then build on 'em.
The effect of VR in gaming has mostly to with immersion, and Nintendo is not about immersive games right now (thay haven't been in while). Today they're more about multiplayer games, pick-up and play games, platform games.
There's not much reason for them to be front runners in VR, since they wouldn't have a copetitive advatage against Sony anyway.
If I were them I would focus more on other gaming tends, like Minecraft and user generated content in general.

edit: To make a comparison, Nintendo made a similar bet with 3DS - which is basically a more immersive DS with stereoscopic 3D and better graphics. It didn't play out very well, because immersion is not what sells Nintendo games and hardware ultimately.