True, with how long the last gen was, the fact that the Wii U's power was what it was is kind of like what the fuck are they thinking. If they were to hit somewhere in between PS4 and 4k I think it'd be fine and for most people "power" would not really be the issue. Right now the "power" of the Wii U IS a reason to dismiss it..... I think it's a bad reason. I think there have been MANY amazing games on the Wii U (Bayo 2 will more than likely be my favorite game this gen), and many games that have the AAA thing backing it on PS4 that have fallen flat and that the power of a console is inherently a scapegoat, but it's at least some hate they can get rid of for the most part. 

This also DOES have the real world benefit of third parties being able to port games easily.  Yet again something that HAS to happen. It isn't a should or want to at this point, because if it isn't easy to port to third parties won't give a crap about it, and Nintendo knows it. Yet again, it doesn't necesarily have to be PS4k powerful just more powerful than the original PS4. (To be fair, I don't see too many games being built from the ground up for PS4K, nor would I for the NX), as the games will most likely parity the original console anyways. A little more smoke/sparks/whatever in the background, a few more frames per second, and a little more draw distance with better load times is great, but won't sway peoples decisions all that much.

But the biggest hurdle Nintendo MUST do is get a big install base quickly. Would anyone care if there were two 3D Marios? Or a few Metroid titles? No. The Wii is the perfect example (yes, the console people hate for some reason). Galaxy 1 and 2, Metriod Prime 3 and Other M, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword (yes including TP because it was released on Wii first). Love or hate any of the titles listed, but the Wii was a freaking GREAT time to be a gamer! Literally one of my top 5 favorite consoles (and my family owned all home consoles and handhelds at least from Nintendo, Sega, Playstation, and Xbox). 

It should also COMPLETELY fund Bayonetta 3 so people KNOW it is now a Nintendo exclusive series. With Bayo 2, I think people are still waiting for it to come out on Steam or eventually to PS4 and Xbone. Put two exclusive on a console and I think for the most part people will get it's a done deal. Yes there will always be those people who believe it will eventually come out on other systems, but most people will probably want to take the plunge, and with a million sold (I'm assuming it likely hit a million with digital) I think it is definitely something NOT NINTENDO for the Nintendo crowd to enjoy. It's EXACTLY the breath of fresh air they need. 

And sure, being late to the game does hurt Nintendo, there is no doubt of that. But the best way to fix that is to come out and address as many problems as you can. Releasing exactly mid cycle is also where I think Nintendo needs to be right now. It allows them to get a feel for what the competitor is doing the next gens and allows them to strike instead of react. 

I think 2017 is waaaaaay too late for something just a modestly better than a PS4. Way too late. 

They will need to make something unconventional and weird as a hardware model now and pray that it takes off, they are way too late to this generation, they probably can't even catch Microsoft now, Sony is out of the question. 

Trying to compete directly with Sony/MS at this stage is just too late, 2016 would be bad, 2017 is just a non-starter entirely. Even PS4K will have a head start and better specs and a far better library because it'll have all the PS4 games and all the third parties behind it. 

Addressing screw ups you made 5 years ago doesn't buy you traction in this market. The GameCube fixed many of the problems the N64 made, the Dreamcast fixed many of the problems the Saturn had ... the *general audience* does not give a shit about companies "fixing problems" 5+ years later, it's too competetive of an industry for that. 

I don't think 2016 vs 2017 is going to make any difference whatsoever depending on power. Either way it isn't going to be as strong as PS4k (if that is a real thing). I don't think Nintendo would be doing themselves any favors by directly going up against the PS4k and PSVR either. Yet again, it's just where on the fence do you land where either situation is not a surefire win. I even think catching Microsoft or Sony is not going to happen whether it releases 2016 or 2017, with their backlogs of games it just doesn't make sense to believe that. The PS4k is going to have a head start either way.

But let's say they release on the exact same day. I think 4k output and a pretty extensive backlog of games makes it a no brainer if you're trying to put these two head to head. It's nonense to do. The only things that would make this appealing in 2016 will also make it appealing in 2017, but also have the opportunity for NX to have more games at launch (you know, the things that will ultimately make or break NX).

Last, when I talk about Nintendo fixing their problems, the problems are getting third parties on board. If you don't think third party games will help sell more consoles, that's fine. But you're bringing up problems like cartidge vs disk (N64 to Gamecube). While the Saturn to Dreamcast is a decent comparison, being they dropped the Saturn 3 years in due to the difficulty of developing games and no third party support, no one would say the Dreamcast is a worse system, even during the Dreamcast gen no one was saying the Dreamcast was worse than the Saturn. It could have been very possible the Dreamcast would have been part of a turn around if they weren't already belly up in the water. 

You're right though, getting third parties on board isn't going to make people who don't care about Nintendo all the sudden care, but it is an astronomical first step that needs to happen. 

Does this mean Nintendo is doomed?