I guess these days are pretty grim, but weren't the twilight year(s) of the N64 & GameCube pretty horrible too? Even though Wii U is going to have a pretty barren 2016, the 3DS seems to be getting a decent amount of higher-profile titles. As long as you're a fan of handhelds, things aren't entirely awful.

Ive ever been a nintendo fan my whole life and have bought every nintendo consoles since the 64 (my only other non nintendo console was the ps2)and the wii u was a major disappointment. I bought it since launch and only have 12 games for it. I love playing video games so 12 games in 4 years just isnt enough. Not all 12 games were good since i was kinda forced to buy them cause there just wasnt anything on it. Last month i bought a ps4 with ratchet and clank and street fighter 5. I finished ratchet and clank on the same day i bought the ps4 and it was the most fun i had playing a video game ever. Ratchet and clank beats everything i owned on the wii u and a whole lot more. Its just that good! I also bought infamous, life is strange, until dawn and beyond two souls+ heavy rain. Finished them all and enjoyed them all. Im glad i switch to ps4 gaming and i suggest not to be loyal to nintendo and go buy a ps4 if you love gaming .

I hear Mario Kart DS was pretty good, but that was more so because of online than the game itself. Dual Strike was another one I heard was great, but never got into the series myself. I know my friends loved it and used to pass the DS around when they played it. And Nintendogs.... yeah, I wonder how that ended up as such a big seller...

Not really, no.

Nov 2004-Dec 2005 (GameCube's swan song + DS 1st year)

Metroid Prime 2, Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, Fire Emblem, Resident Evil 4, Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, Star Fox Assault, Battallion Wars, Mario Strikers, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.

DS had Super Mario 64 DS, Kirby Canvas Curse, Brain Training, Advance Wars: Dual Strike, Nintendogs, Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing: Wild World.

N64 late in its life cycle (2001) had Paper Mario, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and both GCN (Smash, Luigi's Mansion, Pikmin, Wave Race, Star Wars: RS) and GBA launches.

2000 the N64 had Perfect Dark, Zelda: Majora's Mask, Banjo-Tooie, Mario Tennis, Excitebike 64, Pokemon Stadium 2, etc. so that wasn't a weak year at all. 

I hate threads like this that dismiss the millions of us that have loved owning Nintendo's latest hardware (3ds/Wii U) and software. I hate threads like this that dismiss that Nintendo still makes profit and is still in a better financial situation than the other two companies (game divisions). I hate threads like this that disregard the INSANE attach rates for 1st party software that Nintendo is experiencing this cycle indicating those of us owning Nintendo devices are ridiculously loyal to the company. I hate threads like this that see a poor icing on a cake, don't bother to take a bite of it and experience the deliciousness inside, and simply insult it for the icing.

Yes. June 2008. *shudders*

3DS this year is still stronger than what I would say 2004-2005, only one title that might push over the gamecube/ds is really Resident Evil 4.

Actually Monster Hunter is this year as well, isn't it. Ya I would say 3DS eclipses it. 

Nintendogs was well received from what I remembered. Plus the commercials for it were pretty impressive, showing what you could do with touch controls, which is part of the DS's attraction. Interaction, in a way, has never been better during that time because people were actually interacting to the characters and the environment beyond buttons and controls. That's my assumption since I've only seen gameplay. It's not a bad game per se, but I think it sticks out to more casual audiences, which are the majority of most consoles' sales of you think about it.

Probably better than when they were only selling Hanafuda cards :p

Hard to say, since I only started following Nintendo news recently

You should be getting a lot more hate. The SNES era was Nintendo's highest software, heck even hardware, quality output. Every game released was fantastic. New innovative IPs, amazing sequels, and awesome gems. Even goddamn 3rd party games were top notch back then!

OT: I think every transition year(s) (late Wii - early 3DS, late GC - early DS, etc) were considered the worst until the next one.