I think you are right. Nintendo must be trying to get us used to the concept with youtube porn. And this is why Ubisoft liked the console so much, maybe Guillemo is lonely too =)

Well we're not in statics class lol... but I should include because it just reinforces my point.

Not really.  Your point is that Nintendo can't expand their userbase with a dedicated handheld... then ignoring the time that they did just that.

Well I've edited that paragraph to contextualise it. The decline of Nintendo's handheld sales when they don't have a successful gimmick to expand their market ^_^

Then that begs the question of why they couldn't release another dedicated handheld with a successful gimmick.

Because we live in the age of smartphones, the DS wouldn't have been the success it was if it was released just a few years later. The DS appealed to non-gamers, but the tablets and smart phones have the demographic that the DS managed to capture covered now. Good luck coming up with a NEW gimmick that appeals to the mainstream, even if managed it would be copied onto IOS/Android devices within a very limited time span.

Though the term "gimmick" shouldn't be used in relation to the DS's success, it was a success because it appealed to the casual market, it had an audience that were a precursor to the smartphone and tablet crowd.

Whether they do it as a tablet, hybrid, or dediccated handheld, they run into the same problem.  Making it tablet shaped isn't going to magically make it sell better, and it drives them into competition with competing devices.  Making a tablet that could hook up to a TV isn't anything special.  Tablets can do that, and the technology will imrpove.

They need a selling point (aka gimmick) for this thing either way. Making it a tablet doesn't solve that problem.

I think they have several selling points there but execution is key. Just compare Wii motion+ to Playstation Move. Released close to each other, same premise but one is a success (albeit short lived), the other was dead on arrival. Imagine Pokemon Go wasn't pokemon but instead unbranded, ugly monsters. Would it have blew up? 

Plenty of tablets failed before iPad set the precident, similarly I wouldn't compare a tablet that can hook up to the TV to play angry birds (or whatever is the most popular on the appstore right now) to one that could do the same and play 4 player Mario Kart.

And again this would be Nintendo attempting to expand their audience, its not abandoning the core userbase and relying soley on non gamers. Regardless of its form factor NX is probably going to have the best handheld launch lineup Nintendo have ever had. I mean just look at Zelda... Aside from fears of its size, Nintendo would be making a monster of a portable gaming machine going by the rumours.

Execution being important kind of goes without saying, whatever the product is.  I just can't understand how this is going to expand their audience at all.  

What is the pitch to the casual gamer who doesn't really care about Nintendo games?  Now you can not care about them at home and on the go?

For a price they will more than likely not feel is worth it.