Doubt it. They'd rather compete directly with Sony and MS releasing all powerful home console than drop that part of the business all together.

Ok well since you brought up Mario Kart, explain how Mario Kart Wii outsold Mario Kart DS by over 10 million while having an install that was over 50 million lower?

How did Double Dash outsell Super Cuircut on nearly 1/4 the install base? How did Mario Kart 8 sell almost as much as Super MK on 1/4 the install base?

Like I said, bigger install base does not necessarily mean bigger sales.

as for keeping handhelds but going 3rd party on consoles, that would only hurt their handheld business.

Zelda is going to sell well over 5 million on Switch alone.

Honestly, Nintendo as a third party developer would be the worst thing possible for video games. Nintendo has always led in innovation. Not saying Sega/Sony/MS haven't or don't innovate at all, but compared to Nintendo they don't do much. Sony/MS basically just make more powerful systems, or they add in stuff that's already been done by Nintendo (analog stick, rumble, motion controls, etc) or that is being done already by other companies (VR).

I'm at the point where I could care less how powerful a system is, hell I got to that point by pretty much the Gamecube and Xbox. With those systems I was like wow graphics don't really need to be any better than this. Sure I appreciate current day amazing cutting edge graphics, but video games don't need to be realistic looking to be good. The difference between the graphics of a Switch and a PS4 is kinda just like, "oh yeah ps4 looks better, cool, that's nice".

Anyways, if there is one of the big three that it wouldn't really hurt the industry if they disappeared it's Microsoft. MS and Sony are basically playing the same game: get the most powerful system out there. But besides the 360/ps3 when their sales were basically equal for that gen, Sony always destroys MS. MS systems are just a less popular version of Sony systems. It's redundant. Since the Wii Nintendo has done different and interesting stuff, not always successfully (Wii U), but with every system (Wii, Wii U, Switch, DS, less so with the 3DS which was more gimmicky upgrade to the DS) they try to come at the market with something new. And especially these days with diminishing returns on graphics, Nintendo's innovation and pursuit of giving gamers new experiences will be more important than ever.

If Nintendo were to ever go third party that would be a sign that the industry is not going to grow anymore because you'd be left with two companies giving you the exact same experience, only slightly improved from their last offering.

Well, they may all go third party if we end up in a situation where proprietary consoles are gone and replaced by a streaming network, like Netflix for gaming or something.

Yeah, I tend to agree, I don't know if I'd even remain a gamer if Nintendo went third party. An industry with nothing but boring iterative hardware doesn't sound like something I'd want to be part of.

I also feel like we've reached the point where even low end graphics are good enough. Wii U already looked fine to me, hell there are still Gamecube games that look good in my book. I couldn't care less about 4K or any of that jazz.

I know. I used past tense. I said Would've Sold. I did not say 'Will Sell'

I'm saying it would've sold over 5 mil if it released on all of those platforms by now. 

But with the loss of both hardware profits and software royalties.

If it was in Nintendo's best interest to go third party, they would have done it already.

Sigh.

1. I already said it's not a 1 for 1 growth. 
2. Because they're not the same game.
3. Handheld and console are different platforms and you can't compare the 2 and they're completely different markets.
4. The same game released on more platforms DOES mean more sales. Is it proportional? No. But I already said that so I don't know why you keep making this point. GTA V Would not have sold 75 million units if it was playstation exclusive.
5. If you think them putting Mario and Zelda etc on PS/XBOX/STEAM Means people wont buy their handhelds and they wouldn't sell a tonne from Pokemon and Monster Hunter I don't know what to say to you.

All companies only make decisions that it 100% best for them and never make any mistakes. 

Would the switch have sold less with Zelda not being exclusive? Yes of course. How much money did they spend on R&D for the switch? Hmm.

If all the Games for Wii U came out on PS/Xbox/Steam at the same time it would've done Wii numbers. Super profits. And they'd make even more money from claiming ad revenue on more youtube videos ;)