We've covered two options to keep Nintendo alive in the home console market - a desperate Wii U rebranding and price cut, or an entirely new console which surpasses the Xbox One and PS4 - but it might be wiser to take a different approach altogether. Perhaps it's time that Nintendo realizes that their golden age of console domination ended decades ago, and that to stay profitable they need to refocus completely, effectively shutting down the home console division almost completely. Instead of plowing money into newfangled plastic boxes to sit under your television, the answer could be to shift all of that R&D time and budget into the already successful handheld division. The Wii was a colossal money-spinner, but its beleaguered follow-up has had a torrid time at retail. You're welcome to dispute that, but have a look at the waning publisher support for the Wii U, look at how many prominent games simply don't feature on the Wii U release schedule, and it's clear. Nintendo's handheld systems have always been massively popular, with the original Game Boy and the various iterations of the Nintendo DS selling in the multi-millions, so that's where they should be looking for big revenues. But even that division is in dire need of consolidation - by having so many SKUs (oversized models, 2D models, 3D-capable models, 2D versions of the 3D-capable models and so on), they lose gamer confidence, because we're loathe to buy a new version when there always seems to be something better just on the horizon. Scrap the home consoles, make one or two stunningly designed handheld models available, and they're bound to reap the rewards.
Game-obsessed since the moment I could twiddle both thumbs independently. Equally enthralled by all the genres of music that your parents warned you about.
