Sometimes when a problem is so pervasive and under the surface for years, it becomes almost impossible to see the problem because we are so used to the problem being there that we can't see it. It's like the refrigerator humming in the background but it has been happening for so long that no one who lives in the house notices it anymore. But when you have a friend over the humming irritates them and they mention it... And you're like... "oh I stopped noticing Ages ago." 

this describes perfectly the past ten years or so of Nintendo. I think that while Nintendo did well to explore new ground with the GameCube and the wii, there was a good ten year period of time where their games just didnt have that magic that they had had in the n64 Days. It was a subtle shift, probably starting around 2003 when wind waker came out... Nintendo started trying too hard. Games that didnt make sense like super Mario strikers, games that seemed to rely too much on nostalgia like twilight princess, and this whole disgusting wii period where games like wii music were genuinely taken seriously by miyamoto. While a great game, Mario galaxis was a perfect example of nintendos folly - trying too hard. Mario couldn't just be Mario anymore, he had to be flying through outer space To get attention. 

Fast forward to 2013, a year where freakin luigi is glorified, and we can start to see the beginnings of Nintendo getting the good old magic back. There are a lot of people who are too blinded by sales numbers and the trappings of the current generation to see it, but Nintendo has finally re embraced it's identity as the company that just makes games. Fun games, magical games, multiplayer games, designed to bring us together and make us smile. I see none of the efforting that has been present throughout the wii and ds era... And it seems like Nintendo has reclaimed it's whimsy. New super luigi u, Mario and luigi 4, luigi mansion 2, and the coming games this year... None of them feel like thealtered trying to prove anything Or make a point. They are just Nintendo games at their best. 

i think the biggest example of this is super Mario 3d world... A lot of people expected Mario to be fighting against god in the heavens of some magical land where only the craziest of LSD tripped minds could imagine, and instead it is simply a 4 player Mario game that embraces its roots. No need to impress. No need to make galaxy 3. Nintendo is literally looking to the past to create its future. It is the wisest thing Nintendo has ever done. 

Obviously it's too soon to see the results. I think this console war will be the big one and we just can't see it yet. Microsoft is embracing its online powers, Sony is being Sony on a new level... Embracing the same novelty and diversity that made the ps1 an instant hit. Nintendo is finally out of its experimentation phase and is finally ready to just be itself. The core identities of the big 3 are finally clashing.