@MrDoods93 @wes008 I hated on my 3DS until I was stuck with a smartphone for a bit and later bought a Vita, now I love it (Kid Icarus certainly helped).

@alex-willoz It's a less aggressive business model they adapted after losing dominance with the 64, less competitiveness meant smaller battles and in turn smaller profit, but they maximized what they could get and were the first to be profitable last gen. They got genuinely lucky with the Wii and I'm afraid they learned the wrong lessons, but since the competition is following their lead they really don't have much to worry about.

@thenerd64 Well, unlike with the 3DS Nintendo won't be prepping another console after the Wii U launches, so maybe we'll see more games for it than the 3DS saw at first.

@pokemonblackftw From their rumored specs, they won't surpass the Wii U THAT much, maybe closer to PS2 vs GC/X-Box... Well, Durango won't anyways, but the PS4 is still up in the air, no?

@DoodaPooda So bored... It's like 4:30am and here I am commenting on a bunch of comments...

1. Pretty much a shoe-in at this point.

2. Not very loyal or profitable. What the hell would they do with the old consoles?

3. Cloud saving could be convenient or a nightmare, like any server side service (Diablo 3 lol).

4. ... Why? With so much ambient noise around consoles, pressing a button - then speaking - would be required... and the purpose is defeated. Also voice recognition isn't that reliable yet.

5. You mean like the Wii U. The Vita is an entire console and the described applications were already done on the DS.

6. No, stop it. It rarely works as good as a standard controller and any immersion is negated when you need to turn, barely catch your remote (or drop it), interpret movement directions wrong, etc.

7. Don't the Wii and 3DS already do that? Or do you mean more like the custom UIs that hacked PSPs used to have? THOSE were cool.

8. Dude, not gonna happen. Even if a console did this, too many people will end up clamoring for a COD, Upset Fowl, etc., and wouldn't you be bummed if a GREAT game you loved never got a sequel, spin-off, or what have you?

9. That will be difficult but it's far from impossible. Aren't there games that can/will do that between the PS3 and PCs?

10. That $60 price tag was introduced well before the economy dropped. Games are WAY more expensive to produce now than they were last gen, and even then games were more expensive in the gens before last! I specifically remember seeing 64 games priced at $65+ sometimes and some SNES titles being $80! Hell, last gen we were pampered...

Alright, anymore dreams for me to deconstruct and crush?

@-The-G-Man- Gamespot listing things they want to see in a next gen console on the eve of the E3 before it's shown in detail?!? Preposterous!

And about the Dreamcast blah blah blah DVD blah? Yeah, it pretty much was a big reason for it's fall. Without it, the PS2 would've been hampered both technically and in sales. Hell, in Japan the number one PS2 seller was The Matrix on DVD. Nintendo only survived that gen due to it's rabid fanbase and the GBA's success. I personally would say the other two top reasons for it's fall were poor software quality control (which lead to direct ports of PS1 and N64 games) along with a less than stellar advertising campaign.

@Blashbuck How many side-scrollers did the Wii have compared to the 360 and PS3? And way to peg the GOW and Halo crowd! Joking, joking...

I honestly think your talking with pure ignorance right now, Nintendo has been plenty open to violent (im)mature games for a good long while now (No More Heroes anyone?) and outside of NSMB (the Paper one too) and that Wario game, I can think of Rayman Origins (it's on everything) and... uh... that one Vanillaware game.

And what's so interesting about "gritty grey/brown shooter 3.5: Expansion Pack Spin-off Edition"?

I'm sick of people saying "smartphones will kill handhelds" despite sales of handheld devices only INCREASING (excepting the Vita). Handhelds never relied heavily on the casual market (EVERYONE loves Tetris) and the masses that play "touch the fruit" or "fling the bird" are the same people that were satisfied playing snake and Tiger Electronics games.

That said, you pegged it dead on.

Nintendo can't rely too much on the casual market this time around since the vast majority of those buyers are now eating up tablets and smartphones. The only way I see them grabbing their attention again is if they make the Wii U more of a super easy entertainment hub, allowing the controller to work to their advantage over others in the field. A good and cheap HDD along with the expected streaming and download services is all that's needed along with a simple(ish) and elegant UI. For the core audience... They just need to catch up and TRY.

Also, being "disruptive, outsider, angry, or antagonistic" describes any number of groups, from the mostly pro-big government occupiers to Christian militants to school shooters to the Incredible Hulk, and I don't think any of these are particularly "punk" (Hulk's just irritable). Also, Phil Fish is just another "indie" developer feeding his own ego and thinking his opinion is worth more than it is. Guess his "original" 2D platformer is better than an entire country's industry, at least in his opinion.

"Punk" has changed in definition throughout the years but in these days I think it's primarily about A.) ignoring the opinions of others and B.) enjoying the general punk music/culture. You don't have to be a nihilist, narcissist, or even an anarchist to be "punk", such "qualifications" would be counter intuitive to the very ideal at the culture's core: individualism. Is this game somewhat or very cliche? Yes. Does that make it less "punk"? Only if it was made cliched in order to sell more to a wider audience. Ironically enough, "selling out" by paying a jingle for a company in spite of protests from others is more "punk" than putting on a Ramones shirt and drawing a little anarchy A in your text book just because you feel obligated to express your "punk" status (it's also passive aggressive).