I think most of us are missing how big a factor China could be this generation. They have opened their doors to video games now, but there is no way that they will allow games like COD, Battlefield, or GTA. They should have no problem allowing any Mario game, Smash Bros, Wonderful 101, Pikmin, or any number of Wii U or 3Ds games.

Nintendo could yet be the big winner this gen without even being popular in the West.

Wow, don't know what system is producing a steady stream of games that are innovative and not a series of games that do the same thing over and over.

The same could be said for any platform, but if you don't use it, sell it.

@speak_low: Yet Nintendo's stock is higher than ever and the company is worth more than Sony. How many consoles will Nintendo sell in China? My guess is more than Sony can sell to America.

Wrong

According to Digital Foundry:

All of these features would be for nothing if the performance wasn't there, of course. Mario titles demand precision and a quick response that call for a solid 60 frames per second update. More so than most games aiming for this goal, EAD has managed to deliver a 100 per cent consistent update. Every moment of the game, every menu transition, and every element of the user interface all operate at 60fps without a single hitch. Shooting for 60fps is no small task and requires cooperation from the entire team throughout the development cycle, but Nintendo takes it further by taking a zero-tolerance approach to frame-rate dips.

Perhaps you were too stoned to realize the frame rate is a rock solid 60 fps?

I would suggest Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and then Skyward Sword. However, be prepared for a very slow start to Twilight Princess and a lot of hand holding in Skyward Sword. Both games require several hours of play before they actually let you go to enjoy the games on your own.

Control wise, Twilight Princess is not annoying unless you have an aversion to flicking your wrist more than mashing a button, and Skyward Sword can be an amazing experience unless you lack coordination.

1. Continue to make great first party games including Zelda and Metroid.

2. Partner with 3rd party devs and publishers to make exclusive games. Imagine partnering with EA to make a good Star Wars game, or working with Bethesda to bring an exclusive Elder Scrolls game to Nintendo,

3. Court indies to make exclusives

4. Create new IPs for a new generation of gamers.

Nintendo has over-saturated their market with the New Super Mario Bros series games, and may well be wasting their resources with Donkey Kong Country as well.

McDonalds recognizes that McRibs sell best when they offer them sparingly.

We know Nintendo will continue to develop and publish games of the utmost quality, but the western game market may well turn a blind eye to those games. Kirby, Yoshi, Mario Kart, Donkey Kong, and others may well fail to appeal to an audience who flocks to COD and GTA but little else.

Nintendo would benefit from forming partnerships with western developers who could help Nintendo find software that appeals to the important 13-25 year old demographic that purchases video games. A hard group to reach with Nintendo's core franchises because of the insecurities they feel. This group seeks what they feel are mature experiences.

I don't think Nintendo needs to change their menu. Turkey is always good at Thanksgiving, Hot dogs at the 4th of July. pizza is always good, and hamburgers will always sell. Expanding their menu to reach a target audience should be done.

Let me guess, you used your birthday money to buy a Vita and now you're upset?

That's OK, just tell your mommy and daddy that you want a 3DS for Christmas.

This!

Any system is always one app away from success.

Nintendo has the capability to make an app that drives users to their system, so far, they don't have the insight.

An open world or online Zelda adventure could do it.

An open world or online Metroid could do it.

A new IP we haven't thought of could do it.

An open world or online Mario could do it.

A Pokemon game similar to Skylanders could do it. Imagine how much money Nintendo could rake in by selling all those little Pokemon figures.

Or, it may never happen, but success or failure will have to be judged by looking at the entire life cycle of the machine, not just its beginnings.

People may praise the games that are popular today, but outside some limited franchises, developers and publishers have been struggling and failing. How many CODs or Assassins Creeds can you produce before saturation occurs? Sure the new systems are pretty, but in reality fewer and fewer developers/publishers can produce games for them. If a dev/publisher just spent 2-3 years making a game for one of the new systems, and it doesn't sell, they may not be around to try again. Thus, developers aren't going to sway too far from the successful formulas. In reality, we aren't getting much in the way of new games on any system, we are getting more of the same. That is a different situation from the previous generational change where we saw drastic changes in graphics and gameplay as ideas previously only found on PCs made their way to consoles.

That could work in Nintendo's favor. They are the one company who's IPs are seeing drastic improvements in graphics and could see drastic improvements in online multiplayer as well.