One thing that I haven’t seen talked about anywhere, is the obvious reason why Nintendo created the Wii U. If we apply Occam’s Razor, we actually see what is going on in Nintendo’s head.
Remember the Vitality Sensor? Nintendo said at one point that they were still interested in the project but they were finding it difficult for people to interact with the product. What I think happened, is if you are trying to develop like a sleep app, no one wants to go to the living room and hook their finger up to the tv before bedtime. So what they decided was they needed the user to be able to carry a screen with them that they could put on their nightstand. Thus, the Wii U and it’s controller was born.
…Yes I am suggesting that Nintendo’s next home console was designed so that they could play with the Vitality Sensor.
Furthermore, Nintendo *thinks* that the Vitality Sensor and it’s game will be the next Wii Sports and will “expand the gaming population”. Nintendo thinks this approach will lead them to massive success. Instead of Nintendo being surprising like they claim they are actually being very formulaic and predictable…
In 2005, Nintendo announces the controller of the Wii and shows a video of all its potential uses, while announcing no official games. This is to hype the system.
In 2006, Nintendo officially announces Wii Sports and sets the direction of the Wii.
In 201?, Nintendo officially announces Wii U Vitality Sensor and sets the direction of the Wii U.
Of course, the keyword here is that Nintendo *thinks* they are going to replicate the success of the Wii. As your readers know, it is highly improbable due to all the reasons you detail on your blog (i.e. unlike in 2006, Nintendo now has pissed off customers, the customers are suffering a great recession, etc.) Nintendo is trying to apply the previous template while failing to address all the problems this past generation has caused. Or worse, seeing the wrong problems of this past generation (thinking you divided the gaming population by not including HD is the wrong problem, idiots).
Also, if you think I am crazy for suggesting that the Wii U was designed entirely to use one app (the vitality sensor) I would like to point out that history has shown Nintendo has manufactured, launched and marketed an entire console line across the globe only to sell one game. In 2006, Nintendo launched the Wii apparently to only sell Wii Sports (it is the only non-gamecube port they have created). Clearly, it was not to make other motion controlled games, advance video gaming as an entertainment medium, or anything else related to the Gaming Revolution that we all believed in. After they successfully milked that cow for 5 years, Wii Sports was retired, and the Wii was packed in with Mario Kart and relegated to the cheap toy bargain bin for poor Latinos..
I don’t think Nintendo has any idea what to do with Vitality Sensor. Iwata showed it off when he did because he wanted everyone to know that Nintendo was ‘full of ideas’ and was a ‘technology company’. Nintendo seems very irritated when people kept saying Nintendo wasn’t a “technology company” and only used “off the shelf parts” to make things like the Wii and DS.