It's obviously too late to change things and I may still be interested in the console. But it seems like +Nintendo has chosen to miss several opportunities with the way they've chosen to implement their Wii U controller.

My suspicion is that they decided to stream to the remote tablet because it's easier to produce an API developers are likely to use. Although this doesn't absolve their approach of it's absurdity. Both in cost and in technical implementation.

The limitations of the Wii U controller would have been easily avoided if Nintendo realized that with a bit of effort, they could have produced an appealing API and a proper implementation for less.

They are after all pretty flush with cash and lessons from the shovelware-prone Wii! So, instead... Let me suggest the approach that would guarantee success: Bundle a 3DS instead!

Rationale?

Well, it goes without saying that the tablet and smartphone market are officially eating away at console and handheld sales. More open platforms with easier developer access has nurtured a natural competitor to consoles. These devices come from such a foreign place and speak such a foreign language than what console maker executives are used to, they are helpless to react.

So that's one thing. There is one more however.

As pressure mounts from Sony's Vita, maybe we'll see a revision of the 3DS that attempts to bump the price back up, possibly adding a few features. But not nearly enough intrinsic value to warrant the jump we'll see.

Sadly, this will only go against the platform which many today are considering a bit of a dud.

Which isn't necessarily my own view 100%, but we have to admit Nintendo has already lowered the price of the 3DS once to try and jog sales. With limited success I might add.

All that said, even at the price it's currently sitting at, the 3DS can still make Nintendo money. With the production already in place, throwing a 3DS in with every Wii U and instead producing an air-tight coupling between the two devices through some good software development seems not only cost-effective but also pure genius.

The synergy that most people are dying for from their mobiles and consoles would go from being "improbable" to "implicit". Nintendo would be installing two platforms at the perceived cost of one. Their entire ecosystem deployed in one pass featuring - hopefully - cloud, social graph and multiplayer living room gaming.

Next time I write on this, I might bring up my idea of how an Animal Crossing Wii U could function under this model. It's pretty neat stuff and again - all done by nurturing software development for once - not starving it for a proprietary hardware & marketing budget!

It's obviously too late to change things and I may still be interested in the console. But it seems like +Nintendo has chosen to miss several opportunities with the way they've chosen to implement their Wii U controller.

My suspicion is that they decided to stream to the remote tablet because it's easier to produce an API developers are likely to use. Although this doesn't absolve their approach of it's absurdity. Both in cost and in technical implementation.

The limitations of the Wii U controller would have been easily avoided if Nintendo realized that with a bit of effort, they could have produced an appealing API and a proper implementation for less.

They are after all pretty flush with cash and lessons from the shovelware-prone Wii! So, instead... Let me suggest the approach that would guarantee success: Bundle a 3DS instead!

Rationale?

Well, it goes without saying that the tablet and smartphone market are officially eating away at console and handheld sales. More open platforms with easier developer access has nurtured a natural competitor to consoles. These devices come from such a foreign place and speak such a foreign language than what console maker executives are used to, they are helpless to react.

So that's one thing. There is one more however.

As pressure mounts from Sony's Vita, maybe we'll see a revision of the 3DS that attempts to bump the price back up, possibly adding a few features. But not nearly enough intrinsic value to warrant the jump we'll see.

Sadly, this will only go against the platform which many today are considering a bit of a dud.

Which isn't necessarily my own view 100%, but we have to admit Nintendo has already lowered the price of the 3DS once to try and jog sales. With limited success I might add.

All that said, even at the price it's currently sitting at, the 3DS can still make Nintendo money. With the production already in place, throwing a 3DS in with every Wii U and instead producing an air-tight coupling between the two devices through some good software development seems not only cost-effective but also pure genius.

The synergy that most people are dying for from their mobiles and consoles would go from being "improbable" to "implicit". Nintendo would be installing two platforms at the perceived cost of one. Their entire ecosystem deployed in one pass featuring - hopefully - cloud, social graph and multiplayer living room gaming.

Next time I write on this, I might bring up my idea of how an Animal Crossing Wii U could function under this model. It's pretty neat stuff and again - all done by nurturing software development for once - not starving it for a proprietary hardware & marketing budget!