I agree with most of your comments. I would like to call out a nuance or two.
I think that like apple there are multiple components here -- software, hardware, and ecosystem. I agree that on the software and ecosystem, Nintendo is executing very well and has some valuable assets. The concern I have, and I think a lot of other folks, is on the hardware portion. That concern is an entire industry concern. Even if they were able to get back to a better console experience (like the XBox), the question is whether there is room for a dedicated console in the future. Sure as a niche there will be for a long time, but I am asking about the masses.
Nintendo is not doing well with their hardware, and I question whether dedicated hardware is even the way to go. So, for Nintendo, they can bet on staying with the dedicated hardware, and focus on executing better -- maybe taking your playbook. Or they can get out of the hardware business all together and focus on maximizing profits on the software and ecosystem. Angry Bird is an example of how a software house can execute quite well. And Nintendo can do that many times over with their assets.
If I believed that the console is not dead, then I would be with you on keeping everything within their walled garden. However, I believe that for 70 to 80 percent of gaming, consoles are no longer the way to and the real asset is the software. So in my playbook, I would transition away from hardware all together and redevelop the powerhouse games to work on iOS, Androids, Windows, OS X, whatever. I believe they can be extremely profitable without the burden of hardware manufacturing and the capital required to maintain that supply chain.
I would argue that the impressive sales of the Xbox One and Playstation 4 within 24 hours of their launch is plenty of evidence that console gaming is alive and well. If console gaming was dying we'd see a drop in all video game sales, thus far we have not.
Perhaps what were seeing now is that pre-smartphone era, a DS/Vita handheld or Nintendo/Microsoft/Sony console (or PC) was the ONLY way to play video games.
Now the gamers who would rather have their games on their phone have gone to phone land. For them, the phone satisfies their gaming desires, and serves as a mobile computer that can also make phone calls.
Their are still people who want to play HD games on their big TV's with big speakers, and/or want a dedicated handheld for mobile gaming, a handheld that doesn't sacrifice any functionality because it also has to be a phone/computer.
that doesn't mean the console and handheld consumers are now dying off. Their numbers just aren't bolstered anymore by the people who used to have no other choice.
What Nintendo needs to do is find a way to prove they deserve a spot in your living room.
I don't know what Nintendo has to do to achieve this, i'm just an actor in New York, I am not a game designer or even a writer of the subject.
Maybe Nintendo need to release more 1st party titles than 2 or 3 a year, maybe they need to make a machine that can play said 1st party titles and has the horsepower to play the most popular 3rd party titles also (Halo, Grand Theft Auto, Infamous, Need for Speed, Call of Duty, etc), at the same or similar graphics quality. Maybe the solution is a little of both.
There's a lot of things Nintendo can do, but throwing old and new games at other platforms for a quick buck would be disastrous for the brand.
