What has smartphones to do with a home console?
The next sentence in the post you quoted contains the metaphor which explains the relevance of the first sentence: simply, I think technological iteration has become so past that a success ten years ago is so much in the distant past that it has little bearing on what is going on today.
But since you raised the question, another argument that I did not advance in the first post but is valid is that the NX design as described by Eurogamer is very clearly a reaction to smartphones. It's using a smartphone GPU. It is not backwards compatible with their ""real hardware games"". It is supposedly compatible in some way with their smartphone software. By merging their handhelds and home consoles in this innovative way, they get around the "I don't bother carrying my 3DS with me, but I'd prefer to use my TV at home" problem--a problem created because all-in-one smartphones eroded the value proposition of other things you can carry with you. The company as a whole has pivoted to recognizing the value of smartphone software.
Notwithstanding the financial ownership of Pokemon GO, they've had quite possibly their biggest cultural impact in 10 years or more with it and that's something that could only be leveraged by the real-world social virality of the game driven largely by the fact that only smartphones have data access, download-anywhere, the sensor array that can support the game. It was also made in collaboration with a company that's very much borne of the post-mobile US startup culture. Niantic was basically able to loss lead for a long time assembling a database of points of interest (classic startup: their core business model is dinky little games, but if their VC overlords ever force a pivot, they can sell the information to businesses) and that set the foundation to be able to execute Pokemon GO. Obviously there's not an infinite number of rabbits to be pulled out of the hat, but if you're Nintendo, this is a powerful sign about how to make a phenomenon today and the answer isn't a 95 Metacritic polished AAA experience, it's a clunky barebones thing that mostly coasts on their brand and the power and reach of the smartphone platform. I am certain these are lessons they're thinking about as they develop software.
So I think it's very clear that smartphones have greatly influenced how people think about launching a home console in 2016.
In all actuality, the Wii was proof that Nintendo did have there "shit" together. They didn't go bankrupt like so many other publishers and developers. They correctly predicted that making HD games were going to be expensive. Nintendo didn't loose billions and billions of dollars subsidizing gaming consoles that overheated and barely did HD games like Sony and Microsoft did. Furthermore, to disregard the success of the Wii attracting a "difference audience" is asinine.
I'm not super sure who it is you're replying to, but my point was not that the Wii was a fluke or anything--it was very obviously a well-executed plan that was highly successful. My point is that the world has changed since the Wii, and as the post suggests, it's changed so much that I don't think it's all that useful to say "Well, Nintendo knocked it out of the park with the Wii, so they clearly know what they're doing". Blackberry knocked it out of the park with their platform too, and then the world changed. This is not pessimism on my part, perhaps the NX will be very successful, and I think the information so far suggests it's at least informed by the changing world. But my point is 100% the high school quarterback analogy. At some point no one is going to believe "I coulda been a contender!" with a 10 year old graph as, like, viable.
