Perhaps Nintendo bet against this "AAA(...)" nonsense, and that may be a good thing.
Just as the interface is a console / handheld / tablet middle ground that acknowledges the death of a one-screen TV-centered living room, the future of gaming is likely not to be found in high budget popcorn experiences. Then again, the $60 game prices are a mistake in my estimation.
The prices are a mistake and go against Nintendo's philosophy of aiming for the mainstream rather than hardcore exclusively. We can perhaps blame the yen to dollar relationship and Nintendo needing to stop their own losses right now. But it's still not a good thing.
Otherwise, the overall design of the system really reinforces, to me at least, one notion: that this console is positioned to give Nintendo a potential exit strategy from traditional game consoles or set top boxes.
I am imagining a Wii Free (ha), which essentially turns the entire thing into a tablet with game controls on it, or maybe a hand-held dock for a tablet that slides out. Somewhat more powerful than Wii U is today, compatible with Wii U software. And sports the same streaming tech as Wii U. But instead of streaming from console to gamepad, the gamepad is the console. And it streams to an optional base station that connects to the big living room screen.
Such a thing might likely also mean the end of Nintendo's other portable device lineage. I do wonder what might happen though from Nintendo going all-in with a single device which serves both as a mobile and living room device. If nothing else, their development resources would be focused in one location.
