A really dumb excuse, but it does point out a valid complaint about Nintendo's approach. While Mario, Pokemon, Zelda etc. can all be enjoyed by people of all ages (and are more than just "kids IPs" as this source so dismissively put it), they haven't cultivated an audience that would be into stuff like Battlefield etc. Nintendo does need more variety in what it offers consumers. I mean Disney puts out children's shows, family films, and stuff now like the Marvel movies and Star Wars, and still had a hand in putting out stuff as adult-oriented as Kill Bill. Zelda doesn't need to be dark and gritty, they don't need to get EAD making shooters, but if they went back to greenlighting multiple projects with outside studios that were more M-rated (not to say this means "mature content" or anything), that could broaden their portfolio and simultaneously help create an environment where more games of that type could perform better. Bayonetta 2 is maybe in that vein, though it is a decidedly niche game. Maybe the HumanHead project is similar?
But whatever, this is still EA of all companies who put out two busted-ass games this holiday, had to put out apologies for both, and are potentially fucking over those studios' future projects by having to clean up the mess they made with these releases...