A part from the Wii which was an anomaly Nintendo consoles with each passing generation have obtained smaller and smaller install bases. My guess is the Wii U may well continue this trend and Nintendo may find itself even more marginalised as a result.

This is it, Nintendo would seriously damage their brand by dropping support of the Wii U as early as 18 months into its life cycle. Nintendo have the power to change the fortunes of the Wii U, but unfortunately I don't think they have a President that is willing to adapt and change in order to succeed and the longer he refuses to change and the longer that Nintendo refuse to make changes, the more difficult it will be to turn the fate of the Wii U around.

If I was Iwata I'd be looking at securing some third party exclusives that will have a mass appeal - but he's ruled out ever opening his wallet to secure such changes as he believes it becomes an endless cycle of expectancy by third party developers and publishers and while he has a point, evidently Nintendo need to do something, do anything to get the Wii U out of retailers and into the homes of gamers.

Very true, but say that Nintendo moves away from the Wii brand and comes out with a console on par with the PS4 and Xbox One, how do you know it will sell? What happens if that console struggles to sell? Does Nintendo release yet another console down the line?

If that starts happening then how can any consumer purchase a Nintendo console when in the back of their mind they are wondering just how long that console will last for? Could you honestly invest in hardware that may only last a year or two before it's killed off and replaced with a new model just because the company in question is struggling to make it attract to consumers and therefore struggles to generate any profitability from the product? I know I couldn't.

Also of the 93 million people you refer to are gamers? Many people who bought the Wii were not gamers in the truest sense of the word. Those people were playing on PC's, 360's and PS3's, not the Wii and they're the people who pump billions into the industry on an annual basis. I bet you most of the 93million people you refer to are more than happy playing mini-games on their smartphones and tablets and have no intention of dropping $350 on a console and $60 on games.

They have a point. Just how many of the 6-7million Wii U adopters will be willing to drop another $300-$350 on a Nintendo console so soon after purchasing a Wii U? If Nintendo brought out a new console later on this year, I sure as hell wouldn't buy it and I'd be quite angry about it.

Nintendo have isolated a lot of gamers already, the last thing they'll want to do is isolate even more gamers, gamers who are supporting Nintendo by purchasing their hardware and software.

These figures are a little misleading aren't they? These are just US figures aren't they? Also the 5-6million sales figure is around four months out of date, I'd say the Wii U is probably around the 6.5-7million mark in global sales. At any rate the Wii U is selling far worse than the Gamecube and I don't think it's a fair reflection on what I feel is a great console. It should be a damning verdict on an out of touch and incompetent Nintendo hierarchy who seem to be stuck in a slumber of complacency.

The Wii U is a brilliant little console, but it does feel like a lazy, ill-thought out cash in on the Wii brand and unfortunately for Nintendo it hasn't worked out to well for them. Well it was never going to work out too well with a lack of third party support, virtually no marketing and no must have compelling software at launch and within the 18 months of the consoles life span.

Can Mario Kart 8 rejuvenate the Wii U's fortunes? I'm not entirely sure, I hope so, but I have to say I'm bit disappointed that Nintendo have done another rehash job with "classic Mario Kart courses" from previous console iterations in their last two games which smacks of a lack of effort and yet more laziness on Nintendo's part. Rehashes and DLC at Nintendo, who'd have thought it? Then there's the inability to have in game voice chat. I mean seriously? Are you for real?

Once again a Nintendo system is relying on its first party offerings to drag it out of the gutter and I hope it works out well for Nintendo. People downplay the failing of the Wii U and say "Nintendo has billions and cannot afford to lose billions for the next few decades" and these people miss the bigger picture; "Consumer faith". Money can be earned back far more easily than consumer faith.

The failing of the Wii U and the negativity that has engulfed the console is eroding consumer faith in Nintendo hardware. A lot of people just aren't prepared to spend $300 on a console for less than a handful of games and I can't say I blame them.

I think Nintendo need to go through a process of modernisation, they need a new business model, a new direction and a fresh approach with new top executives who are going to maximise Nintendo's core strengths, while minimising their weaknesses and exploiting the opportunities that present themselves to Nintendo, so that Nintendo can once again become a serious ball player in the console game.

I wish I could tell you about Shin Megami Tensei IV but it still hasn't been released in Europe. :(

Microsoft don't manufacture PC's do they? Also Microsoft's business and operating systems sectors are their most profitable, that their bread and butter and they are successful in their main fields, the same applies to Apple. Didn't they sell 51m iPhones last year? I'm not saying Nintendo won't out last Microsoft or Sony, I don't know one way or another, I do know that Nintendo are due to post their third successive fiscal loss in March (according to reports) and it seems that the Wii U is a large cause of their fiscal loss for the last financial year.

Also on your point about failure, can Nintendo really afford to fail? If the Wii U fails then isn't that a sign of consumer fatigue in Nintendo's home console hardware and software offerings? Also a failing/failed product could lead to further losses in consumer faith couldn't it?

I watch Nintendo's Directs and most of those directs are dominated by the 3DS. Just take a look at the big Direct of 2014, it was mainly about the upcoming games on the 3DS. The Wii U owners were thrown a few tidbits about Bayonetta 2 and X with a sprinkling of Mario Kart 8.

I get the impression that Nintendo are really focusing their energy on the 3DS and the Wii U is getting the short end of the stick. This is further compounded by the fact Iwata has stated he is looking at smartphones and tablets. Could Nintendo be ready to exit the home console market and focus on handheld-on-the-go gaming?

I wasn't suggesting that Nintendo should stop making hardware and become a third party developer and publisher, what I'm saying is that Nintendo may well benefit from leaving the home console market and just focusing on making handheld devices and games as this seems to be their bread and butter.

Nintendo handhelds sell very well, in fact they've sold more handheld devices then they have home consoles.

Given the Wii U woes that have engulfed the Wii U for the past 11 months I was thinking would it be better for Nintendo to leave the home console market?

As someone who owns a Wii U I have found that Nintendo just don't seem as committed to the Wii U as they do the 3DS family consoles.

I see plenty of great games coming out on the 3DS and there's virtually nothing coming out on the Wii U. I see 3DS advertisements and virtually nothing about the Wii U or its games.

I read an article where Iwata states that mergers and acquistions may well be needed in future and Nintendo is prepared to lease out their franchises to third party developers.

This says to me that Nintendo does not have the infrastructure in place to support two devices. Now whether or not this is correct is not something I can say for sure, though it does seem rather strange given how much first party software was released on the DS and the Wii which were operational at same time.

Given the popularity of the DS and the fact that the 3DS is the best selling console week in week out, would it not be more beneficial for Nintendo to focus purely on the handheld market which is where they are dominant? The DS destroyed the PSP and the 3DS is destroying the Vita.

Handhelds are cheaper to manufacturer, the games are cheaper to develop for and the appetite for Nintendo handhelds is still strong, despite the popularity of smartphone and tablet gaming.

If I take Wii sales out of the equation, Nintendo sales of their home console hardware seems to be by in large decreasing.

The NES sold around 61m units. The SNES sold around 49m units. The N64 sold 32m units. The Gamecube sold around 21m units and the Wii U? I think there's a great chance that the Wii U will sell less units than the Gamecube and that worries me because it signals that gamers aren't interested in Nintendo's home consoles.

I own a Wii U and I do like it, but I would hold off purchasing one until there is a larger selection of games available for the system. One of my major annoyance's with the Wii U has been the game droughts and the continued broken promises surrounding it i.e. no more game droughts happening.

The Wii U Gamepad again is not a bad peripheral, I do prefer the standard Pro controller due to the Gamepad's poor battery life and the fact that out of 12 games I own, only three of those games really utilise the Gamepad in a fun and innovative way.

I understood the reason behind the Wii-motes, they were an essential part of the Wii experience and were utilised by every single developer that developed games for the Wii, but the tablet controller feels like a forced peripheral which hasn't lived up to its potential as of yet.