Here's something I posted on another forum about the same topic. This is basically what I think Nintendo's plan
could be, which if it is the case would explain a large number of things.
I imagine they're saving all the heavy stuff for when MS/Sony release their consoles. Assuming a Fall/Winter 2013 release, PS4/Xbox Infinity come out at likely high initial price points and with limited launch titles. Knowing this, what is the smartest strategy for Nintendo?
Near the time of their release, slash the price of the WiiU, release polished Mario/Zelda/Metroid/Star Fox/F-Zero/Whatever system seller games, release good third-party games (that would have been in development for over a year) and then market the hell out of it. That's what I would do anyways.
There is some evidence to support that this is their strategy. For one thing they've barely advertised it, most likely saving that money for later. Then there's the fact that Rayman Legends is being delayed until fall, despite being pretty much complete (but getting more content and polish in the process). Pikmin 3 is coming out in fall (in the US), Windwaker HD also in the fall, Wonderful 101 fall. That's in addition to whatever they're cooking up that they haven't shown yet, and 3rd party ports. At my guess, Nintendo's strategy is to roll out as many top quality and highly polished games as possible at a constant rate, starting right around the time the MS/Sony consoles release. This way they can say "hey look at all the games we have right now and that will be coming out soon"
If that doesn't hurt MS/Sony, the lull in xbox/ps4 titles immediately afterwards will because at that time Nintendo and any third party developers will be releasing more and more games (given that they'd have been in development for a year or two).
Basically kind of a "sleeping giant" strategy. Until the PS4/Xbox One come out, Nintendo basically has the next gen market to itself, so there's really no reason why they shouldn't take their time and focus on setting up the chessboard the way they want it, no need to hurry yet. Especially with all that Wii money just sitting around...
In doing this, as far as games are concerned it becomes PS4/Xbox One launch titles going up against the Nintendo first-party heavy hitters designed specifically for the console, which will have the added advantage of having had plenty of development time to get used to the hardware. In the mean time they stay ultra tight-lipped for as long as possible so their competitors have a harder time responding. Remember the Wii-remote being announced and the six-axis getting motion controls just a few months later?
I think that Nintendo views all the time up until this fall as sort of open beta period, where they're getting feedback on what works and what doesn't, fleshing out the e-shop and quietly adding content, seeing what people like and dislike. If they get all that stuff running as smoothly and polished as possible, any problems or lack of polish MS/Sony may run into with their consoles will become magnified, making Nintendo look much more appealing.
Looking at things from that point of view, I think Nintendo's frankly odd behavior regarding the WiiU makes a lot more sense. I just don't think they'd be setting themselves up to lose so much money in the short term if they weren't planning on making it back later.
