Every game industry follower knows Nintendo has been struggling mightily ever since the release of the Wii U. Traditionally their strongest market, Nintendo's home console releases have had up and down success throughout the 2000s and 2010s. The Wii U is the rotten cherry on top of Nintendo's crumpling apple pie, but before we delve into the Wii U's many follies, let's take a look back and see just how Nintendo found itself nearing six feet under.

When released in the fall of 2001, the Nintendo GameCube proved to be a fun living room gaming machine, yet one that couldn't keep up with the PS2 and original Xbox. Then the Gamecube's follow-up, the Nintendo Wii, absolutely walloped both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in international sales.

The Wii's success was attributed to its cultivation of the casual gamer. With the release of the Wii U, Nintendo hoped that those same casual gamers would eventually itch for better graphics and new ways to play. Nintendo also hoped that online multiplayer games like Call of Duty: Black Ops II would generate more interest among hardcore gamers. Yet, hardly anyone hopped on board, and Nintendo's gravy train quickly started to leak.

How dire is Nintendo's situation? Well, Wii U sales are so poor that their quarterly profits throughout 2013 and into 2014 were single-handedly wiped out. Not even the wildly successful 3DS handheld console can pull the company out of the red and into the black. If a Wii U successor isn't released soon the company could be headed down a Sega-like path. Weaker then expected sales of the Sega Dreamcast console torpedoed Sonic's creators. Now they just develop and produce games.

It's murky if a quick turnaround from Nintendo is even possible at this point. Stopping production of the Wii U would be an embarrassment of epic proportions and likely lead to a major executive shakeup. How long can Nintendo afford to keep hemorrhaging cash? The glory days of the Super Famicon, N64 and Wii are over. It needs to fess up and admit the Wii U is an epic fail. Only then can they begin to create a new console that hopefully will achieve maximum market penetration.

That new console may be under development as of this writing. According to BGR, the next, next-generation console from Nintendo will combine portable gaming with home console power. Codenamed the "Fusion," this console will actually be two separate devices. The "Fusion DS" will be a supercharged portable offering and the "Fusion Terminal" will replace the Wii U. These devices will reportedly fully complement each other.

Whatever the case, this Fusion project needs to be able to bring something new to the table. In might even need to one-up the competition (the PS4 and Xbox One) and provide a gaming experience so addicting, so shocking and so groundbreaking that ordinary consumers remember that Mario still exists. Perhaps 4K gaming and online video game streaming at high frame rates are the way to go? Here are the rumored specs.

With the Fusion DS and Fusion Terminal in-game video game recording also needs to be a priority. Gaikai and Twitch video game broadcasting are integrated into the PS4 and Xbox One respectively. Gamers love the feature; the Wii U has nothing to love.

Are you of the opinion that Nintendo should exit the home console market altogether and focus more on creating wildly popular games? Let us know in the comments section below.

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