Research firm Screen Digest has implied this week that Nintendo is 'behind the curve' with its Wii U in the next-gen console market.
Senior principal analyst Piers Harding-Rolls had this to say: "We believe Nintendo looks increasingly isolated in the market. It does not have the luxury of a wider device ecosystem play such as Sony, Apple or Microsoft and it is behind the curve in its online and cloud content strategies.
"We would like to see Nintendo be more aggressive in 'hinging' off its devices using its online platform - Nintendo Network - onto third-party devices as Microsoft is starting to do with Xbox Smartglass and Sony is doing with PlayStation Mobile.
"Neither of these solutions is significant at present but it does show that these companies are willing to engage users on the most popular third-party connected devices to drive relevance for their own products."
The firm says it expects the upcoming Xbox sequel to hit this year, with the PS4 following suit in 2014. Harding-Rolls also says that Microsoft and Sony will offer their hardware with subsidized pricing, making pricing very competitive.
"We would like to see Nintendo be more aggressive in 'hinging' off its devices using its online platform - Nintendo Network - onto third-party devices as Microsoft is starting to do with Xbox Smartglass and Sony is doing with PlayStation Mobile.
"Neither of these solutions is significant at present but it does show that these companies are willing to engage users on the most popular third-party connected devices to drive relevance for their own products."
The firm says it expects the upcoming Xbox sequel to hit this year, with the PS4 following suit in 2014. Harding-Rolls also says that Microsoft and Sony will offer their hardware with subsidized pricing, making pricing very competitive.
