Research firm Screen Digest has suggested that Nintendo is behind the curve in a number of fields when it comes to next generation consoles.
While Wii U was first to market, senior principal analyst and head of games at Screen Digest Piers Harding-Rolls expects the next generation Xbox to launch this year, with PS4 following in 2014, and believes Nintendo will be playing catch up in a number of areas.He told Edge: "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."
Harding-Rolls also expects Microsoft and Sony to more widely adopt subsidised pricing models for new hardware. "This will keep the platforms relatively competitive," he said. "Nintendo will be late to adopt a subsidised pricing strategy but could be forced to examine it if Microsoft and Sony push forward with it."

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...screen-digest/