So announcing a new product at E3 is going to spell doom for a gaming company. Wow, this is shocking news, considering this is exactly how things have been done at E3 since time immemorial. Playstation 2, PS Vita, Xbox 360, Gamecube, Wii, DS, 3DS - all were announced about a year (or more!) before they launched, and all had previous incarnations they were replacing. I guess companies just shouldn't announce their products at all; the Wii U should just show up on shelves one day. Did it occur to you that Nintendo could use this announcement to discourage gamers from buying, say, a PS3 or Xbox 360 within the next quarter? Or that that might be more valuable to Nintendo than lowering its already flagging Wii sales?
The one point your aricles makes on which we both agree is that Nintendo has realized it doesn't want grandmas or three year olds playing their games this generation. And rightly so - not only do they give Nintendo a kiddie reputation, but they don't buy games, and this industry is about buying games. So good for Nintendo. Those Wii users who wants to come along for the ride are more than welcome, but Nintendo is about to return to its roots. If things go as planned, this machine will become the ultimate game device for at least the next few years. I wouldn't be so quick to underestimate Nintendo - they invented and grew this industry into what it is today. You might just be very surprised by this time next year.