Nintendo is struggle to find a way to survive. Their latest generation gaming machine - Wii U - has not sold well. Only 9 million units sold since its launch in mid 2013. (https://fortune.com/2015/06/23/shigeru-miyamoto-wii-u/)
Nintendo previous gaming machine - Wii - was a wild success. In fact, towards the end of 2013, the older Wii was OUTSELLING the new Wii U.
A product has a product life cycle : Development, Growth, Maturity, Decline. (https://hbr.org/1965/11/exploit-the-product-life-cycle). The Wii is supposedly in the decline phase. But it has to be extended to shore up the disappointing sales in the new Wii U. How do you extend the life of a product that is already in the Decline phase? Nintendo has shrunk (cost reduce) the original Wii and bundled it with its star software title "Mario Kart".
Extending the life of a aged product reminds me of the B-52 bomber. It is old, new replacements had arrived, but it was so well designed, it will outlive its original product life cycle (http://articles.latimes.com/2013/aug/19/business/la-fi-ageless-b52-bomber-20130819)
