I’ve said for a while now that for all its success over the past five years Nintendo actually never had any idea what it was doing, but this latest Wii U rumor seals the deal beyond a reasonable doubt.

Basically, the Wii U is shaping up to be as ill-defined and rushed as the 3DS. Its centerpiece, the single-point of contact non-HD touchscreen, allegedly isn’t working without a tether, and even with the tether the performance is so poor that developers have had to halt production on titles.

Adding insult to injury, the Wii U’s purported summertime launch date is now September 2012. Nintendo is big enough that a flop like the 3DS could probably be weathered, but if you add in another flop in the console space…I’m really not so sure anymore.

I’m now well beyond the point of “disappointed parent” with Nintendo. It’s full on anger, and the box of unused Wii games and Wii console sitting to my side as I type this might as well be a box of hammers for all the enjoyment it’s given me over the past 12 months. Which is to say none.

A single-point non-HD touchscreen console that can only interact (barely) with one controller at a time? Launching in a year? Gee whiz, could I have ten?

When it rains it pours: Nintendo is allegedly sending the 3DS back to the shop for a major 2012 overhaul, including a head-scratching $10 add-on thumbstick that will attach to the devices’s right side and a decreased emphasis on 3D capabilities.

The disheartening rumor arrives courtesy a tipster over at 1UP, who has in the past successfully provided insider information about the Wii U and Sony Vita handheld. Also included in the rumor is news that Nintendo will re-do the device’s dated aesthetics and decrease the amount of focus it has placed on 3D. Did I mention that second part already? My bad. Consider it an example of stereoscopic criticism.

In the end, what we’ll have is a DSi, uh, Plus with a $10 accessory that only a small percentage of owners will actually buy then? Awesome news.

As always, this is a rumor. Take with salt and consider it accordingly. If true, however, this device will go down as one of the biggest disappoints in Nintendo history. Some Nintendo diehards, like me, argue that it’s atthat point already.

Hey! A little game to start off our Tuesday. What fun! Here it goes. It’s pretty simple: Guess the mystery company using the clues provided.

• Blame the customers for lower than expected sales.
• Fledgling handheld.
• Rumored $400 next-gen console.
• Ignore the competition, label it insignificant or kiddie or even dangerous to the industry.
• Use weird doublespeak and borderline lies in your press releases when things aren’t going well.
• Announce new hardware years in advance via a controlled press leak instead of making it immediately available to normal folks in intimate Ambassadors settings within people’s homes.

Did you say Sony, circa the launch of the PlayStation 3 or PSP Go? Wrong answer.

Huh. Typing out those words was a bit easier than I thought it would be, especially for such an ardent fanman like myself.

One more time, just to be sure: I’m not going to buy a 3DS.

Here’s why:

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I was once a semi-champion for the Nintendo’s Wii Vitality Sensor, but now even I have given into reason and rationality: This vaporware peripheral, for me, is all but dead on arrival.

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