While interest rates and energy look to dominate the headlines in 2015, another top story for the year looks to be the rising fortunes for the consumer sector. Lower oil prices, rising home values, and a better jobs situation all look to combine to make consumers feel more confident in their economic situations, and thus more likely to spend as well.

These trends look to make for a great year for the video game space, as this ultra-discretionary industry was already seeing a solid growth track, even with the previous lackluster economic environment. After all, the video game world has been growing at a rate roughly four times as fast as the u.s. economy, and with a better economic environment it seems reasonable to assume that the trend will continue this year as well.

Fortunately for investors, there are a number of choices in the video game space, and most of which appear to be interesting plays for 2015, thanks to a high industry rank for the segment. However, arguably the best way to tap into this growth potential is by taking a closer look at one of the leaders in the video game industry, Nintendo (NTDOY).

Nintendo in Focus

Nintendo is probably best known for its lineup of great characters and titles which are among the longest running franchises in the video game world. These include ultra-popular names like Mario, Pokémon or the Legend of Zelda series, titles which generally accompany any of the company's latest system releases.

The company also made a huge splash a few years ago with the launch of its novel platform, the Wii. This console relied on controllers that sensed motion and it was a huge hit for NTDOY, becoming the best selling console for the company in its history.

The company decided to follow up the Wii with the Wii U in 2012, though this has seen much less interest when compared to its predecessor. Sales haven't been great for the software either, putting Nintendo in a precarious position when compared to the successes of its main competitors, Sony and Microsoft.

Thanks to these sluggish sales, NTDOY stock has been a recent underperformer. Shares of the company are basically flat over the past two years, easily trailing broad benchmarks in the process. However, as we start the New Year, things are looking up for Nintendo and this could be a turnaround time for the company.

Better Days Ahead?

Nintendo is starting to see sales for its consoles and games perk up, and this is largely thanks to some very popular titles. The latest Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. are drawing more interest into the Wii U platform, and are continuing their popularity from previous editions from old systems.