The only important question is:

Made unique use of the Wii U controller?

Answer is no, so I agree. That tech demo was not next-gen. The hide-and-seek demo was next-gen. It could not be done with current-generation hardware.

From what has been suggested and not confirmed about the Wii U hardware I would agree ...

As a rough estimate, it would be like Nintendo having released the Wii with a dual core CPU running at 1.5GHz (most likely Power PC 970MP variant) with a GPU that was roughly in line with a GPU that was roughly equal to a Radeon X700 or a Geforce 6600. Not a system which is designed to be directly competitive against the HD consoles, but something with enough power to see cross-platform development and have some impressive graphics in its own right.

Yeah I think it'll be a much closer gen, since every system will have HD graphics and the tech demo with the bird flying around the field looked to be a next gen jump in visuals.

Edit: Also the Zelda demo was only a demonstration, it'll likely look even better by release, which is still probably years away.

If Sony"s PSP Vita/NGP is next gen, so will the Wii U. Ha Ha Ha Ha, I know that I'm trolling and so what!

Ubisoft is blinded by rabbits so don't take them seriously.

you guys seem so blind to me.  i have only seen the zelda tech demo through shitty youtube videos which i know NEVER does a game justice, and it still looks better.

I mean seriousyl look at the lighting.  someone in another thread showed a video of gow3 fighting a giant scorpion and saying they look the same.  It was pathetic.  beyond just the detail in everything being better just the LIGHTING was insane.  Put on sunglasses and wear them for an hour, then TAKE them off.  PS3/360 games look like they are wearing sunglasses the whole time.  the lighting in zelda made it seem like i finally took off my shades and can enjoy the world for its crisp clean everything.    its not even about which has more polygons or which has more realistic looking graphics, or has individual hairs, ect.  Just teh light going into the temple was spectacular.  seriously when i watch that video, like 90% of my attention is just oogling over how pretty the environment looks under that light.   i'm like getting annoyed sometimes when the monster and link get in the way of the background.

I agree, it will be much closer to the PS3 and 360. 

Seriously, I don't know about MS, but Sony likes to be cutting edge, they will use current tech or tech that are at least a year away. Just look at the PC games, just imagine better. 

The WiiU will feel very old by 2013. 

I don't oubt that people have seen things that were as good as the Zelda demo on the HD consoles, but I'm not sure whether we're seeing an apples to apples comparison either ...

Traditionally, in many of the best looking games across many different platforms have used small static environments that are sparsely populated, with pre-calculated lighting and countless "hacks" so that the best looking results are generated. On top of this, most of these games were running on highly optimized game engines that achieved near to the maximum theoritical performance from the system. Finally, the experienced artists on these games (after years of creating graphical assets under the same limitations) use their resources very efficiently and create assets which demonstrate the maximum detail while using the minimum resources.

To get similar results from a rushed demo that hasn't been heavily optimized that is running on incomplete hardware that is underclocked, with (potentially) dynamic lighting and effects, is not really the same thing.

The graphics race isn't a foot race, you know? Nintendo doesn't have to physically catch up, here. If it were their intention they could release the most powerful console in the coming generation.

They almost definitely won't, but what you're saying here is ridiculous on its face.

Everything about the WiiU is about catching up, not as ridiculous huh.

I can't tell if you're being serious but I'm disappointed anyway.