They weren't exactly releasing a whole lot of games for Wii, so why would a few months have made a difference in terms of software preparedness?

They were right with the timing of the release, they just didn't read the market right and put out the wrong product. Tablet-less Wii U shoulda been put on the market for $250. Tablet controller sold with a game for $100. And base Wii U unit should have a 250GB HDD.

They need more games. Pikmin 3, Wonderful 101, game and wario and wii fit u would have helped the Wii U if they were at launch. Wii u should get a boost with monster hunt 3 ultimate and lego city undercover this month :) Even a small boast would be very welcomed.

I really would like to know what games have They being working on since they abandoned the Wii 2 years ago. The current state of first party Wii U games in stores is a disgrace.

I don't think waiting a couple months would have helped because it would be launching now, and it would still have a game drought. Its funny how everyone was saying the launch line up was so good, better than most console launches, but now the haters want to say it has no games. But, like 3ds once the mario kart and 3d mario comes it will sell like hot cakes. Nintendo should have had a game, even one for this part of the year, it would keep the momentum going from launch.

Completely agree - I think the whole concept of tablet controller as main feature is completely wrong (WiiHD idea always looked to me as a much better idea) - they should've kept the motion controls (plus add Pro as default), beef up hardware to be clearly stronger than PS360 from the get-go (at least HD6670, or even higher), and make Gamepad a convenience peripheral, like what we're going to see with all other solutions in next-gen.

That way, they would have kept momentum, had big head start on competition and made easy to port to console that is more future proof than WiiU.

No, but they should have worked harder make sure the software was ready for November 2012.
They produced bugger all for the Wii for 2 years, they should at least have some Wii U games to show for it.
But no, Pikmin 3 is 4 months late and counting, we haven't even SEEN 3D Mario, Smash Bros, Mario Kart, etc, Retro Studios is AWOL, and we don't have confirmed dates for ANY first party content after 4 months into the system's lifespan.

It boggles the mind how the minds behind the Wii's phenomenal success could handle a console launch so thoroughly incompetently.

This is correct.  The stream of software following launch is absolutely appalling.  Clearly there were many things done right with the launch, but the momentum has just completely and utterly gone.  

Rayman Legends wasn't secured in a proper exclusivity contract; Pikmin 3, a game which started life as a Wii title, delayed further and further.  Just seems a bit of a mess to be honest.  I'd have thought that the lack of Wii titles later in its life would've been indicative of Nintendo gearing up to get Wii-U titles ready for launch window, but NSMBU + NintendoLand is a lot less than I was expecting.

I think the biggest mistake was stopping supporting the Wii so early. I also have trouble understanding how the hell weren't they better prepared for the Wii U launch with so much time to prepare games for it.

No, but they should have done a much better job taking advantage of the year head start. Nintendo obviously wasn't planning on having a software drought now. but they do. This is partially due to delayed games but also due to them relying too much on one or two big games to carry them through the lean period.

They needed something big, first party from the outset, they needed some kind of technical showcase to at least soften the sounds of the doubters, they needed to market it hard and well and I think not having Virtual Console available from the outset was a mistake. In short they needed to make steps to build positive buzz and limit factors that could cause momentum to stall e.g. lack of significant software for 3 months.

Also, while by no means a deal-breaker, the OS clearly hasn't been optimised yet. I like the OS and we know it will improve with time but i think they could have done better on the performance front from the get go.

Here's to hoping they have a strong second half of the year, but they need to start winding up pretty soon so that by the time the PS4 and Xbox start having their own teething issues, the Wii U show is running like a well-oiled machine.

I think the Wii U launch was fine, and they definitely shouldn't have waited a year. As has been said, launching a year earlier might have been a good idea, even at a high price like $399. Ease it in slow and capture people that were upgrading to PS360 from Wii. They also could have diverted Skyward Sword to Wii U.

But I think the launch was timed well. The botched it a little by announcing it too early. It dragged on for two years, reducing the hype. They also over-estimated the draw of NSMBU to the core gamers, those who would buy it early. NintendoLand is also a lame name for a game trying to lure the casual crowd. It needed Wii Sports U and a graphically stunning core title. Regardless, it doesn't matter. 360's launch was a disaster, but when you have no competition it's OK. The Wii U has a year to work out its bugs and build up its software library. Other next gen systems will be lucky to have 2 or 3 decent exclusives and will be at a higher price. Nintendo will be in a place where they will have 10-20 exclusives, a streamlined, updated OS, a decent install base and a couple of AAA must-have titles that have been in development for a long time. 3rd parties will also bring titles like Watch_Dogs over because it is financially sensible given the respectable install base. Nintendo could also drop the price if necessary, as manufacturing costs will have dropped after a year of optimization.

The only drawback I see at the moment is I think Nintendo expected other consoles to go with 4 gig RAM. They went with 8, which puts Wii U at a significantly greater dissadvantage, technically.