Is anyone really shocked by this? No notable games to speak of for almost 3 months, ZERO advertising or marketing by Nintendo, and the fact that none of the games released so far look any better than what is being offered on current gen consoles for almost half the price.

Well if you are going to be so merrily vague on descriptions then surely you are comparing the iphone to the 360 right? But why stop there?? Why not compare consoles to dvd players?? Hey, handhelds are rechargable right? Well so are RC cars! Let's compare the two!

When the markets are different, thats when the products are different. Being as vague as you are just leads to the mess above as you will have to use completely arbitrary distinctions to seperate items.

You didn't drag handhelds into the debate, you dragged them out of it because they didn't mesh with your pretty Wii U / PS3 comparison. The reason you used to exclude them from the conversation was silly. The same problems plaguing the 3DS and PS Vita launches were causing trouble for the Wii U at launch: notably, the problem of convincing people who already have gaming devices (smartphones) to buy a new device meant solely for playing games.

Total sales are not the only way of defining a console's success at launch. But being this is a sales site, the article you posted is about sales, the chart they posted only shows sales, and this whole discussion has been about sales, I rather thought that was the focus here. Nonetheless, you can also measure a console's success by how much profit it makes for its company. We don't have exact data for this, but given Sony was in the red for several years after the PS3's launch, I think it's safe to say they didn't necessarily consider the launch a "success" in that fashion.

I didn't say the price only factors into revenue, just that it factors more into those, which I stand by. Certainly the price affects sales. Know what else affects sales? Software (2 month drought). Market strength (...poor). Competition (mobile devices). You didn't factor these into the Wii U launch the same way you factored price into the PS3 launch -- because you can't. We don't know how the Wii U would have sold in 2006, or with a decent software lineup in January, or at a higher price. Simply stating that the Wii U sold more units than the PS3, BUT the PS3 cost more so it's LIKE it sold better, is disingenuous. You give the PS3 a handicap (its price) to make it seem like a stronger product at launch than the Wii U. The Wii U also has handicaps. We can either disregard all such handicaps and show that the Wii U sold better, or factor every handicap into the situation and not even know what the hell we're looking at anymore.

I dragged them out because handhelds are about as relevant to this thread as the iphone is. OMG THEY PLAYZ GAMZ! Yeah, doesn't mean they should be compared. Who compares the Enzo to the Mondeo? No one. They are aimed at entirely different markets. Just like handhelds. 

The focus was that with the sales having hit such a low, does this mean anything for the future of the console? Saying "oh but it has done better than the PS3" doesn't change the fact that it has had a staggeringly low week of sales compared to other consoles. Sony may have been in the red, but they also managed to secure bluray as the next optical format. Nevertheless we digress. 

Does it matter how the wii u would have sold in 2006? We are comparing it's lowest week to the recorded lowest week of the last two generations of consoles rather than focusing on a year e.g. 2006. Factor in all the handicaps because those are relevant today, not in the past.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handheld_game_consoles

"A handheld video game console is a lightweight, portable electronic device with a built-in screen, game controls, speakers and replaceable and/or rechargeable batteries or battery pack. Handheld game consoles are smaller than home video game consoles and contain the console, screen, speakers, and controls in one unit, allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place."

Will that do?

So if you want to compare handhelds to consoles using the above, are you going to ommit smartphones and tablets?

Handhelds are clearly not aimed at the same market, therefore comparing sales is utterly pointless. You may as well compare compact car sales to 18 wheelers. 

After the bad 3DS launch, didn´t Iwata say something like "we´ve learned from our mistakes"?...if he did, what did he mean?...because the Wii U is even worse.

I guess they thought they had learned, but completely misread the market.

Certainly the Wii U is in a deep slump. My biggest objection was with your implication that it had a worse launch than the PS3, which is not by any means true. If you really want to factor in all of the handicaps, by all means do so. The economy. Inflation. The prevalence of mobile devices (which absolutely has an affect on home console sales if it has one on handheld sales). The lack of software.

If your focus is really on the future of the console, you won't mind me saying that it has already begun its recovery as per February's sales. And by the fact that it does not have zero retail releases this month, as it had the past two.

Really, your handheld argument annoys me to no end. If handhelds and home consoles are completely different markets and shouldn't be compared whatsoever, why do you say "the handheld market is especially challenged now by tablest & phones"? Surely handhelds are a completely different market from mobile devices and the two are incomparable, just as handhelds and home consoles are.

using definition provided you couldn't possibly exclude cell phones. Lightweight? yup cells fit. Portable electronic device? yup cells fit. Built in screen? check. Game controls? check. Speakers? check. chargeable batteries? double check

Oh and Matzy, I'd say it's more like an SUV sales to a 18 wheeler considering both are made for pulling and carrying heavy loads,