For me the issue is I know what I get with a Nintendo console. It is great, but it also is not one I feel the need to rush out and buy. I got a Wii in 2010 and never regretted waiting on it as then could swoop up the stable of Mario and all that I wanted. It worked out great and I plan to do the same with Wii U. Especially with the Wii U being $300-$350 I am content to wait for it to hit sub $200 range.

i agree with the OP, in that it should have had a different name, at the very least to avoid confusion

There is nothing about the Wii U that has to do with the Blue Ocean Strategy, it is an HD GameCube poorly disguised as a successor to the Wii. The masses did not abandon Nintendo, it is Nintendo that is abandoning them.

I totally agree... But the console image, name and marketing says otherwise.

Your perception is shared by many hardcore gamers but isn't reality.  The vast majority of Wii buyers weren't grandparents or stay-at-home moms playing Wii bowling or weighing themselves.  The single largest chunk of Wii buyers were the mainstream.  They were families, adults, children, people who like new things.  The people that made it a massive seller are people who saw the motion controls, like Nintendo franchises, wanted something new and the price was right.  These are people that in the past probably bought mainstream hits like GTA, probably bought Guitar Hero, obviously bought Wii Sports and many probably love COD right now.  They are not tech heads, but they know what a Wii is.  They're not idiots.  And they did buy upwards of 10 games per console, not the Wii Sports and Fit and that's it that detractors like to say.

The problem is that Nintendo hasn't given this mainstream a reason to buy Wii U.  Some may not be fully aware that Wii U is actually Wii 2.  But moreso is the problem that they don't care.  Nothing about Wii U has been exciting enough to make them want it yet.  The advertising was bad and the "coolest" exclusive was Zombie U.  They may also have bought a PS360 when the price came down and they picked up an HDTV, relegating the Wii brand to second place in the home.  Wii U needs games and promotion that tell the mass market it's worth their time.

I read the same thing about 3ds and ds the wii U problem is the 3rd party support.

The delayed games is certainly the biggest problem, but also the lack of marketing is an issue also,as you say.

Hopefully both these issues will be resolved in a few months, however

i think software sales says otherwise

I'm not sure that it matters because people to stupid to know it is a new console aren't who Nintendo is targeting with this machine.  Get smarter friends

Rol & Rhonin are spot on. Wii U has nothing in common with Wii...at all. It's not that the Wii owners are confused due to the name, but rather they are rejecting Nintendo's HD Gamecube direction, and are savvy enough to see through the bs.

I was a Wii consumer who saw Wii U as a huge 'wtf'? It'd be like if Apples next iPhone uses a blackberry like keyboard instead of touchscreen. The Wii U is a regression of everything the Wii stood for. As someone said The Gamepad is a solution in search of a problem. The Wii Remote was the answer to THE problem.

The Gamepad is the albatross around the Wii U.