No totally new exclusive IPs, no achievements/trophies, no solid online gaming network, no blu-ray playback, small amount of storage, marginally better processor/GPU then 360/PS3 = No reason to purchase.

The Wii U is just disappointing.

i completely agree!! I love the wii mote nunchuck combo so much. It's still the future of gaming.

Sure. Main problem there is the lack of Blu-ray. I mean, what do we buy consoles for? To watch movies, of course! Had Nintendo put a Blu-ray player there, this would have been a billion seller.

I actually love the Wii U controller and the interface. I don't think this is a problem at all, and is most definitely the right way to go.

The big problem with Wii U is poor software. There is still no flagship title available for the Wii U. The Wii launched with Wii Sports and a Flagship Zelda title along with flagship Metroid and Flagship Mario within a year of launch, on top of a dozen other first party titles that weren't just simple remakes or expansions. The most interesting Wii U title after over a year is a 3D Mario spinoff game.

Too many important games are coming out WAY too late. Zelda U, Mario Kart, Smash Brothers, and Mario Galaxy 3 should already be out now. Right now it looks like Mario Kart and X is all Nintendo has for next year.

You think that a console 2x the price of the Wii U that still would have been labeled as a gimmick console, because of the glasses, would sell more than the Wii U? I don't think so. Especially since the peripheral is more intrusive (needs to be worn on your face). I also disagree with your statement about the Gamepad not being innovative, creative, fresh, or exciting. When utilized in ways that some games already out have done, it is all of those things (sales don't reflect my opinion, but that's how I feel when playing some of the games). Also, reusing the Wii hardware would have been an even larger knock against it already being considered under-powered as it is.

Its not the hardware. Its the variety of software.

There is no Wii Sports/Wii Fit type of title to bring in the masses.

There is no great variety of titles among first and third party to drive more common gamers and core alike.

Now you can argue 3rd parties backed off due to the specs of hardware... Fuck that. They backed off because of other reasons.

EA did so due to backroom negotiations where Nintendo did not implement the DRM we're seeing on PS4/Xbone. Some others wouldn't go Nintendo no matter what due to their personal issues. Warner Bros, Activition and Ubisoft are the only ones who actually only look at it from a purely financial point of view. They are bringing titles and not bringing others solely due to assumed ROI. Since Wii U is selling so poorly, they are not porting some titles. Had it sold 6m by March, Rayman would have remained exclusive and other titles beyond AC/COD/Watch_Dogs would have been announced.

Wii U is destined for 30m tops no matter how you slice it at this point. Its not going to drop the gamepad. Its not going to gain 3rd parties major support (though EA sports and other yearly titles will return), and its not going to be replaced super early.

Nintendo will support it through 2015 and then begin preparations for a new console.

At this point, I'm actually thinking this gen may end up very similar to PS2 gen. With PS4 being well ahead of Xbone and Wii U. However, Xbone will do better than Xbox and PS4 won't sell as much as PS2, but still over 100m... likely around PS1 numbers.

What makes you believe it would be twice the price of Wii U?

From what I have gathered Google Glass will sell for about $300. Nintendo can just use modified Wii hardware to keep cost down.

As for being intrusive, Nintendo R&D could get it to look like a Google Glass which doesn't look intrusive at all.

The knock against the console being underpowered only comes from a select few of "hardcore" gamers. The 100+ million Wii owners apparently didn't care for it being underpowered. Nintendo gave us a console called the Gamecube which was on par with its competitors but still failed to get the mass market. I don't see how things would be different if Wii U was on par with PS4 and Xbox One.

Wrong.

But the OP's first two sentences are on point. The system is bad, and the low sales are more than deserved.

@NeoRatt

You're supposed to buy external usb storage! The reason it's not internal and only had small flash storage is because a lot of people will only use optical media, and therefore internal hard drives would just make the system dearer.

On another point, I have no problems with the gamepad. Nintendo are definitely onto something with second screen gaming, it just hasn't been executed as well as it needs to be (needs better variety of games that use 2nd screen gaming).

Why wait for a successor ?

They can implement Oculus Rift on the Wii U, and since the console was built to stream content to the gamepad, I think it would be infact the best latency times on this type of experience on consoles.

They could be doing that already, but something tells me they are just trying to come up with another blue ocean new IP.