Which they purposely delayed for the Wii and to add insult to injury, people who waited for the game for years had to wait until after the Wii version released to get to play it. 

Not the best example. If Nintendo did the same thing with the next Zelda game and moved it to the Fusion platform, and then delayed it so Wii U owners got to play it last, somehow I doubt Wii U owners would be happy about that. 

Point stands. After 2004 they decided to ditch the GameCube for the Wii/DS. They will probably do the same thing to the Wii U IMO. After 2015 don't expect a ton. 

But there is a problem, one that Nintendo themselves created, of perception: Nintendo makes toys.

I know that's not true, I do know, but with their attitude and marketing towards everybody but specially towards the younger audience, they have put themselves in a situation where many parents would buy a Nintendo console for their younger kids because they see them as a harmless and entertaining toy, unlike Sony and Microsoft that don't hesitate to show that their offerings are the ultimate "gadget".

And here lies Nintendo's other problem: the price of its machines. Remember how badly did the 3DS sold at 250 USD/EUR? And how badly the WiiU sold at 300-350 USD/EUR? It wasn't only because of lack of games, but also because consumers saw them as expensive toys. And that means that even if Nintendo had launched a WiiU with the power of a PS4 and with the same price, sales would have been bad, not as bad, but bad nonetheless, because consumers don't associate Nintendo with expensive.

Lets not pretend the n64 didn't have its own issues.  Gaming on a disc was the big thing, and Ninty sticking with cartridges made them suffer both from dev. and consumer standpoint.  Also arriving 1 year after OG PS didn't help.

N64 had 2 Zelda games, better and faster.

EDIT: NES also had 2.

If you come outside dressed like a bum, get ready to be judged on how you present yourself.

There were plenty of PS360 gamers ready to upgrade to the next gen.  Not every 160 mil+ that own PS360 gamers are diehard brand loyalists.  i.e. "If you build it, they will come".  Problem is, Ninty is not even trying to compete for that market, which is a crying shame since it is their main business.  They should have learned from Microsoft, how that 1 year headstart allowed them to steal so many PS2 gamers, and this is despite the RROD pr disaster.  So people looked at the console and games, didn't notice a major upgrade and said "i'll wait (for XB1/PS4).

4 years.

Man, you type a lot faster than I do!

Going with a susbcription model sounds like something that would go against Nintendo's past policy with its games, and not very practical with the Virtual console with the 3rd party games available. But time will tell.

And for being disappointed, I was merely talking about the hardware, not the games. Let's be honest here, even if Nintendo had a console with twice the specs and was the market leader, many 3rd party games would skip the console. And the reason is that the majority of the owners of Nintendo consoles don't buy those kind of games, even when launched simultaneously and with the ports being very well made. That's the biggest handicap for Nintendo and 3rd parties.

It's a problem of today's economy: you not only have to earn money from your business (or game in this case), but your profits have to be at least X% to be "worth" the effort/resources. And with Nintendo consoles, 3rd parties usually see high single digit or low double digit percentages, which grant them the "not worth it" stamp. Unfortunately.

At LEAST FOUR MORE YEARS. Yeah!!

Nintendo just has begun to show us what is possible on the Wii U.

The Wii U will become the preferred platform for indies when these are "going 3D" as they don't have to compete against AAA 3D graphics. This is happening within the next 2-3 years.

And as we are speaking about Nintendo - they have always the ability to pull of some magic and get the masses of Wii owners to buy a Wii U...

I think Nintendo will be porting a lot of Wii U games to their next system. Just like how a lot of GameCube games were ported to the Wii. The result was a really good launch year for the Wii. It also lead to quicker development of Mario Kart, Smash Bros and even Metroid.

So 2016 at the earliest, and 2017 at the latest with a Zelda U port, 2D Mario, and a new multiplayer IP at launch. Metroid, Fire Emblem, Galaxy 3, Paper Mario, Advance War sequel, and a Mario sport game will release before its 2nd holiday sale. Smash Bros and Mario Kart will continue to release before the 3rd holiday.

I think we will see Luigi Mansion 3, Pikmin 4, and other A-AA games for Wii U's 2016 and the Wii U version of Zelda U after Nintendo 7's version launches. I'm hoping for a multiplayer 2D zelda for holiday 2015 as well.

edit: On second thought, we can see Metroid, Fire Emblem, Paper Mario, 3D Mario, and a Mario Sport game in 2016 as well. But these sequels on the Nintendo 7 will have modest graphic updates since they'll probably be out in 2018. For example Metroid Prime 2 --> 3, Paper Mario TTYD --> Super Paper Mario, Mario Strikers --> Strikers charged, and Fire Emblem GC -- Fire Emblem Wii. So 2017 can still work. I guess Zelda U would come out 2016 and the remastered version or HD Twilight Princess will launch in 2017.

2018 is when it will be replaced. Nintendo's sweet spot is five to six years.