Xenoblade Chronicles X, that game is beautiful and stacks up well against games on more powerful hardware.

Not my fault, the ign guy in the video in op said exactly that: 1080p. Blame op for putting up a misinformed video :P

Not really beneficial to use this as the benchmark, the controller is a dummy unit, its essentially a touchscreen and controls linked directly to a PC running the then, early build of the SDK, the software on screen during this presentation has never actually run on actual retail-spec hardware.

You don't know what you're talking about.

I can't believe I have to bother saying this, but the videos also show the console behind the tvs. it wasn't the final console, but the hardware couldn't be much different than the final version. saying the controller was a dummy only makes your case worse. E3 2011 had several PLAYABLE wii u demos that used touchscreen, buttons and gyro. They even had the chase mii demo with 5 player local multiplayer right there.

This is well known information that you either pretended it didn't exist or didn't even bother check. Either option completely invalidates what you said before.

May i ask what fans you are reffereing to.  The ones that enjoy the games or the ones that bitch and complain about every Zelda game and how its needs to be a realistic mature game like OoT and Twilight princess.

I swear for eveyr 1 post saying they like a Zelda trailer I see 100 posts from people bitching about its art style.

Yes it has. It has been topped by every Wii U game I played. Wanna know why? Because I can actually play those games.

Firstly, the controller being a dummy is fact, the same is true for dummy PSP, Vita, 3DS on units connected to early SDK the touchscreen and controls are present but are connected directly to the SDK unit, through the thick braided cable run from the WiiU tablet itself, that is clearly visible in OPs video most of the demos shown at e3 2011 were run through this dummy controller for a multitude of reasons, such as:

1) Security, you cant steal a device thats hard wired to a demo cabinet.
2) It avoids interference in data communications, something Nintendo have been very concious of since the controller interference during the live Wii demo of zelda back in the day.
3) The tablet wasnt even finalized at this point, the analog sticks are different and it doesnt have a start/select button in its retail location, theyre instead next to the home button, using the dummy interface lets them use non-finalized hardware from an earlier SDK unit.

I was actually there, at E3 2011 and tried various demos for WiiU, all of the demo setups were running off of the same cabinets, a alrge section beneath housed the PC running the SDK software which most of the demos were being played from, and the upper small portion of the cabinet had a shelf with a non-final wiiu sat in place behind a small window, in some cases these were on (or at least showed a blue power light) in others they were off, even though the demo was stlll running.

Outside of the developer area in the public sections for hands on time with the WiiU, all consoles tablets were placed on a wide pedestal, some were running near final builds of games on the actual near-final wiiu hardware, others were running alphas on SDK hardware.

They were still using dummy interfaces in 2012 with the braided interfacing cable and hiding the WiiU console away in locked boxes, that only changed when the hardware was finalized, at e3 2013 final consoles were placed on kiosks in open view and the braided cable leading off into a dark hole was replaced with a thinner cable that only provided a metal kensington cable and power feed.

That's what happens when (A) you bait and switch your audience like Nintendo did with the Wind Waker and Zelda U, and (B) you insist on pushing art styles that do not appeal to mainstream gamers.

The demo looked like a regular PS4 game.

Adding to that, the ever changing nature of the Zelda series has made its fanbase rather split on a multitude of issues (art direction just being a particularly touchy topic, likely for the reasons you mentioned). We see a similar type of in-fighting among Final Fantasy fans, especially between the FF1-6, 7-9, and 10+ camps. It's not really something you can stop if you want to see a series perpetually experiment.

I have to say though, Nintendo's artistic choices for the series have been pretty weird as of late. It's like they find a style that they think will be well received by their general audience, then say "Nah, people seem to like this one too much. Let's just cell-shade everything instead." :p