I agree with this. 

Heck, the best game of that generation ran on 3DS and looked like this:

I don't know either, but if we are asking if it was underpowered I figure it was so obviously underpowered to this gen that he was talking about the last. 

I'd have to disagree with this as someone who owns all three while I can accept there are graphics that would likely be better on wii u thanks to its later architecture. The powerpc dual thread main cpu and the 7 cell processors are close to 40,000 mips combined which is an easy 4x the power of wii u in cpu terms and the nvidia gpu of the  ps3 I think from memory is rated at 240 gflops which is over the wii u's 176 gflops.

There is some clever stuff done in ps3 games with all the cell processors working to create lots of different graphic effects and its just not possible for the wii u to deliver that. It has some additional features in its gpu but its a marginal difference. The issue with the ps3 was it was notoriously hard to develop for and only really later games by some developers pushed the hardware.

Lets also not forget the ps3 delivered the best soundtracks of the three consoles with high quality 7.1 soundtracks, often amazing pre-rendered 1080p video thanks to its bluray disc capacity. The scope and immersion of many ps3 games is well beyond wii u.

Most games that are available on wii u, ps3 and 360 are inferior on wii u and many games simply weren't possible on wii u because of the low cpu resources.

People often point to the wii u's cartoon graphics as an example of its technical performance but the reality is realistic graphics are far harder to achieve and require a much higher performance level.

As a console maybe, but as a handheld?  No in that respect it is very powerful.

Even then, BotW proves that both the WiiU and the Switch are capable of running games to the same quality as the PS4 and X1 if made properly.  The only thing the other two really have is resolution because most 3rd party devs only care about 1080p or 4K rather than using that extra power for new gameplay innovations.

Again...as console alone though, yes the switch is much weaker, but far from incapable.  As a handheld though it is jn a league of its own.

If the Wii U were ever in a position to dictate third-party standards through relevant market-share then, no, it would not have been considered under-powered.

We know how that turned out, though. Third-party games were made with other systems in mind, not the Wii U. Nintendo could build to the strengths of the system while marginalizing the weaknesses but that was not an economically feasible approach for multi-platform developers.

Underpowered compared to PS3/Xbox360, offcourse not, actualy its more capable, compared to XB1/PS4 and now even to Switch, offcourse it is.

Wii U intended to be 720p console, and actual it was very good 720p console, most of Nintendo Wii U games running at locked 60fps locked and in most cases they are looking beautiful. Just look at games like Mario Kart 8, Mario 3D World, Zelda WW HD, Yoshi Wolly World, Pikmin 3, Captain Toad, Xenoblade X or Zelda BotW.

I can't wait to see Switch Nintendo games that are made from ground for Switch hardware.

But Switch is more powerful than last gen. ;)

Yes, Wii U was underpowered. Especially compared to PS4 and Xbox One games.

True enough, but still while the Wii U was getting Black Flag, Splinter Cell, and COD Ghosts, Switch will not get any game with PS4 assets. Even Dragon Quest XI is obviously not a direct port of the PS4 version. It's a Shield with the benefit of the developer of the Shield helping to make it a bit better. For handhelds that is definitely a plus, but for home console gamers, you get the power of a Tegra X1.... For 5 years. Now just let that sink in for a minute. 

Now the other 2 consoles have released slims and (soon) revisions this gen is closing out. It's very likely 2019 either Microsoft or Sony will make the leap, and the year after the other. Meanwhile we'll be waiting 2 to 3 years just to catch up with Xbone vanilla. 

As for new ways to play, that's why I generally give a pass to Wii/Wii U, but a handheld you can play on tv is nothing new. And it will only remain the "leagues better handheld experience" if in a year or two PS doesn't decide to make a new handheld. If they do then it's back to just being a bad Nintendo hardware decision, and trust me when I say there are corners that could be cut to make a handheld cheaper and more powerful this year, let alone a year or two from now.

Essentially as far as HOME CONSOLES go, Wii U may not have been perfect as far as power, but it was a better solution than Wii and Switch and it will be a shame if the Switch influences future gens. 

Under powered? No. Bottlenecked in unreasonable ways? Yes.