Ultimately, it will boil down to the games; specifically Nintendo published/developed titles.
This is a restatement of the obvious as it is a given that these games will only be playable on Nintendo hardware and that every Nintendo device will have at minimum, the tried and true franchises spanning the game development history of Nintendo.
While the Wii more or less proved that it does not require the best 3rd party games of a hardware generation to generate the most sales, the novelty and accessibility factor of the Wii is not likely something that Nintendo will be able to repeat with the Wii U; certainly not at the same level of runaway sales. 3rd party support still matters greatly as with any hardware platform, but the question should be what unique experience will those games offer that simply cannot be experienced on other platforms.
About the only area in which I believe Nintendo could potentially have another runaway hit on their hands, will be on the issue of price, as in it is priced significantly lower than most are predicting, making the decision to buy one an easier one.
Taking the obvious comparison of a network/HDTV linked iPad as a "comparable" gaming platform, the most basic, bare bones iPad will still be priced twice as much as the Wii U unless Nintendo is still under the delusion that general consumers will in fact buy their hardware at any price, a notion that was not supported by the first 4 months of 3DS sales.
Other than that, the issue will be raised as far as the value of game specific devices (consoles, gaming handhelds) to the general consumers responsible for the sales enjoyed by both the Wii and the DS.
If nothing else, the Wii U will still offer conventional controls (ie buttons and control pads, analog sticks) as well as what will presumably be a more game focused entertainment experience.
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