In terms of software, I think that Zombie U, New Super Mario Bros U, Pikmin 3, Mass Effect 3, and Darksiders II, and Assassins Creed 3 should make for an acceptable launch window. There are those that complain that it won't have enough momentum right out of the gate, but historically I think it is in a company's best interest to build slowly but surely upon a system's foundation.
Take the Xbox 360 and PS3 for example. They both started off slowly, with lean lineups and relatively bad press in their first years (with RROD, and high price points, respectively) but slowly released AAA every year, added new features, and became the beloved systems we know today. The Wii on the other hand, started out incredibly strongly with Twilight Princess, Excite Truck, Wii Sports, Warioware, Metroid Prime 3, and Super Mario Galaxy all in its first year. It was so jam packed that Nintendo had sparse lineup from Fall 2008-Winter 2010. This is why, in my opinion, that only having a few 1st party games is acceptable to me in the Wii U's lineup. It is in Nintendo's best interest to have their studios constantly releasing a few games at a time, instead of having a ton of games one year, none for the next two, then a packed lineup, then none, etc.
In terms of graphics, I do think the graphics are underwhelming, but consider that the games shown are either ports, or are Nintendo IP's which typically don't show off the true graphical potential of the hardware. Inevitably, Wii U graphics will be compared to PS4 and Xbox 720 but I think that we are fast approaching a point in graphics where games will just be too expensive to make, and 3rd parties will ultimately shy away. How many studios have closed this generation alone, not because they made consistently bad games, but because they put their money on a single title and it didn't sell the millions and millions they needed it to. Factor 5 comes to mind. The point is that the Wii U could still hold its own in terms of 3rd party lineup, unlike the Wii. It just depends on development costs for Sony and Microsoft's next gen systems. Sure, there will always be the ID's, Cryteks, and Epics of the world, buy if it costs devs a shit ton to make games for PS4/XB720 I think there's a fair chance that many will favor the Wii U. Look at what happened with Monster Hunter 3; originally a PS3 game, but ultimately released on Wii because of high dev costs.
Nintendo's failing point, to me, is that they failed to explain how their new hardware will make their vision a reality. Last year Reggie said that the Wii U was "tailor made for you." But how exactly? How does having a table controller guarantee it will suit each gamer? Or does that refer to the variety in its software library? Also, this year, Nintendo said that it hopes that Wii U will connect families and gamers in an age where smartphones, tablets, laptops and e-readers have separated them. But how so? How will adding yet another gadget not confound the supposed problem of family separation? And what of their online plan? Will each account be tied to each console, or will I have a username and password to access my online account from any Wii U? And what of dev support for the Wii U eShop? How much storage will the Wii U come with? Too many questions remain unanswered.
Also, how about some new IP's here Nintendo. They showed off 4 Mario games. I think we can all agree that's a tad excessive. I do think that gamers are partially to blame for this, because whenever Nintendo announces new hardware, the first thing we beg for is new Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Pokemon, etc. How about something new, in the vein of Xenoblade, The Last Story, Disaster Day of Crisis, or Another Code? Not necessarily a sequel to these IP's (although that would be nice too) but something that can replicate their respective creativity. Even though I don't own a PS3, I have to admire Sony for making Beyond and The Last of Us (two brand new IPs) the center focus of the PS3 lineup. Nintendo needs to do something similar.
Overall, this was a very 'meh' E3, but not as bad as some made it out to be. The Wii U could still recover. It's too early to tell.
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