Wii U specs and performance matter, and Nintendo knows this

[HappySqurriel]

Soundwave said:

There will be a pretty significant gap between the Wii U and PS4/720, what we know of the leaked PS4/720 specs show them to be well beyond the Wii U.

It may not be quite as bad as last gen, but that doesn't mean there won't be a pretty large difference.

A lot of hardcore gamers are already biased against Nintendo to begin with, lets be honest, so that doesn't help either. 

If a game like Star Wars 1313 is available on Wii U, 720/PS4 ... and 720/PS4 versions run at 1080p + better graphical effects, higher poly count, higher frame rate, etc. not many people are going to buy the Wii U version, then the excuses from developers will start ("oh the Wii U version didn't sell great, so we're pulling resources away from it"), etc. etc.

This is all so predictable, happens to Nintendo over and over (and over) again.

In theoritical performance there may be a significant gap between the Wii U and the other next generation consoles, in real world results I would highly doubt it ...

If the rumoured hardware of the Wii U is (roughly) accurate, the Wii U should be able to play most current HD console games with modest visual improvements at 1080p@60fps. If developers focused on enhanced graphics there should be a significant jump in quality (compared to current HD console games) by dropping the resolution to 720p and focusing on a frame rate of 30fps; if Sony and Microsoft go really high end on their systems, release a year or two later at $100 or $200 more expensive, they might be able to produce a system that can consistently play these games with moderate graphical improvements at 1080p@60fps.

Ultimately, publishers are going to target the largest audience they can and I doubt you would see the additional performance of Sony or Microsoft's consoles being used for anything other than higher resolution, 3DTV output, or a faster framerate; and to the typical consumer these differences are not important.