I don't think they were flukes.
Nintendo:
I think Nintendo put a lot more effort and thought into the Wii design, marketing and games than they have with the Wii U. It's obvious that Wii U isn't as innovative as the Wii and in fact it is obviously inspired by the iPad. The thing is that it looks like a cheaper version of an iPad, but it needs to be in range of the console.
Sony:
I think Sony was a lot more aggressive with with introduction of the PSP than they were with Vita. They thought they could dethrone Nintendo. With Vita, I think they realized that they can't compete with the 3DS. So they're not as aggressive and they're not pushing it as much as they could. Also, I think a lot of resources are going into PS4 while continuing to support PS3. Vita is an afterthought.







