To compete with Sony and MS, all they need is some good new exclusive games. They will presumably have a price advantage and Nintendo has strong brand value so they should do "OK" regardless.
Now, if they want to steal the e3 thunder and have more buzz than the new systems heading into the big shopping season, they need to do some or all of the following:
-Release 2 groundbreaking "core" titles this fall. i.e. Mario 3D and X, or a great shooter/adventure by Retro. They need to be outstanding visually, and provide either innovation or excellent execution. They need to be cooler and more fun than what is available elsewhere, and hopefully be at least in the same graphical ball park from a typical user's perspective with games like Shadowfall. WindWaker HD will be a nice complement to these titles, but Wii U needs some totally new experiences.
-Release 2 interesting "casual" titles. i.e. Wii Sports 3 and Wii Fit U, or better. These need to present something new and fresh when contrasted with their predecessors, or possibly be an all new ip. Not just in a gameplay way, but in a mainstream fun new gadget kind of way. They need to capture imagination, and should have a good mainstream name like Wii Sports, not like "Nintendoland". Nintendo should have its top software people trying to come up with the next Angry Birds or Brain Age. Something that would make for some great word of mouth. It should be a touch-screen accessible game. It could possibly pair with something on 3DS.
-Price drop. People love pricedrops and they get a lot of attention. Wii U needs to be at least $100 cheaper than its competitors.
-3rd party megabombs. They could be exclusive - like Bayonetta 2 - or not - like GTA5 - but the more shocking the better. GTA would be ideal because its a game people like to write about in the mainstream press. Controversal GTA going to family-friendly Nintendo would make people take notice, and politicians want to ban Wii U imports. Great press.
-Solid other 3rd party support. If titles like COD, AC, Batman, Metal Gear, FF, Watch_Dogs and Destiny are all available on Wii U, consumers may take a "why bother" approach to the more expensive systems, fizzleing their debuts.
-Much, much better marketing. They need i-device style marketing which presents the Wii U as a stylish, trendy, innovative device that can do anything, something that appeals to casuals and core gamers alike. Clips of people video chatting, using touch to shoot ninja stars, playing COD, you name it. But no dubstep.
-As part of marketing, Nintendo needs to promote that it truly has a solid online and eshop system now. It should also promote not just a low system price, but also free online and hassle-free used games and lending of games. Especially if Sony follows any of MS's leads in this regard. I would do a simple, informative commercial outlining the hundreds that people would spend on Live that they don't have to if they want to play COD:Ghosts on Wii U. Promote the system as "old school", where Nintendo is a "gamers' company", where it isn't all about gouging consumers for every dollar but just about playing the games.
