Well, if graphical fidelity and the games not looking HD were what mattered, then the 3DS should be struggling as well, But that system has taken off ever since the barrage of games in 2012.
The issue, from what I can gather, is twofold. First, Nintendo's done an exceptionally poor job of marketing the Wii U; many people aren't even aware it's a new console to this day. Second, and perhaps as an extension of the first problem, the third party offerings on the Wii U have sold quite poorly to date. Third party publishers simply don't believe there's a userbase interested in their titles on the Wii U, and so they don't publish for it. Consumers see this, and decide to not buy a Wii U, as it doesn't carry a third party title they like. It's the very definition of a Catch 22.
Graphical fidelity really has very little to do with the problem, if previous generations of consoles are anything to go by. The PS2 and Wii, both weaker in terms of power, easily outsold their competitors. The 3DS is overwhelming the Vita right now. While it certainly doesn't look like that trend will continue with the PS4, there's enough information here to definitively say that graphical power is almost never what determines a console's success. The fact that the Wii U isn't graphically on par with the One and PS4 isn't what's put it in this hole it's in.
The update times are annoying, but seem to be a problem that all systems are suffering with for one reason or another.
The games that do exist for the Wii U are actually fairly innovative and a number of them are really quite good. Pikmin 3 and Wonderful 101 are both standouts for me. I will say, though, that if you're just going to buy 2D Mario games and...those awful Olympic games...then yeah, the system will probably never pay off. Those games haven't exactly been the pinnacle of innovation in recent years.
If nothing else, I can safely say that Pikmin 3 and SM3D World are far superior from a graphical standpoint than their Wii predecessors.
