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Hedra42 on 09 April 2014
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When Sakurai announced the 3DS version was coming first, I'm not afraid to admit, my gut reaction was that it was a bad move for many of the reasons that have been stated in this thread already. Then I stopped and thought about it.

I believe the 3DS version was always intended to come out first. SSB 4 was announced at E3 2011 as a 3DS and Wii U game, way before the Wii U was even launched. Source.

In an Iwata Asks published at around the same time, Sakurai talked about using the 3DS to customise and power up your characters, and then bring them to the Wii U. Admittedly, this was back in 2011, when it was still at the conceptual stage.

But in the Nintendo Direct yesterday, Sakurai talked more about customising your characters' abilities, and hinted at increasing their capabilities - which could then be used in local play and Fun Mode online, but not in Glory mode. He also teased a connectivity between the 3DS and Wii U versions, which he said would be revealed at a later date, which suggests that things may not have changed so much since concept.

Point is, this is not about Nintendo making a bad choice by releasing the 3DS version first. The above sources prove they had a clear development plan from the outset. The 3DS had only been out 4 months at the time of the announcement, and the Wii U had only just been announced at the same conference.

Think about it. The 3DS was always expected to have a larger install base due to having been released 18 months earlier than the Wii U, and that factor clearly had a great impact on their development plan and order of release.

I doubt they would have foreseen the gap between the two consoles sales figures by 2014 being quite as huge as it is, and it may not have as successful an outcome for the Wii U version as they might have originally hoped. But regardless, in terms of what they have planned, it made sense then, and still makes sense now, to release to 3DS owners first, with features that will entice them to purchase the Wii U version further down the line.

And for anyone who thinks they're abandoning the Wii U, just look at the Smash Bros website, and particularly on the Nintendo Direct, and how the vast majority of screenshots and footage actually come from the Wii U version.