Wii U sales trend may be just as expected if we look at Nintendo's home console sales.

[ICStats]

RolStoppable said:

ICStats said:

It's kind of reaching to say NES succeeded for the same reasons as the Wii.  NES was a solid console people loved for years; the Wii to put it nicely, was not.  But even if we entertain the idea that they were successful for the same reasons - 25 years is a long time to call it repeatable.  Also failing (to certain degree) immediately after DS & Wii is a reason to not call it repeatable.

Nintendo's problem has been competition.  Their success with the traditional formula (including NES) shrunk due to competition with Sega, Sony & MS, and then they switched to the gimmick-driven strategy.

Yes I don't mind making the mistake that Nintendo's success last gen was gimmick-driven.  Gotta stand up for what you believe in :P

It's not reaching. The notable difference between the NES and Wii is that the NES is grounded in necessity while the Wii is grounded in choice. Japan didn't have an established video games market, so Nintendo had to create it. With the Wii, Nintendo could decide what they were going to do. It's 20 years between the NES and Wii and 15 years between the GB and DS. I already outlined in my very first post in this thread that the 3DS and Wii U cannot prove that the DS and Wii success is not repeatable, because the 3DS and Wii U didn't use the strategies of systems like the NES, Wii, GB and DS. So what the 3DS and Wii U are is further proof that the path of direct competition is detrimental to Nintendo success.

The NES was not the traditional formula, because before it there was no console like it. Not in Japan anyway, and also not in America and Europe. The NES shipped with an unconventional controller that had a d-pad instead of the established joystick.

You can't possibly think a console designed to run <35 Watts is built with intent to compete with what Sony & MS do.

Approximately, Wii U is to 8th gen what Wii was to 7th gen.