The Wii U was saved by the dishonesty and shady business practices of 3rd Parties and Microsoft.
Yes, Iwata was right. One game can turn things around. But in terms of the entire 8th Gen Home Console Market, Microsofts failure to capitalize on their 7th Gen success is almost as large a tectonic shift as the Wii was last gen.
“When we make some new announcement and if there is no positive initial reaction from the market, I try to think of it as a good sign because that can be interpreted as people reacting to something groundbreaking. ...if the employees were always minding themselves to do whatever the market is requiring at any moment, and if they were always focusing on something we can sell right now for the short term, it would be very limiting. We are trying to think outside the box.” - Satoru Iwata - This is why corporate multinationals will never truly understand, or risk doing, what Nintendo does.
