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Egann on 13 February 2015
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I think everyone is right to say that the Wii U never had a chance to live up to the Wii, but could have made a respectable showing the way the 3DS is.

The real issue is determining what the core problems the Wii U had are, and the way I see it there were 3:

  1. Nintendo didn't make a viable position for third party developers. This is especially true of AA games, which was a major reason the DS succeeded and a lesser factor in the Wii's success. Think The Last Story, for example. Between being able to turn a profit with a $0 third party license fee and the lower production values people expect from other consoles, Nintendo has the keys to sway third party like nobody else, especially when we exclude AAA games.
  2. Nintendo didn't make a real market-pitch for the Wii U's tablet function. The Wii had WiiSports, which made a fantastic argument for motion controls and was a great party game, but also showed dev teams what they could do with the hardware. The Wii U basically had nothing like that.
  3. The Wii U lacked an elevator pitch. The PS4 is the generation's success story because it has one; this system is reasonably powerful and a cinch to develop for. The Wii U's pitch is "this is the Wii U's successor, it has a second screen no one knows how to use." That's an even worse pitch than the XBox 1 had.

So what do we do to fix this?

  1. Completely clear expectations by making a new brand name. This lets you paint a fresh image of the console. Personally, I would have sold the Wii U as a second console rather than a primary one; it has a cheaper entry price with no online upkeep expenses, so it is much cheaper than the PS4 or X1. It doesn't need to hog the TV screen, which means it can complement an existing console rather than replace it. The Wii U was *almost* a new product category, but failed because it didn't have the necessary sales pitch.
  2. Make a demo which really showcases what the hardware is uniquely able to do. Expect Sony and Microsoft to have more attractive hardware for a third party dev; why should they still develop for your console? What can they get from you that they cannot get anywhere else?
  3. Change the launch library. Pikmin and Mario are great games, but they don't sell in a universe of "the average gamer is 35." Nintendo needs to fundamentally alter their IP offerings to keep up with the times. I'm not saying that they need to make a Mario horror game, but that you DO need to go beyond where they are now. Personally, I would add IP which attracts an older crowd.