Nice talk, but I think the main issue was that the Wii U was half assed out the gate and suffered for it. There were not any games that used the Gamepad in a significant way beyond a mini game collection for a year from Nintendo, and you could argue none to this day.
The system seems built to be able to just out perform the previous generation but they left so many bad decisions that if reversed could have made it better even at just its current graphical output.
- The lack of being able to use multiple gamepads on one device or at least games that support such play. The potential for having such a device even if gamepads themselves costed $80 to $100 a piece would have opened up a whole new potential for local multiplayer, particularly strategy games with multiplayer.
- The heavy reliance on the Wii brand early on without even sticking to the principals of what made the Wii successful in the first place in terms of simple controls that anyone could use, or requiring custom set ups for certain multiplayer games that require the previous generation's controllers. Even the sequel/remake of some of their previous Wii successes like Wii Sports and Wii Fit failed because Nintendo tried to be cute with how the games were released in terms of offering them for free for a certain period and not making them different enough from the original that fans of those games would stick with them long term.
- Multiple failures in terms of advertising and promotion. The device looked extremely like the mid life cycle revision of the Wii. The first ads in NA at least had people playing games with Wii controllers, the name itself. Is it any wonder the more casual audience didn't understand it was a new system to the point a Wii U was advertised using the image of a Wii in some publications? Nintendo could have done a number of things to make this system unique or show case its features, they didn't do it in time and they lost potential market because of that.
Way to much of the system seems to be undercut by Nintendo's own decisions. As much as the growth of the tablet/smart phone markets may have affected things, Nintendo came into the Wii U acting like a novice when they had years of experience with the DS under their belt and honestly it isn't as if tablets sprung up overnight or really that if the Gamepad was better serviced with decent tech it couldn't do some of the same things.
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