Tatsumi Kimishima advised against WiiU and predicted it would fail

[PAOerfulone]

I'll chip in and say, that while I do agree with him that the Wii U was to similar to the original Wii for it's own sake, I still think it would've been at least a modest success if they had done a better job of marketing and naming.

Now, I don't think it would've been "Wii" levels of success, I still think it would've been a big drop off, but if they had just called it Wii 2 and given it actual marketing with good effort put into it, it'd be succesful in its own right & would be selling better than what it is now.
"Wii U" + commercials just showing off the controller and features of said controller just implies just implies that it's a tablet peripheral for the Wii with its own exclusive games for it.
"Wii 2" + commercials showing off the console and controller, and the new features of the consoles + launch title games fir it in HD, would've implied what it should've been marketed from the beginning, A next generation console from Nintendo and successor to the Wii.
But like I said, it still would've been a significant drop off from the Wii, so his point still stands.
And while I'll admit that the Wii U is obviously a failure, I wouldn't say it was a total failure.
Some games that we got for the system, we would've gotten them regardless, (3D Mario, Mario Kart, Smash Bros., upcoming Zelda) some games we've gotten I don't think would've been possible, or nearly as enjoyable as they are without the things that the Wii U brings to the table (Splatoon, Wonderful 101, Super Mario Maker).
And Nintendo managed to find something they were sourly missing from their line up, which was a heavy hitting, money making, shooter, which they now have in the form of Splatoon.
And I have hopes for the future of NX, and I'll just sit back and hope Kimishima knows what to do with it and how to market it in the West, since he has a lot of history working in the Western Market, specifically USA.