Well if someone doesn't hang out on video game forums, is only interested in one console brand, which is not Nintendo of course, I can totally see how such a person would think Wii U is just some extension of Wii. It's pretty much widely regarded as being a marketing failure even among the casuals who owned Wii as their first ever game console. Some were thought Wii U was just the game pad and had (and still have) no idea that it's a whole new generation console. If you look at early Wii U ads it looks a bit like a remodelled Wii, and the main focus of the advertising was the gamepad. So I think it's not surprising that a lot of people don't really know what Wii U is.
“The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.” - Bertrand Russell
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."
Jimi Hendrix
