The Wii U would make for a great case study for brand management classes. Nintendo seemed to do most things right when originally creating the Wii brand (and for the record I wholeheartedly disagree with the part about Wii being damaging for Nintendo), and then came the time for a new console and it's like the team behind it never really agreed upon what the system would be so the result was a system without an identity and a name that screamed identity crisis. It's really hard to make the customer understand what your product is when not even the creator seem to have an answer.
In some ways it looked like a console targeting the core gamer, much wanting to have a piece of the PS/Xbox audience, with a big focus on 3rd party titles such as Assassin's Creed. But it didn't go much further than a games reel and a list of 3rd parties "on board", and the name suggested it was a successor to the Wii first and foremost. And the idea to go after an audience that already have two systems tailored for them is ludicrous.
So was the Wii U a successor to the Wii then? Not really. Instead of a new Wii Sports (either a successor or a new game made with the same mentality) they launched the system with Nintendo Land. Later Nintendo released a new Wii Fit game for the Wii U, as if that was the most important Wii game to make a sequel for. And then we finally got Wii Sports but it ended up being a digital only remaster of the original, chopped up and sold in pieces. So they might as well not even have bothered. Nintendo Land, while a decent game in my opinion, was nowhere near system seller material. I guess it was supposed to showcase the new gamepad but in reality it basically was a party game built on nostalgia and made for fans of Nintendo's older franchises or as an introduction to said franchises, but it did not have the power to actually sell consoles. Left to sell the system was New Super Mario Bros. U, probably the reason for why the system sold anything at all. As for other exclusive titles to look forward to and build hype around the system we had Pikmin 3 and Rayman Legends. Pikmin and Rayman were considered significant titles, and that alone should give you an idea of the depth of the hole we're in. To make matters worse both got delayed and Rayman Legends turned into a multiplatform release.
The Wiimote had been replaced by a game pad with a built-in screen, a peripheral that was included without any real motivation for why. Even Nintendo seemed to have trouble explaining its significance. Yes, having the map and inventory on a second screen is a neat feature, as is the off-tv option (though the range made it somewhat limited) but nothing shown made it as ground-breaking as the Wiimote.
