Well the Wii U was the perfect storm how not to make or sell a console.
Bad hardware. Using a Gamecube CPU just 3 cores of it is shit. A GPU from 2007 in 2012. 1GB of usable RAM in 2012 a year before PS4/XBO used 8GB. 176 Gigaflops vs nearly 2 Tflops machines one year later. Nintendo's own API which was bleh. This was the console they wanted to bridge casual and core gamers. It tried to be a jack of all trades and master of none. It was a half step idea in what the Switch would be in gaming on the go.
The Wii name was over by 2011/12. The audience Wii attracted moved on to mobile phones. A second screen experience has been tried on DC, Gamecube before. It never took. Smartglass did not take off. PSP to PS3 and Vita to PS4 did not take off so I guess they thought 5th time is the charm!
HORRIBLE reveal. Nintendo kept talking about "NEW CONTROLLER" without showing the new console. So it was thought to be an add on to the Wii. in 2012 they re-revealed the Wii U because 2011 reveal SUCKED.
Wii U was difficult to work on thanks to its 13-year-old CPU mainly. This si why despite being a more powerful machine overall than 360,360 games often ran worse on it. A system from 2005.
Wii got away with it's lesser hardware for the fact it offered something truly different and targeted a specific audience where Wii U did not. Wii benefitted from many devs still offering PS2 games so Wii games were ported to PS2 or PS2 games ported to Wii. Wii had great marketing as well.
Wii U had terrible marketing. With Wii Nintendo knew the audience they wanted. Wii U they said we want the core crowd to here is a bad Mass Effect and Batman port! We also want that Wii Crowd so here is Nintendo land and Wii Fit U! Then proceeded to make commercials that appeal to neither!
WHAT IS THIS SHIT?
Lastly. You mean to tell me if you wanted the best version of the console you want people to pay $350 when a PS3 Super Slim or 360 Slim is $100 cheaper and had better versions of Batman and Mass Effect? Including the Trilogy of ME. 1 year after Wii U released. A PS4 is $400, just $50 more and I get a much more powerful system, no clunky Gamepad, and the hardcore AAA games"? Sign me up! Pee U can stick it, brother!
Sure Wii U had some good games but everything else around the Wii U from name to reveal to the very hardware it was on to price was shit.
Bite my shiny metal cockpit!
