If Software sells Hardware why Wii U flopped

[javi741]

I think the why the reason why the Wii U flopped was the mixture of bad marketing and uninteresting hardware.

Plus even though the Wii U did have great software from Nintendo, it was also missing basically all the 3rd party support and the 3rd party games that did come to the Wii U were inferior to the other platforms so the Wii U suffered from the software side, unlike the Switch where its getting a ton of 3rd party support and 3rd party games been successful on it. While I don't believe 3rd Party games are a huge reason why the Switch is selling, it definitely gives a Switch an advantage over the Wii U when it comes to sales. So the "software sells hardware" is true in this case to a certain extent when it comes to the Switch and Wii U. However, it isn't the biggest reason why the Wii U flopped.
Also the Wii U didn't have a real Pokemon game or a real Animal Crossing which are juggernauts when it comes to sales.

Like alot of other people said in the thread, marketing was a big issue with the Wii U as many people still to this day do not know that the Wii U is an entirely new console rather than just a controller add-on. It's easy to see why most people were confused looking back, from the initial trailer Nintendo completely focused on advertising the controller and didn't even mention "new console" in their reveal. Also it didn't help that the actual design of the Wii U was very similiar to the Wii's design to the point where it looked like an OG Wii revision rather than a new console. Also the advertisements showed people using OG Wii remotes alongside the Wii U giving casuals the impression they were just playing on the Wii with a new tablet controller named the "Wii U". Most average consumers are stupid and lazy and usually won't go out of their way to find out what a Wii U is. I can't tell you how many times people confused my Wii U as being the Wii, many people still believing that Nintendo was still supporting the Wii. I think if it weren't for the atrocious name the Wii U could've sold a respectable 30-40 Million units, twice as much as what it did sell.

Also, the hardware was just uninteresting for people. Nintendo is already typically at a disadvantage when it comes to the home console side of software since they've refused to get good 3rd party support on their console, so what Nintendo depends on to sell their systems is to be as unique, different, and interesting compared to their competitors when it comes to hardware and software. However, the Wii U concept to people just wasn't interesting enough to people to be willing to spend 300$+. The Wii's motion controls were so amazing to people that 100M purchased one. And with the Switch the idea of being able to seamlessly Switch from console to handheld mode was interesting to people and it really was a major advantage the Switch had over its competitors. The Wii U's tablet controller just wasn't impressive, it was far from changing the game like the Wii or Switch did and the Gamepad offered didn't offer much of any meaningful advantage over its competitors.