Best unsuccessful system

[CourageTCD]

Jumpin said:

Renamed said:

Did the Wii U launch selling like the Wii did?
Did the Switch launch selling like it was going to become the best selling console ever?

Better question, was there any projection from a respected source that Switch would sell as good or better than Wii?  No.  The Wii U damaged that from being a consideration.  And it only launched somewhat decently because Nintendo combined home and portable.  Switch didn't just replace Wii U, it replaced the 3DS too.  

The Wii U caused massive brand damage both during its generation and leading into the Switch generation.  The pandemic meets Animal Crossing phenomenal shift was not predictable nor plannable. And without that gift from the VG gods, Switch would have been replaced by now.  However, had Switch had the brand power from before the Wii U, Switch would have started off breaking every record possible. 

And I haven't even mentioned the damage Wii U did to 3rd party publisher relations.  Where are the exclusive 3rd party games?  24 out of the top 50 best selling Wii U games are 3rd party.  5.5 games for Switch (1 is a crossover title).

I'd say the N64 did the most brand damage of any Nintendo console, and it wasn't even close. It was around that time Nintendo gained the reputation of not having enough games, being too childish, and being way too expensive by using old fashioned media (cartridges). This was only exacerbated by the GC, which abandoned mostly every principle left of golden era Nintendo in order to become an inferior PS2 clone box, before Nintendo returned to form with the Wii. But Nintendo's improbable fall from dominance through most of the 80s and most of the 90s was the N64's doing.

The Wii U was more a poorly designed product (being both ugly to look at and sluggish to use) that was a stop-gap between the Wii and Switch. But I wouldn't say it damaged Nintendo's brand so much as it was a product by Nintendo that not many people wanted. I see the Wii U as something more like the Virtual Boy, a failure that didn't have much in the way of longterm impact on Nintendo other than temporary financial losses during its short run. But N64 actually did destroy Nintendo's reputation.

Interesting obsrevation. As a N64 defender, it's unpleasent to read this, but it makes sense