For now, I´d be happy to know just how much more powerful than the 360 and PS3 this system will be...I´ve heard everything from 'same power as 360/PS3' to 'a bit more powerful' to 'much more powerful'...this time, I can´t imagine Nintendo settling for 'a bit more powerful'....not expecting a huge leap either..somewhere in the middle, maybe?

Wii is in many ways an anomaly: it had far less graphical power than it's competitors - but it also brought something brand new. WiiU isn't bringing something revolutionizing; we've all seen the tablets for 2-3 years now (I still think the WiiU can be a wickedly awesome gaming machine thu, don't get me wrong!). But you also gotta keep in mind how much SW the systems sell - is Wii the number one console regarding SW sold per HW? I don't know - anyone got the numbers?

WiiU really need 3rd party support - they have-to-get-every-game the competitors get! ANd to do that they can't lag behind in the graphic department too much...

So far it looks like the Wii U is getting a good number of major 360/PS3 games (Arkham City, Assassin Creed 3, Ninja Gaiden 3, etc..)..but the question is...when the major NextXbox/PS4 start coming, will they be on the Wii U too or will they "misteriously" disappear from the Wii U list of games?...you can never know when it comes to 3rd parties and their relations with Nintendo.

Not if the $299 rumor proves to be true.  The PS360 won't retail for $99 this year.

Exactly! That is a very good, and valid, question! And I guess it'll come down to how well the tablet is working for WiiU and the graphical prowess in the PS720 (or whatever ye wanna call it)

Fair enough, but it'll still be $150 more than PS3 - and that gap could mean that only hard core gamers will buy the system: why would soccer mom buy it, when there's cheaper options with great libraries?

1.  Well, to be $150 more than PS3, Sony's machine would have to drop to $149 this year.  A drop to $199 is more likely, making WiiU $100 more.

2.  Nothing will stop the 360 from being a great deal this year.  Nintendo's main goal should be to make their system look appealing; there are easily enough early adopters and Nintendo fans looking to upgrade to gobble up every machine they can ship at the $299 price point... assuming that they have great launch games, of course.  Any chance of reaching the soccer moms (i.e. non-gamers) en masse will come later as the system comes down in price and has more games.

My bet was 4-6 million units by years end. The Game Cube sold less than 4 million in 2001 and i think the Wii U can do a little bit more, but i dont think it can do as much as 6-10 million because that was the same ratio for the 3DS(12 million in 2011), with the difference that portable consoles sell more and the 3DS had Mario Kart 3D and Mario Land 3D + 9 months in 2011.

I know the price drop settled a huge difference, but the 3DS was 169 dollars and the Wii U will be around 299, besides the 3DS had many third party better prepared for 9 months AFTER launch vs the launch frame of 3 months the Wii U is going to have.

I guess 2-4 million units can be a probable range. It depends on
-how many launch titles will impress the hardcore and casual market and move the units.
- the launch price, if it stays in the range $ 229-249.
- The strategic dealing with Japanese market, which is actually one tough market.
- the number of 3rd party developers who have already signed up with dev kits.
- whether the console is released during the peak holiday period or not.