I consider myself pretty technically informed.  I build my own computers, I've followed the video game technical side of things for 18 years and am studying computer networking.

I can say with quite a solid level of certainty that the Wii U will NOT be less powerful than the PS3/X360.  To be honest, it would actually be very difficult to do.

Ohh that's good :) i just hope that it's atleast a bit more powerfull then the current gen consoles

The thing is... that they have already unveiled the tablet controller. What else do they have?

The power of the console won't make their rivals to change their plans (or not by much), and regarding the uses of the controller well, the ways you can use it aren't infinite, and they have probably guessed almost all of them by now.

So, why the strict NDA?

There are still many, many, many aspects of the console (including the tablet controller) that have not yet been unveiled.  

The NDA's are in effect because Nintendo wants to be the one to unveil all that information.   Keep in mind that it's not just to keep information away from consumers at the moment but from the compeition as well.

Yes, I know. But Joel is basing the NDA on the controller and what could have happened if the wiimote was unveiled earlier. I've only stated that the big "thing" of the WiiU, the tablet controller, has already been unveiled.

Are there other things? Sure. But we already know many of the controller funtions like

• Display the same image of the TV or another one
• A front-facing camera
• A microphone
• A rechargable battery (thank God!)
• Motion detection hardware
• Rumble
• NFC
• and the sensor strip of the Wii. 

Seriously, there aren't many things that would aslo fit into that controller.

As for the console, besides the hardware (something that Sony and Microsoft want to know, as we do), the other functions won't be as much ground breaking as the controller and they can be added into their rivals projects if they find them interesting without the need to scrap their plans.

So the question remains. Why do they went with such a strict NDA that doens't even allow developers to say "we are working on X game for it" ?

How about a financial reason?   Stock values can fluctuate based on information.   Nintendo could be holding back information via NDA's to keep stock at a certain projected value until they are ready to unveil the information at which time they expect the stock value to rise.  If the stock figures are part of their expected fianncial data they give to stock holders, they need to control the information that affects their stock price as much as possible.

Another financial reason?   They spend millions of dollars o their E3 booth and media briefing conference.  Do you think they want to spend all that money just to have all the information already leaked out?

I get your points and, in parts, I agree with them. But

Their silence is allowing "anonymous" sources to make claims that are harming their stock's value more than needed. And holding back info now to make their stocks rise when revealed is a risky business as no one knows if (given they are good news) they will rise enough to compensate the decline they are suffering now from those rumors. A small tidbit from Iwata could put an end on most of these rumors without any compromise.

Their booth at E3 will be full no matter what they do. Lots of people will want to try the controller with "proper" games, not minigames/tech demos.

New Wii U Rumor! Analyst claims that the Wii U has 50% more processing power than the Xbox 360/PS3!

Coming from the latest issue of Game Informer...

"Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia says that developers told him the Wii U will have 50 percent more processing power than the Xbox 360 and PS3, but Nintendo hasn't confirmed this rumor."

http://gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=175540

One and a half Xbox360 duct-taped?
Sounds Nintendish.

Look, I know you want information, as do I, but you have to udnerstand that in thsi business NDA's are very common.   I've signed several of them myself being in the media....and for my own side business.   I've even written a few and had others sign them.

I could go on for post after post giving you reasons for the strict NDA's but I'll just leave it be by saying that Sony and MS also have all devs under a strict NDA right now.   And the volume of entities that are under NDA's is huge: publishers, developers, manufactrures, componenent vendors, suppliers, analysts, marketing firms, retail, legal firms, distributors, trade exhibitors and on and on and on.    And as I said, this goes for all 3 console makers and the NDA's go both ways across countless aspects of those segments I listed.