I`m glad Nintendo is going for the hardcore gamers, or as Iwata said, those who have gaming as a hobby.
Despite the colour of the market, a market is still a market and dismissing any is the same as losing money.
Wii became so strong that Nintendo can afford to wait 1 year to fully go after the non gamers or the more casual crowd - not that it won`t try to appeal to them since day one. A tablet for a controller is the perfect way to attract those who already game on tablets!
But unfortunately, Nintendo can not wait to attract the core gamers not just by not giving them the games they want but also by giving once again that the next Wii will be a casual/non-gamers machine.

In the end it`s a matter of perception. Something that has to start with developers.
If Nintendo doesn`t present them a strategy that shows them that their games will have room to sell on Wii U than they won`t bet on Wii U. And if they don`t bet on Wii U, core gamers won`t buy the console because their games of choice won`t be there and that would be Wii all over again.

Looking at the games already announced we can see that Wii U won`t be a Wii "2".

But can Nintendo`s strategy work: first the core and than the casual/non-gamers.
Well, it worked for MS so i can`t it work for Nintendo?
Nintendo has brands that resonate with the mass audience but still has to try and captivate the hardcore. If it can do that, it has a chance of coming on top with the red and blue market on it`s side even if it doesn`t fully conquer both.
Right now, it might in a better position than it was with Wii.

In my childhood, we have to blow the cartridge so the NES can "play" it. Not sure I want to do a blow to those big ones on the picture...

Sounds like the nintendo I know and love could be back! to hell with the consequences.

^.^ That's it.

To be honest, nintendos marketing strategy as been near flawless. Looking at the 3DS i have no doubt they know what they are doing now.

You can buy more controllers for those systems and use them concurrently. We're not sure yet if the Wii U can actually support more than one tablet controller. If it can, we don't know how expensive that controller might be.

Given the Wii U's focus on asymmetric gameplay (we've already seen some novel ideas from Ubisoft on this), I'm not sure if it's really a major issue either.

 Unfortunately, when the GameCube came out I was already in my 20's; so like everyone over the age of 12, it wasn't geared towards me. Wii was a much more friendly console for people in their 20's.

Agree. Wii was more friendly and anybody can play it, especially both Wii Sports and MKWii.

serious inquiry, how much games will actually have 5 players playing at ONCE. PS3 could actually support six and the only game I know that actually does it is Xmen arcade. IMHO that 5 player function isnt something that i am personally blown away by, but time will tell

I think it'll actually be a really important part of the casual strategy, and games like Catch mii and Rayman legends are proof of it. It'll be more awesome than you can image, my last experience with something like this was crystal chronicles on the cube and it really is something special and exhilarating, there's something cool about having a different experience from someone else as you're playing a game, it makes you or that person get that special thing where they have some kind of unique ability. It'll be cool and really neat for game parties..