I think we're more educated on the matter than we were back then, and Trucks' OP is pretty logical and free of bias (he's pro-Nintendo).

Most of the people saying it was a gimmick still today call it a gimmick, or few have realized the importance of motion gaming after all. But those people also call the WiiU a gimmick, and none of them are here this far, so you don't need to worry about that. The past happened, we are better now and we move on.

Keep in mind, we've only seen about half of the Nintendoland games, and what we see covers a broad spectrum of difficulties. Takamaru's Ninja Castle, and Donkey Kong Crash course are fairly simple games that wouldn't feel out of place on the iphone (naturally with a few modifications). Zelda is also relatively simple, particularly for Wiimore wielders, and Animal Crossing/Luigi's Mansion are a bit more complex. I think in this sense, Nintendoland will do well as a tech demo.

In terms of capturing the wow factor, it's hard to imagine it performing quite as well as Wii Sports, but at the same time I'm a bit more optimistic than OP. I think that "casual" gamers are going to see it and think "oh hey, a tablet. I can use that." and be willing to give it a try. From that point, I think they're going to have a blast. The games on display look pretty fun to me.

I also think that Miiverse functionality is going to be a big feature in this game. The idea of a theme park instantly brings to mind huge crowds of people, and I'm sure that this isn't just a happy coincidence. I think Miiverse is going to be a make it or break it feature for the Wii U, and I'm interested in seeing how it applies here. I think the overall structure of the game will be more complex than Wii Sports and its overall layout will be key to its success.

Of course, as OP later noted, the Wii U isn't in the same exact situation as the Wii was. The Wii was trying to sell a console to people who have never played games before. With the Wii U, more people have gaming experience, due to the Wii as well as Smartphones, tablets, and even facebook. I think people in general are more receptive to gaming this time around.

Oh and lastly, predicting what casual fans will like is a bit of a crapshoot. Personally, I still can't quite understand the appeal of Farmville or Angry Birds, and I really didn't see Wii Sports being quite as big as it turned out. It'll be fun to wait and see how this plays out, but between Wii Sports, Wii Fit, Mario Kart, NSMB, Nintendogs, Brain Training, Animal Crossing, and so on, I like Nintendo's track record here.

@bolded:  That, plus the fact that Durango will be pricier if they are indeed focusing on a multimedia hub for the living room.  Then there's the fact that Microsoft will never be able to appeal to Japan, but consoles aren't as much of a focus there... for the moment anyway.

I just played a bunch of Nintendo Land games and I firmly disagree with the OP. Nintendo Land if bundled with the Wii U will have a similar effect and a much more solid one than Wii Sports. The games are better and the new controller does provide a new "wow" factor. The games are intuitive and at the least interactive physically giving the game a solid feel that helped separated motion controls from traditional ones. It has multiplayer games, ones using their big name IPs. I see Nintendo Land being the ultimate mini game collection for the Wii U and it will do wonders for the console if they bundle it in. That ninja star game alone would bring in the "casuals".

That's why the Move failed to ride the motion wave, regardless whether theirs are better tech or not.

We won't know if the WiiU will be successful as the Wii did. The challenge is tough.

Yeah like everyone else I pretty much agree.

However, if Nintendo showed Chase Mii and Battle Mii (or whatever they'll be called) is the best minigames to show. I think "casuals" would understand those.

That's great, Chark.  Does it persuade you to buy one?

I'm thinking about it. I was really dissapointed with the Wii but have still considered getting one to play some games I missed out on. It's been hard catching up to what I missed this gen only having a PS3 for less than two years and now a Vita. I don't know when I will be buying a next gen home console, and I wouldn't get a Wii U until seeing what Sony and Microsoft have to offer (nix Microsoft unless they eliminate XBL gold). Wii U is really shapping up to be a much better console for the traditional gamer, even with its new gamepad the console has good graphics, controls, and the gamepad itself is a better device than the Wii mote ever was. That and the pro controller is a better option.The Wii U is backwards compatible too.

I personally would skip Nintendo Land if it wasn't included and just go straight for Zombie U, now that's a game! For the casual feels like a Wii but better and Nintendo shouldn't be over complicating its machine to discourage them through a learning curve. I think. I wasn't able to use the UI, just some games. Gamestop Expo today if you are wondering.

Charks comment about NintendoLand is comforting indeed! If that's true I hope they bundle it. But I think their (Nintendos) biggest problem is making the game look easy to play - and that'll be hard! You got a seperate screen and 4 wiimotes. How do you show that in an easy and accessible way?

I think it depends on how Nintendo markets it. The Ninja Castle game in particular has a lot of potential to be a very straightforward example of how Wii U works. We have also only seen about half of the games in Nintendo Land yet, so I wouldn't be so sure of anything for now.