No, it's pretty normal to see a current generation console launch before next gen ones have been revealed.

nintendo is one of the most profitable companies in all the VG industry even if the wii u "fails" or something they still have lots and lots of money to even relaunch a new home console, in the 2006-2012 they have earned 20 times more money than sony and MS in the VG branch lol and thats thanks to not sell at a loss

I've been thinking about all of these things, and I realized that sometimes taking a system and only giving it a power boost isn't what everybody is looking for. If it were, Nintendo would have no doubt made a system to compete with the potential power that the PS4/720 would bring to the table.

Gaming-wise, Nintendo is trying to keep its system cheap and unique, while still being profitable on their system. Microsoft and Sony, so far, seems to have felt differently and probably wants to sway those by advertising their current systems as on par or superior to the Wii U (more specifically Sony with the Vita+PS3 combo). When they announce their next gen systems, they'll most likely try to put Nintendo into that "kiddy" and "non-hardcore" spot again.

Bravo! Well said, sir!

Well, I think with Dragon Quest and Monster Hunter on board (and their own franchises) they are in a seemingly unbeatable position in Japan. There is hardly any doubt in my mind Wii U will win that region by a large margin and therefore should see strong support from games predominantly focussed on the japanese Market.

With that as a backbone, a strong launch/launch window line-up and a year headstart at a decent price point I think they may just win next gen again or atleast be very competitive in all regions. NA might be won by MS and Europe could go to Sony, but Nintendo probably won't be far behind them in that case.

I would actually argue that it has more to do with the practicality of pushing graphics beyond their current level ...

This weekend I have been playing Mass Effect 3 on my PC and I have been noticing how much better it looks compared to Mass Effect 2 even though I am running it on the same system. Even though performance (seems to be) the same, all of the lower quality textures and models seem to be gone and the graphics are (almost) flawless from a technical perspective. The only real area that Mass Effect 3 is lacking is in facial animations which isn't due to lack of processing power, it is simply due to not having the budget to do facial motion capture on every speech. For the most part, with game graphics like Mass Effect 3 I don't see much of a need to push processing power.

WiiU shouldve even released last year.

The of has the best graphics and things going for it and pretty is in the next gen but console sales for ps3/360 still out beat it in game sales. And they are both not on the level of PC. So wii u is going to be more than ok moving forward. The bigger question is will Sony and Microsoft be ok releasing a system this late?

its more likely to see sony failing hard in this next generation after the fail they made in this current gen if they dont change something, ps3 at last place and we all know what vita is, a big F

xbox 3 is going to be all in one, casual games + motion controls + classic controls + hardcore hardware+hardcore games + lots of new entertaining incentives to attract all the crowd, even MS is hiring people to make its own news show or "microsoft directs" a true xbox "world hub", and nintendo the same but in a cheaper way

also connectivity between people and social features are very important features for the next gen, Miiverse is going to be like the Facebook-twitter of the Wii U users i think it will be real nice to meet other people and help each other and things like that.

if sony goes again with its simple box full of hardware with classic controler and nothing more they are dead once again unless they have any innovation, because a console only focused on "hardcore" will never win again in the current times even more if its expensive

i see next-gen going like this MS>Nintendo>>>>>>Sony

If I understand what you're trying to say correctly, you're saying that graphics are reaching their max.  While I agree with you that graphics are reaching a point where it may not make a difference on how much better you make it look, there are a lot of other things that factor in when you put in more power.  It's not just graphics, but processing power for AI and physics as well.  That's where we can make significant improvements.  

My argument for the Wii U is that they didn't make it as powerful as can be because they feel like the current power they put it at is powerful enough for the standards we're at and will be at for the next few years, until they release their next console.