well, furthermore i think amd is quite involved in the dev-kits, also. interesting topic, i think! would like to know more on this. especially what about contracts to support the devkits? i think they are updated quite often software-wise.

There is a wide veriaty of companies that contributed to the kitts, including many 3rd party companies. AMD, IBM, Nintendo and Green Hills Software are probably the main ones tho. But I wouldn't think AMD and IBM would keep full time support teams arround after the final hardware was in place.

Some interesting info on the kitts

"Wii U dev kit specs

The Wii U dev kit specs first and foremost support everything the regular retail Wii U console supports, and has the same hardware specs — the Wii U CPU and Wii U GPUare the same, as are the other features. However, dev kits usually have more storage and more memory to aid developers in compiling and creating games. The kit includes:

• Wii U console with added features such as extra ports, connectors, etc. The kit includes all the retail Wii U hardware.
• Nintendo-made software tools and libraries that can be freely used by developers.
• Royalty-free third party software and APIs licensed by Nintendo that is free for developers to use.
• Various tools to take in-game screenshots and in-game videos for trailers etc.
• Wii U games are usually written in C++. The Wii U dev kit includes a custom compiler.
• Tech support from Nintendo developers and experts on software, APIs, and theWii U operating system.

Wii U dev kit software

The software included with the Wii U dev kit ranges from Nintendo-made APIs and tools, to third party software that Nintendo has licensed from other companies. Among those, Nintendo has an deal with Autodesk to offer the GameWare tools to developers free of charge. Another partner is Green Hills Software, which will provide advanced code and APIs to Wii U developers. Again, this will come free of charge. There are also numerous third party software suites that support the Wii U, including physics by Havok. Nintendo also includes tools and online code for companies who wish to add online multiplayer components to their Wii U games."

http://wiiudaily.com/wii-u-dev-kit/

"About MULTI

The MULTI development environment supports more target processors, operating systems, and third-party tools than any other IDE—making it ideal for enterprise-wide deployment. Green Hills Software's MULTI integrated development environment includes the industry's most powerful and proven tools for developing embedded software with maximum reliability, maximum performance, and minimum code size. With the MULTI IDE's sophisticated capabilities, you can develop, debug, and optimize code more quickly, significantly reducing both development cost and time."

http://www.ghs.com/news/20120327_ESC_Nintendo_WiiU.html

"One developer working on a key AAA franchise port told us anonymously that the Nintendo toolchain is "fighting us every step of the way", suggesting that plenty of work still needs to be done in getting development workflow up to scratch. Will the tools improve in time? Will publishers have the time and the financial incentive to stick with it?"

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/df-hardware-nintendo-wii-u-review

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-09-19-nintendo-licenses-unity-engine-for-wii-u-both-in-house-and-out

Turns out Wii U is current generation and Wii was a successful specimen in between generations...

Who knew.

you are wrong. GTAV developers said that the game will only come out on current gen systems. Have you herd any news of a WiiU version?

How? By making the Wii a thing of the past. Having Wiimote/Nunchuk 2.0 as the standard controller and the Pro Controller optionally (basically the same as it was on the Wii) would have been the way to go.

The 3DS is an evolution of the DS in terms of control inputs, so nothing really out of the ordinary here.

But it's up for consideration http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/gta-v-wii-u-and-pc-releases-under-consideration

Yup. All these parts slower than the PS3/Xbox360 yet somehow as a whole, it's faster. Witch craft, I say.

The biggest 3 problems I see for Nintendo right now are:

1) The average consumer might think it's a $300 tablet accessory for the Wii, not a brand new console;

2) PS3/360 owners have little reason to get the Wii U without any killer apps, as whatever 3rd party titles come to the Wii in the next 12-18 months will likely launch on PS3/360. 

3) Certain developers are already saying they won't develop games for Wii U in the near future. That's never a good sign and shows Nintendo needs to figure out a way to court 3rd party developers. With initially low install base of Wii U consoles on the market (5-6 million by Spring 2013?), developers aren't going to be that eager to spend $ porting games to the Wii U.

Point #2 means all those people will be sitting on the sidelines waiting on killer/unique games to come to the Wii U but only Nintendo can deliver them as no 3rd party developer is going to go out of their way (without $ bribes) to make Wii U exclusive titles and not release them to capitalize on the massive current userbase of Xbox 360/ PS3 (i.e., GTA V coming first to those 2 consoles as opposed to Wii U or PC). The real danger is if Nintendo doesn't get any killer games in the next 12-18 months and builts up a minimum userbase of 10 million gamers, by then PS4 / Xbox next will launch and Nintendo's console may look outdated with a small userbase. They should have launched the console with a revolutionary Super Mario, Zelda, Metroid game to make sure the current PS3/360 owners take notice. Those gamers aren't going to be spending $300 just to play AC3, Batman AC or Black Ops 2 on the Wii U when they probably already bought them for their current consoles.