Yeah, but do the casuals know that? Nope. Unless the media tells them they know nothing.

Nintendo made a lot of mistakes with the GameCube, like a tennis player who makes a ton of self inflicted errors that they end up beating themselves almost more than their opponent beating them.

- Launching way too late (hardware was ready in 2000 ... Nintendo was busy supporting the dying N64 for no reason and giving Sony a 18 month headstart -- not smart).

- Pricing the system cheaper, but then axing DVD support (even though the disc drive was basically a DVD drive) for mini-discs. So effectively the cheaper price didn't appeal to people, yeah the GameCube was cheaper, but the PS2 had the added value of being people's secondary (or even primary) DVD player which made the price difference a wash.

- Purple Fisher Price-esque design was completely the antithesis of a system that was pushing games like Resident Evil and Eternal Darkness. Should've went with a far more neutral design (ala the Wii or NES).

- Too many late gen N64 projects that Nintendo should've brought over to beef up the GCN's early months -- Perfect Dark barely ran at like 15 fps on the N64. Get that game on the GameCube launch for crying out loud. Ditto for Zelda: Majora's Mask and Conker's Bad Fur Day.

- The Mario and Zelda games they made, alienated far too many people. If you want to take creative risks then wait for the second Mario/Zelda game on the system or make a new franchise, people wanted Mario 64-2 and Zelda OoT-2 basically, and Nintendo didn't give it to them (well they tried with Twilight Princess but by the time it was ready the GCN was on its deathbed). Ditto for things Donkey Kong Jungle Beat ... creative decision sure, but a non-bongo Donkey Kong Country platformer on GameCube likely would've sold 100x more.

- GameCube connectivity to the Game Boy was too complicated and expensive, having to buy all those link cables. Should've thrown one into the box of the GameCube if they really wanted to push this feature.

The Wii going viral with casuals was an anomaly that isn't going to happen in back-to-back generations. They bought the console in droves, yes, but most of them were pretty much done with console gaming after that. I'm not saying the Wii collected dust necessarily, though it did for a lot of them, but rather that most of them bought it specifically for a few games. Wii Sports, Zumba, Just Dance, and maybe a couple of others. The majority of those people aren't interested in upgrading video-game consoles every few years. They break it out when friends are over but it's not something they're invested in as a hobby.

Nintendo has the numbers, they have trend analysis and charts of everything, I'm sure. They know a lot of the Wii sales were fad sales that won't come back. They rode the train then jumped off before it ran out of track. Now they're back to the audience that is a constant, the core gamers who actually are invested in gaming as a hobby. Sure, they want whatever casual sales will come, but they know they can't live off those alone, not this time around.

My niece was telling me about how good she is at Zumba the other day. It beats me what she was talking about, to be honest, but I did ask her if she was interested in the Wii U. Her response was, "nah". That's it, just "nah". She has her Zumba and that's enough. I think the same is true for a lot of the casual market.

did people know Wii sports was casual? No, it spread by word of mouth and the same will happen with Nintendo land if people like it.

we still have Wii Sports U as well as Wii U Fit coming probably in summer time so it's not like these games disappeared all of a sudden ._.

Yes they did. The Wii was a media darling because everyone and their grandmothers could use it and it made gaming simpler for casuals to use rather than the complex thirteen to sixteen button controller. Wii Sports and Wii Fit made mothers buy the Wii as well. I remember how many mother bought that stuff during the Christmas season when that lanched. I kept laughing on the inside, but I thought this is a genius cash grab at the same time. 

They can't. There is no genre left to innovate. Whatever they do, will be a rip-off of some other game.

ok darling!

and you know they don't know Nintendo land is not casual how?

Heres the difference "darling":

1. The Wii U is a new console, so they will have to prove the value of the Wii U to casuals. Right now, there is no reason for casuals to delve into it. The core have more reason, yet they will have their hands full next year with the consoles from Sony and Microsoft for the core part of the market.

2. The casuals DO NOT know you can continue using your old Wii motes to play Nintendo Land games. Only the core know things like that and possibly some newly created gamers who are no longer casuals. I've played the Wii U, for Zeldas little game thingy, my friend and I had to have two wii motes and nunchucks and the Wii U pad. There should've been a warning that this was being done before hand, because casuals will walk into it. Remember they dont buy these things to over complicate their lives. The Wii made things easier and I doubt theres as much interest in investing in extra peripherals (if they dont have it) for Nintendo Land.

3. The marketing isn't crazy as the Wii's was. Perhaps when the hardcore finish selling out the Wii's this holiday season as expected Nintendo will beef up the marketing in January. 

The Wii's success was a fad. All those soccer moms with Wii Fit and those grandparents with Wii Bowling will never feel the need for a video game system until new fad like virtual reality kicks in. The tablet controller thing isn't that fad.

I think it was very smart of Nintendo to recognize that casuals aren't coming back. I just wish Nintendo would have went all in on the Wii U. I'm afraid the Nextbox and PS4 are going to feel like a generational leap over the Wii U. If that happens the Wii U will be in the same technological place it was in with the Wii, but without all the casuals that don't know the difference.

You guys make it sound like gamecube was a failure. It was still very profitable for nintendo. And it won't be specifically nintendo attacking casuals next gen. Microsoft have proven they are making a heavy push for casuals. In fact they look to be pushing harder then nintendo currently are.