"1. Nintendo has positioned itself to be the early market leader for the eight generation console"

Uh..I stopped reading right there. NO, it hasn't. Of course if you count sales then yeah, it's sold more than PS4 and 720 so far...because they haven't even released yet.

I don't see the Wii U being a failure, but I don't see it being the lead console either.

what worries me the most really is that Patcher seems to have become a household name.

Grand Theft Auto V won't. Neither will Bioshock Infinite or Devil May Cry or Tomb Raider.....see the pattern? All the AAA games for next year that have been announced aren't announced for Wii U. Keep in mind these games are coming early next year, and if they do come to Wii U, it'll be too late for anyone to care. Even if they do come on the same day, will Wii U owners even care? Black Ops 2 and Assassin's creed 3 sales aren't very encouraging so far...

Are you sure AC is going to be released Q2 in the USA? On the wiki page it says Q1/Q2 for NA. At least Fire Emblem, Luigi's Mansion and a few other games are Q1.

To be fair to the Wii U I do think Tomb Raider and perhaps Metal Gear Rising could be ported, but yeah they will both probably be a few months late. 

GTAV, BioShock Inifinite, Crysis 3, I think those devs will just pass on ports entirely. 

I think what you will see on Wii U in the first six months next is a Final Fantasy XIII Collection (I + II) and Resident Evil 6 with bonus content. 

I'm aware of games that are supposed to come later than 2013, however the thing is that we still don't have the concrete evidence either.  So we can't say anything about the position any console has further than the years following 2013.  

I have a hard time believing FF Versus XIII is coming out in fall 2013.

Lightning Final Fantasy XIII is already booked for late 2013. And on that, I do think the Wii U will actually get a version of that at roughly the same time as the 360/PS3.

I think Versus XIII honestly at this point may have been transformed into a PS4/720 title and will drop the "XIII" moniker entirely and just be called Final Fantasy Versus or something.

I think Nintendo is in exceptional shape for many reasons.

I think the WiiU will be a success because:

1. They launched 1st.
2. Their previous system was the market leader...nearly 100 million homes are used to wii.
3. The wii established a mainstream presence.
4. The wiiU has two mainstream hooks: a tablet and a great video on demand interface.
5. Nintendo's massive software library (increasingly important with few 3rd party exclusives).
6. It's powerful enough.
7. It will likely dominate Japan.
8. The DS and 3DS are feeding it lots of young indoctrinated young fans.
9. Nintendo has a large, rabid fan base.
10. It's a good, fun to use system.
11. Nintendo is good at making games that appeal to the mainstream.
12. They have billions in cash reserves.
13. Chicks dig it.
14. It will be the cheapest.

Reasons 1 and 14 being very important. Those together with Nintendo's software will make the system thrive. The likely 10 million install base edge it will have over newer systems will likely ensure multi-plat support, not unlike how Square pretty much had to put FFXIII on Xbox because the PS3 audience wasn't big enough. They have the cash to take steps necessary if problems arise, such as buying exclusives, studios, price cuts or extra marketing. They can do what's necessary to gain market share if they need to.

The 3DS is a given. It's a massive success and now making money. It's sales rate in the US could be bigger, but its main competitor is actually the DS. As the DS software dries up you will see those sales shift to the new model. I would expect 2013 to be a very successful year for Nintendo.

No, keep it. Please.

In the end, I think the SNES outsold the Genesis by around 10 million units, I wouldn´t call that "barely beating", but yeah, the Genesis did give the SNES a run for its money.