Gotcha. So you mean the original Xbox wasn't going to outsell the 360 on any given month, or just lifetime?

Yeah I was quite vague lol happens when Im watching Family guy and looking through threads at the same time :P I ment at launch, saying that I doubt the xbox was ever gunna outsell the 360 at launch like the ps2 was outselling the ps3 at launch and how the wii is also nearly outselling the WiiU at launch.

OK let's say innovative

Now I getcha! Although my understanding is that that may have happened, at least according to the scant NPD figures I've been able to see (Admittedly, the difference is statistically negligible, and the rest of the world may, or may not, make up the scant difference).

Of course, Xbox sales basically died in January 2006, but then again I expect Wii sales to do the same!

Not really a big deal. The real mark of success or failure for the Wii U will be about a year from now during the 2013 holiday season after the announcements of the PS4 and Xbox 3. Assuming either or both aren't available by then. With the 2014 rumors, who knows. 

The same thing happened to the Xbox 360 its first year of availability although many will remember that had a lot to do with supply constraint.

But if memory serves me correctly, the PS2 was outselling the 360 until after the PS3 debuted. It might have actually have been well after the PS3 debuted.

Xbox sales died because MS pulled the plug on production. 

Nintendo will most likely keep the Wii in production as a $99 product until software sales dry up completely.

So, noname, how do you feel about the Wii U and the direction Nintendo seems to be going at the moment?...do you think the system (and Nintendo) has strayed too far away from the fundamentals that made the Wii such a big phenomenon?

Well, it seems you have either misread this time or assumed. Remember, assuming makes an ass out of you and me.  I never stated that the PS4 would be in similar specs to the PS3. I stated that it will not be substantially more powerful than the WiiU. At most, if the rumoured specs are true then we are only going to see a difference in graphics from what the xbox was compared to the PS2. It would also be foolish to call the WiiU PS3.5 (We will need at least a full year or two to see what the Wii U is capable of). Please take a moment to read next time before asking someone if they are out of their mind.

Nintendo probably won't mind being the 'second system' for many core gamers and they'll get their own faithful userbase plus the some of the Wii converts to buy the system. The Wii U probably will sell about 35-40M without Nintendo trying barring some unforeseen disaster like their games becoming unpopular or utter brilliance from their competitor. We can only really adjust the mental totals upwards from there for pretty much anything good they do for the next 2-3 years if they can come out with some magic. The Wii U doesn't need to sell 100M consoles but it would be nice if it did whereas Microsoft and especially Sony probably need their sales to approach triple digits to make being in this business worthwhile.

Even if the Wii U is in last place in the west, it'll be first place in Japan. It's got Dragon Quest and Monster Hunter. Those games move systems and Nintendo's got the lockdown on those two series for both the 3DS and the Wii U.