The thing is, MMOs have been very profitable for Square. Whenever the most successful (i.e. brought in the most cash for you) was FFXI, you're going to make more MMOs.

I skipped every single post in this thread, including the OP. Maybe I should have read something because what I type next may actually be wrong. Anyway:

I think that, with one year alone on the market, the Xbox sold less than 6 million consoles (though Microsoft was hoping to sell 10 million). People just wanted to see what the competition would do and the Xbox brand wasn't that big to begin with. It wasn't until the competition launched that the Xbox caught fire. I think the Wii U will surpass that one year record pretty easily.

Sadly, here's the thing; with pay-to-play MMOs, you get more money per sale, so even with lower sales Squeenix probably still makes a tidy profit, enough to encourage them to continue this unfortunate practice. 

Oops, ninja'd.. XD

Actually DQX has a strange system with a free to play "Kids' Time" during limited hours on evenings and weekends. The majority of users are crammed into these free times. It's a problem that they can't get enough full subscribers.

I sincerely hope Squeenix stops this MMO rubbish, but being the pessimist I am, I doubt it.

Thanks Barozi!

I think the talk about the Wii U is hyperbole.  The Wii U seems to be doing well compared to the Xbox 360 and PS3 during their first year launch.  My guess is it'll be just fine when the next Xbox and PlayStation launch.

I asked the question because it seemed there were so many doom threads regarding the Wii U that things were worse than they appeared.  I'm sure Nintendo wishes they had the success of the Wii on their hands, but if I was Nintendo I wouldn't be worrying about sales yet. 

In the old days, you launched a console with your Halo or your Soul Calibur or a groundbreaking Super Mario. Since the PS2 (original Xbox the exception), nobody seems to launch with an exclusive big gun. They just seem to get the product on shelves and worry about the "killer app" later.

Gamecube had smash brothers and the wii had twilight princess...

Smash Bros. came out like a year later and Twilight Princess was on the 'Cube.  Yeah, it came out on the Wii a little earlier but people (including me) decided to wait a few weeks and buy the GC version (which many at the time said was the "real" version--left handed Link and all) instead of paying the full $250 plus game for the Wii version.

*edit*  looking at the launch for Smash Bros., it wasn't a year later!  It wasn't there at launch, though it was pretty darn close.  I had Luigi's Mansion, Star Wars, Batman Vengeance, and Wave Race.

I'm not worried about the Wii U. It won't be as successful as the Wii, but wait until Nintendo starts bringing out the Smash Bros and 3d Mario big guns before digging it's grave.