We can rule out any next gen pretensions for the Wii U. Before the PS4/720 specs are fully confirmed, launch and are analysed like the WiiU's specs are being analysed now
Seems legit

Now that's quite impossible. If Nintendo were doing that, developers would be doing nothing but bitching (since we know it doesn't take a lot to get game developers bitching in the first place), and there wouldn't be a single positive thing said about the system if Nintendo were being deliberately obtuse.

Yes, but, note this: it wasn´t the amazing Nintendo games that made the WII an amazing sucess, it was the motion thingy and the balance-board thingy, it made girls ans odl people want the console, buy it, play it for a couple of hours and then, never touch it again. These 20-30 million mega-casual-one time gamers look really good on the charts, but, like the Kinect crowd, aren´t real gamers and aren´t loyal at all.

Real nintendo fans and gamers are a much smaller number, but they are loyal as hell. WiiU will probably be a sucess, like the Gamecube, it will turn a profit and that is all that matters. If Sony sell more PS4 and get a loss in each one, it will still go bankrupcy. Turning a profit is all that matters and Nintendo knows it.

However, to an seasoned gamer that don´t care about brand loyalty, the WiiU is not the next big thing.

Hell, if MS releases an amazing new machine, I will buy it, if sony does it, count me in. I was going to buy the WiiU if the games look and play much better than the ones on my current consoles, but htey don´t.

No disrespect to Nintendo fans, I am just saying how I REALLY feel.

LOL people still care? We've seen a dozen games built from the ground up for the system and they all look like either high end current gen titles, or in the case of X, something which looks slightly beyond the capabilities of current consoles. First party titles will still look amazing, but yes Nintendo have essentially given up the right to steal consumers from the 720/PS4. Everyone can stop talking about it now.

But this game is a perfect reflection of the specs breakdown. It looks beautiful but is not a generation ahead.

I swear man, if I had seen such a thing I would have a WiiU right now. I saw ZombiU, an exclusive, and it looks so ugly itt made me sad. Wich games are you talking about?

How much 3rd party support did you see the 3DS getting in May 2011?

Yeah, remember when Nintendo released full specs for GameCube and it was second-place horsepower-wise in comparison to Xbox and significantly more powerful than PS2?  That didn't help them at all.  Commercial success in the video game industry tends to not have anything to do with whomever has the most powerful machine.  I wouldn't release specs either if I were them.

As Iwata so brilliantly stated at E3 2004 about Revolution: "I suppose I could give you a list of technical specs.  I think you would like that.  But I won't, for a simple reason; they really don't matter."  (loud applause)

People can't get out of their mind that time NOT POWER defines generation.

From this story, it appears the WiiU is about 1.5x to no more than 2x times as powerful as the HD current consoles. That is on the low-end was my estimate before it was ever released (I said 1.5x to 2.5x). So this news should surprise no one.

Truth is that the PS4 and Xbox 720 will outshine Nintendo's console's technology -- everyone knew that. The questions are whether or not the technology that Nintendo has will be innovative enough to keep people interested and whether or not Sony and Microsoft can produce consoles that meet people's needs and resources.

And this does not even begin to consider game quality.

If people want raw power over touch screens and just want to play FPS games -- then Sony and Microsoft will succeed and Nintendo will have a rough time.

If Microsoft and Sony produce high-end super-consoles that need 4K HD TVs to be truly appreciated and for which games cost $70, then Nintendo is sitting pretty.

Personally, I have made my choice and am happy with it presently. If someone else makes a choice and can live with it, that is fine by me.

Mike from Morgantown

Trying to bring some common sense to this discussion -- but probably failing because everyone feels they must be right, snarky or both.

Yeah, that's why the Wii had a tie ratio of about 10 - because the vast majority of owners bought and played one game for it and then never touched it again.

I'm sure that's right.