The casual market on consoles has shrunk, yes, but 5 million for a game that's been out 4 months still point to a significant market. Zumba Fitness is still in the top 60 despite being out for years, Kinect Adventures is still in the top 50.

No console will probably ever have the casual marketshare Wii had, but the market is far from "gone."

Its not "gone" in the same sense that the dedicated handheld market isn't, but they're both clearly going away. First the casual home console audience and then dedicated handhelds.

I know how to read, do you? You say Zelda WW was a toon and now please explain to me how the first Wii U Zelda - Zelda Wind Waker HD is not going to be a toon? I don't care what you expect and dream about at night, the fact is the next Zelda is going to be a GCN toon and a real HD Zelda TP style may come in 3-4 years if ever. Where is this huge change you were talking about? I don't know if the next Mario is going to be a Sunshine again, but looking as they are coming back to Luigi's Manshion it actually seems possible...

I love how the topic creator appears to not only not have a gamecube, but never played any of the games he bashes.

Hard to consider ones argument when they have zero experience with one side of it. How can you say Gamecube is or isn't like the Wii U, if you have never played the gamecube?

Have you played the Wii U even?

The reason people compare the two is because they see the Wii U performing sales wise and games wise like the Gamecube.  They figure it will have a crap ton of amazing Nintendo games yet for some reason not sell well like the gamecube.  The Wii U has a good selection of 1st party games coming out that make the system a must have.  But for some reason a lot of people will pass it up.  The Wii U will drop in price sometime, so is it really much to ask to pay 250-300 for a system that can have Zelda, Mario, Smash, Bayonette, Lego City, Mario Kart, Pikmin, and some more games that will not be on any other console ever.   No 720, ps4, ps3, 360, pc, vita, 3ds, ect.  You will only find those games on the Wii U.  I see it worth buying.  THere is no, "lets wait till port"  NOt going to happen.  (actually should remove Smash, cause that is coming to 3DS) 

If you ask around to favorite consoles, you will be surprised how many say Gamecube or Dreamcast.  Those poorly selling systems had a great library of amazing games.  Reasons for not selling baffled me.  Just have to chuck it up to the typical "not in style" or something.  The "cool" thing was not those systems.  Can be said about Apple these days.  Apple for some reason is still teh "cool" brand even though it has been passed up by most of its competitors, yet consumers still see "apple" as the cool must have. 

Never understand why people bash a console.   Why would you want to miss out on those awesome games.  I will for sure have a Wii U at some point in a year.  I also will be getting either a 720 or ps4 as well.  Then later getting the other.  There are just too many great exclusives on each console no to have them all.  Don't forget PC, but seeing how PC's do so much besides gaming, I never have to worry about not haing a PC.  Sure I've upgraded a few times in who knows what years.  But the nice thing with PC's is you never feel like your having to buy a new console.  You just upgrade every few years like you would normally with a pc, and coincidentally also are upgrading your gaming machine.  I mean without gaming on my PC, i would be upgrading it anyway, so why not spend a couple extra hundred for a better upgrade. 

GameCube did have the weakest 3D Mario, Zeldas, Mario Kart, Donkey Kong, and Kirby games. That I agree with.

But we're talking hardware sales here. Yes Just Dance 4 sold very well but again that is because alot of people already have a Wii sitting at home somewhere, because so many casuals bought one. Wii-U sales proove that casuals are indeed done with consoles and that the Wii was the exeption of succes not the rule. It was the active style of play that atracted these people in the first place, hence active games like Just Dance sell well.

With Wii-U we're back on the couch again so when it comes to casual appeal, Wii-U is a step back from the Wii.

N64 hade the very best though, and gave us the first Super Smash brothers and Mario party games and all the great Rare titles like Banjo Kazooie, Perfect Dark, Goldeneye. Incredible first and second party support, a $199 launch price tag and that system sold 33 million. And since there is no way Wii-U is going to beat N64 in the software department and faces tougher competition(PS3 and X360 from one side and soon PS4 and Next Xbox from the other) there is little chance that it's going to beat N64 sales.

@ 1st part - let's not forget that right now Wii isn't the go-to platform for motion games for casuals. Kinect has managed to take this spot and if the casuals are still interested in getting a console, they will most likely choose the next X-box with Kinect 2. For them no cotroller at all is better than a Wiimote, let alone the GamePad. I've never played a dance game, but I think the Wiimote version can't even compare to a Kinect game.

@ 2nd part - I think it should beat N64 sales. Wii U will benefit from the massive success of Wii. I'm an example for this, I've never had a Nintendo console before, Wii was the first and now I know that I'll be getting Wii U once the price drops to 150 to play those few 1st party games.

Wii U is indeed a step back from the Wii in casual appeal, but its low sales don't prove casuals have all moved on, because the console's high price puts it out of the range of the casual market for the moment.

We can't possibly know that yet.

Casuals seem to have no problem buying $300+ tablets/smartphones/etc. The Wii U is not *that* expensive. People just don't want one.

It was a mistake to think that casuals are the same as hardcore players either. Most of them probably don't give two craps about Wii Fit U in HD graphics for example.

They don't upgrade the same way core players do IMO.

Case in point Just Dance on Wii U sold Just Squat. Nintendo Land failing to hook is troublesome too ... 3-4 years ago a game like this (a mini-game Mii compilation based around a Nintendo theme park) would've sold millions easily. Today it shows that like Wii Party, which really didn't take off in North America either, that casuals are tired of the mini-game collection and have moved on. 

Why pay $50 for Nintendo Land (or $350 bundled) when you can just download 4-5 games from the iOS shop for $5 that keeps you occupied? Again casual gamers don't care about things like better graphics or even physical controls IMO. 

Planets Vs. Zombies, Angry Birds, Farmville, Cut the Rope, etc. get the job done for casuals in terms of occupying that short amount of time every other day they actually might feel like playing a game. 

A tablet/smartphone is seen as a better investment than a console for casuals, its something they'll use more.
They may pay $500 on an iphone, but they won't pay more than $250 for a console.