I'm not saying the casual market is dumb, but uniformed and it yeilds the same results. If they don't know about the product or think it is something else then it won't sell. It's the informed ones, the savvy consumer, the core gamer and Nintendo fans that are buying the Wii U. That is not enough to sell a large number of Wii U's. Nintendo more than likely reduced its appeal to core gamers with the Wii and is repeating that trend with the Wii U, despite their attempt otherwise. Their system is low powered to what their competition will be offering and is only slightly more powered than the PS3 and 360. The disparity in the last gen caused 3rd party support issues. All of this caused a portion of the core market to avoid Nintendo. Loyaltists aside, a decent chunk of core gamers are hesitant about the Wii U. That mixed with a bad attempt to market to casual consumers results in low sales. In some regards the Vita is having similar issues addressing itself to the market.

Does this confusion of Wii U being a Wii accessory happen in the US? Because this is certainly not the issue in Europe. I don't think anyone thinks this. Although I don't know about Japan or US, culture is different in those places, people might not research things there.

Yes it is a broad reaction and yes they played it for Nintendo exclusives. 44% of all game sales for Wii were from Nintendo games. That's a huge percentage.

I can remember when the GBA was being launched. I was this stupid little kid that knew nothing about games yet I was like "mom I need it!" Ended up getting it pretty much at launch. When the DS came around it was the same way. I knew absolutely nothing about anything yet I was like "mom I need it!" I can honestly say I don't even remember knowing a thing about the PS3 launch but do you know what I do remember? Watching a little disc advertizement for the Wii and saying "mom I need it!" I got my wii the day it came out. Granted this story shows my love for Nintendo, but it also shows how non video game savvy stupid people can be interested in the next-gen. You'd be surprised how small the "hardcore" market is.

It is uninformed, certainly, but not uninformed enough to result in the outcome you're suggesting. The only way for a consumer to know enough about the Wii U to confuse it for a Nintendo accessory, and yet remain ignorant of its actual nature, would be that they were so averse to the idea of a touchscreen for their Nintendo system that it wouldn't matter.

No reasonable person could mistake a Wii U for a Wii accessory if they went to a store to buy one; if the front of the box didn't tip you off, the back of the box sure would. And that's assuming you went to the store blindly, without bother to look  up anything about this device you presumably heard about erroneously from word-of-mouth.

So what sort of person would know enough about the Wii U to think it's a peripheral for the Wii system that they presumably already own, have no interest in a touchscreen controller for that system, and yet still want a Wii U? "Touchscreen gaming on a Nintendo console? I'm completely uninterested unless it's in HD."

True story... I went over a buddy's house a couple weeks ago, hadn't been over his place in quite awhile. In his living room he's got 55" HDTV mounted over an entertainment center which housed, among other things, a PS2, a 360, a PS3, and what I thought was just a regular white Wii at first glance laying flat on top of the PS2. I asked him what new games he got recently, and he showed me some on his shelf, a couple PS360 games, and then NSMBU. I'm like, "Wait, you have a Wii U??" He's like yeah, it's sitting right there, didn't you see it? I was like no, I thought that was your old Wii!

Seriously, it's bad enough Nintendo confused consumers just by tacking on a "U" at the end, but when you make a new system that looks almost exactly like your old one, it's no wonder people are confused about the damn thing!

Personally I don't see how people could get the two mixed up. It CLEARLY shows the Wii u console on the box and it says Wii u on the console. Plus in the Lego city TV commercial, it shows the game, gamepad and the actual CONSOLE. Also, why would an "add-on" cost $349 when the console costs around $100 now? I just think its customer stupidity/ lack of common sense.

Less than 34%, actually, if you don't count the games that no one actually paid for (Wii Sports, Wii Play, Link's Crossbow Training, etc.). So twice as many actual sales of Non-nintendo games as Nintendo games.

And wow. My parents would have kicked my butt if I'd asked them for that much stuff. Trust me, I know; not everyone gets a new video game system every other year. And with respect, the paradigm from 5-10 years ago is very different from what it is today.

Yeah, the problem is is that Nintendo isn't leading the fore front on their own console. They are relying on Monster Hunter and Lego City. Those are great titles don't get me wrong I could monster hunt all freakin' day but what Nintendo needs are the big 4. 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Smash Bros., Zelda. Ever since Nintendo 64 those 4 games have created hype for the corresponding hardware. So once again, wait until E3. I really want the new Mario Kart to be named Mario Kart Ultra.

Not much has changed within Nintendo though.They got lucky with the Wii and now they're trying to replicate that but it isn't working.

Nah, I still stand by the it is basically the same as the 360 and PS3. It is currently only something the  "own every console guys," or Nintendo faithful want. The numbers of people that fit this category is small compared to the overall console owning population. Pachter makes a lot of good points about the console. It is many years too late.