Oh right, I still think a HD Zelda will do more for moving hardware than a 3D mario at this moment in time. They need to do something spectacular with mario kart. It needs switching up. 

If they manage to make a game that utilises the hardware as fully as Galaxy and is equally as well crafted and creative, then the Wii U will rise like a phoenix.

However, being the pessimist I am, I'm not confident; Nintendo don't have the experience with the hardware that they did when creating Galaxy, and their recent creative decisions have shown none of the brilliance they demonstrated back in Galaxy's day.

I think theres a few reasons why 2D Mario Isnt pushing alot of hardware, one being that Wii/DS/3DS were all $200 or under when 2D Mario released, $350 is alot for one single game to sell consoles.

2. All the above systems had alot of great supporting games. Not mant people r gonna buy a console for one game, more than likely there has to be a few games u want and then that big game might be what pushes u too finally get the console. DS already had 64DS, Brain Training l, Nintendogs. Wii already had Wii Sports, Smash, Zelda, Mario Kart, Galaxy. 3DS had 3D Land, MK7, OoT 3D when 2D Mario released. Wii U doesnt currently have supporting type games.

3. The "New" Mario series could be getting stale. The one on DS was the first original 2D Mario in 15 years, the Wii version was the 1st console 2D Mario in 18 years and the first to support asimultanious multiplayer. NSMB2 released just a few months before Wii U so that could have hurt its sales. Basically NSMB is no longer "New" while 3D Mario always does something vastly different than the last.

Not so much moving alot of units, if it is a masterpeice game it will be a bigger seller then a HD Zelda and on par with smash brothers. But if failed regardless of seeling less hardware will be a mass dissapointment and hurt the wii u image in the long run. Being one of the first huge nintendo 1st party games out of the gate 3d mario games as tradition really aid and embrace the hardwares new capabilites, 64 -3d graphics, sunshine, improved graphics, wii entire new gameplay and this one will have to find its hold and do it right that will bring attention and focus to the wii u that others have missed.

there is no way a HD zelda could sell more then a 3d mario. evan sunshine sold what? 6.50 mil?

to my theory this is nitnendos first impression of a big title done by EAD to wow the gamers into seeing the the less powerfull wii U can do awesome visuals (like galaxy) and amazing new gameplay with the gamepad.

I guess the Wii U is fucked, then.

simple and clean

You are right, Kingdom Hearts III exclusively on the WiiU would definately help^^

They need to get the casuals to come back, that's what expanded their audience on the Wii.

Without that, they'll be back between the GameCube to N64 range, which I'm not sure if I'd define as "f*cked", they should still be able to turn some kind of profit on that in the long run, just probably not what they hoped.

To be honest the whole Wii brand has been in trouble for a while now, well before the Wii U came out, the original Wii was in massive decline.

Looking at the 3DS, it's not like Mario 3D Land + Mario Kart 7 + even NSMB2 + Paper Mario + Luigi's Mansion 2 + Fire Emblem on top of that solved all their issues.

The lowest the 3DS sold during it's off months (with no games prior the price reduction) was 97,000 aside from the August directly before the price cut when people were obviously holding off on buying. This last month with all the above listed games + a hardware revision + the $80 price drop in effect, it sold sub 130k.

Which indicates to me that the 3DS still is struggling to rocket out of 100-130k/month range in North America, despite Nintendo throwing a lot of their core IP at the platform.

So that doesn't bode well for the Wii U, figuring that it's going to be more expensive than the 3DS is now (even with a price cut), and Nintendo consoles tend to sell less than Nintendo handhelds.

You can not compare a handheld gaming system like the 3DS with a console like Wii U. If you do that it would mean that the PS4 would be a flop like the Vita, the Vita has already some of the biggest Sony IPs and still has low sales.

There seem to many interesting games in the pipeline that could rise the Wii U sales.

Of course a good 3D Mario would help. Mario Galaxy 1+2 are in the top three of the all-time-top-games on ranking sites like gamerankings. But there are other games that are more important for sales:

Smas Bros and Mario Kart are a definitive system seller, a new Zelda, even The Wind Waker Remake will sell many Wii Us too. "Xenoblade 2" will sell to the JRPG-Fans and the new Retro game will probably be astonishing. Bayonetta 2 is another game that will definitely sell a few consoles, other exclusives like Shin Megami Tensai vs. Fire Emblem or Sonic Lost Worlds, The Wonderful 101 will make some people buy the Wii U. The new Mario&Sonic Winter Olympics seems to be exclusive on Wii U and past games sell millions!

There will be no hit-seller that rises the Wii U sales to the roof, but many exclusive Wii U games that will make prople buy the Wii U and rise the sales dramatically.

I think point 2 and 3 are very valid.