"The Battle" is between PS4 and Xbox One because the demographic those systems serve are very similar. Both systems will also share many third party multiplat games, so the consensus to get either system will be unclear. 

Even if you considered the Wii U a failure (even Nintendo does to some degree), it's still a profitable failure. Despite the slow sales, I believe enough software is being sold where Nintendo is still making money. Because of that I'm not so worried about the Wii U's future, since there will only be more and more games exclusive to the system that will help sway even more gamers to purchase it.

So, in the end, the main question for the future of the Wii U is how much money it's going to make for Nintendo.

Just as with the Vita, people are bashing the Wii U way too early. I know both systems are under performing but they are still quite new. I can't say so much about Vita, but Wii U has an excellent lineup ahead. It's Christmas lineup is probably better than the launch titles for PS4 and Xbox One. Not only that but it is the cheapest of the 3 and is establishing itself. The Wii U won't perform like the Wii, but i wouldn't call it a failure so soon. Only, if Nintendo cancelled the Wii U, then it would be a failure. I'm sure between Nintendo titles and 3rd party games, the Wii U will do just fine.

Also, i'm not sure if we should persume the PS4 and Xbox One will be much more successful than Wii U at first. They are very expensive systems and we are still in a recession. 

Yeah, I agree with Zero on this one. I understand the poor summer because there just aren't titles at the moment, but the Wii U has a lineup which is literally one major blockbuster every month or so until spring next year. Pikmin, Rayman, Wonderful 101, Super Mario, Smash Bros, Mario Kart. That beats the pants off any launch library. The Wii U already has the best price of any next-gen system, and has good functionality to match, but by the time the new hardware launches and fanboys settle down, it'll have the best library, too. My best guess is that the Wii U goes toe-to-toe with the PS4 throughout Christmas and into next year. 

The Wii U's just not selling well now because whyever would you get one now, but it is undoubtably this generation's dark horse.

Just curious, what is your definition of failure for this console? Would it be sales equivalent to the gamecube? Sales below the N64? I mean I still have little reason to believe sales will be much more than the gamecubes.

I see PS4 struggling too after the holidays and until the release of FF15. It is the fisrt Sony console with a non-gaming drawing point (PS1=CD Player/PS2=DVD/PS3=Blu Ray). And about Wii U, if the console cant keep sales of 100k a month after Smash hits, then yeah, I would call it failure. Meanwhile, OPs vitrolic hyperbole is really uncalled for. 

N64/Gamecube

So much negativity and "DOOM" in this thread. Can't we all just enjoy our systems and games without eagerly predicting the death of systems we don't have/aren't interested in?

In response to the original post, yes, Wii U is NOT selling well. However, as many forum posters and Nintendo themselves have pointed out, the games worth buying the Wii U for aren't out yet. But beginning in August, there are at least 2 big, mainstream-appealing titles releasing each month-most of which are exclusives. Let me list them for you:

August
Pikmin 3
New Super Luigi U (Disc Version)

September
Rayman Legends
The Wonderful 101

October
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
Sonic Lost World
Wii Party U

November
Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze
Mario and Sonic at the Sochi Olympic Winter Games

December
Super Mario 3D World
Wii Fit U

And yes, the Wii U doesn't receive much third party support, but there are still some other worthwhile 3rd party games worth mentioning like Scribblenauts Unmasked, Batman Arkham Origins, Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed IV, etc.

So, beginning in August you can see that (especially from a Nintendo-fan standpoint) there's really a nice steady release schedule of worthwhile games...peaking beginning in October with Zelda, into DK and finally 3D Mario and Wii Fit in December. Obviously we can't predict what will happen, but keep in mind that historically (time and again) Nintendo has been a company that does especially well during the holiday season. So one could logically assume that with a steady release schedule, sales will begin to steadily increase along with the arrival of bigger, better games starting with Pikmin 3 in August. They may not pick up as much as Nintendo or some its fanboys (myself included) would hope, and may not end up peaking as high as desired even by the end of the year, but rest assured that with so many games coming back-to-back, sales WILL pick up a decent amount. Nintendo feels confident in the games its releasing for the holidays and believes it can regain momentum for Wii U without even having to cut the price. I believe they could be right. The problem is that people on here are so obsessed with comparisons. Wii U is NEVER going to sell the way Wii did for a variety of reasons including a changing marketplace, price points, etc. But that doesn't have to mean that Wii U will fail. Just wait and see how it does when the games arrive.

IF, and it's a big IF, Wii U continues to flounder all the way through the fall and into the holidays, THEN I think you'd see Nintendo become super aggressive as they were back in August 2011 with the 3DS price cut. And I honestly think that's the main reason they're saving Mario Kart for 2014. Even if 2013 and all the games coming in the 2nd half wind up being a failure...Nintendo will still have a couple of trump cards left in their pockets. A failed holiday would likely lead to an early 2014 price cut of $50 or more to BOTH Wii U SKUs followed almost immediately with the release of Mario Kart 8. Then, from there, they would once again try to repeat the same approach as this year with X, Bayonetta 2, Yarn Yoshi, and others leading up to Super Smash Bros. in the holidays. Also, they'll DEFINITELY be showing the NEW Legend of Zelda game for Wii U by E3 next year, if not sooner, which let's face it, can only help. I guess my point is...Nintendo has time still...and whether people want to agree or admit it or not, in my opinion, I DON'T think they are directly competing with Sony and Microsoft. This past generation there was room in the market for all of the Big 3 to have their consoles top out over 80 million in the long run, maybe even 90 or 100 million for all three. I don't expect Wii U to come even close to replicating Wii's success, but I think it can have a decent, respectable 5-year run and sell at least at the levels of the N64...and all the while hopefully not losing any money for Nintendo. Just my take.

vita will be 2 years old this cristmas and still no big hardware moving game announced yet so i wouldn't say bashing it now is too early.

i agree with the rest and there's also the fact nintendo has huge franchises already confirmed for 2014. one of them (mario kart 8) is releasing as soon as spring wich is great. also many people will wait a while before upgrading from ps360 to ps4/xone, especially with many multis being cross gen. this may mean a slow start for ps4 and xone, maybe slower than wii u since they'll be more expensive and wi u will already be out and taking a chunk of the market.

I hate when people act like Wii U has no chance of sales improving. Lets look at the games released this year.

January-None

February-None

March
Amazing Spiderman-year old port, didnt sell well on other consoles
Need for Speed-late port, sold 3.5 million, everybody who wanted it already bpught it
Monster Hunter 3U-3 year old port, also availabe on 3DS
Lego City Undercover-solid exclusive

April
Injustice-solid multiplat

May
Fast & Furious-multiplat, bad game
Sniper Elite V2-year old port
Lego Batman 2-year old port
Resident Evil Revelations-year old 3DS port, also available on PS3/360

June
Game & Wario-solid exclusive

So its gotten a total of 10 games in the past 6 months, of which only 2 are exclusive, the others are either late ports or multiplats on consoles with much bigger install bases.

Compare that to PS360 releases this year, DMC, Dead Space 3, Metal Gear Rising, Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider, Colonial Marines, Metro Last Light, Injustice, Dead Island Riptide, Gears of War (360), God of War (PS3), Ninu Kuni (PS3), Sly Cooper (PS3), Last of Us (PS3) and many that im missing. Starting in Aug, Wii U has close to 10 aolid exclusives releasing this year and 2 of the biggest system sellers in Smash Bros and Mario Kart next year.

If by this time next year Wii U is still selling hortibly then we can start to say it cant be saved.

Failure? Well I wouldn't necessarily call the gamecube a failure, because it made a good bit of money. However, I supposed I would call those numbers a failure for the Wii U. Anything below 50 million would be a failure IMO. 

But I have every reason to believe it can do those numbers.