Stay classy.

- Call it Wii 2 to stop confusion
- Bundle in a game featuring Mario that makes proper use of the controller's features
- Reduce the size of the screen to cut costs; less material, lower resolution.
- Use a low powered Intel CPU and slightly more powerful GPU (an AMD 7750 would probably be fine)
- Early on, hire more personnel to make games due to the jump to HD graphics and as a result, have a more frequent release schedule for first party games
- Have an app that allows you to use an Android/iOS device as a touch screen and have a peripheral that allows you to attach that screen to a Wii remote/controller (mainly for multiplayer games).

I'm not being contradictory at all. In fact, I fully support Nintendo announcing Smash Bros when they did. My point here is that Smash Bros. isn't a surprise, or what I would qualify as a "surprising" game.

Let me pose a question to you. If I asked you what franchises you would absolutely be willing to guarantee on the next Nintendo console within its first three years on the market, what would you put on that list? For me, it would be Mario, Zelda, Smash Bros, and Mario Kart. Arguably all four of the Wii U's biggest announced games at this point are from those four franchises. Games that I would have reasonable expectations to be on the system would be Metroid, Donkey Kong, and Kirby. Again, the big, mysterious title from Retro that we all were wondering about happened to be Donkey Kong. 

(For what it's worth, despite throwing Metroid in there, I think a Retro return to Metroid would have served as a moderate surprise, particularly if they went in a new direction in the series, such as perhaps a 2D title or an attempt to fix everyone's image of 3rd Person Metroid. Same goes if Retro had done something like a sequel to DK 64)

Anyway, before I get any further with this, let me clear something up so that thirty different people don't attempt to tear my head off. I love all of the games mentioned so far. Donkey Kong Country Returns is probably in my Top 5 games of the seventh generation, I'm a huge Smasher, and while I'm probably not anywhere near as big a fan of those series as I am Zelda, Mario, and Mario Kart, I still enjoy all of those games as well. They key here is making the Wii U more appealing; read as: Making the Wii U appeal to more people.

The problem here is that the vast, vast majority of the people who will buy the Wii U for these games are almost certainly already going to. The people who aren't so convinced by Nintendo's regular franchises? They don't have a reason to buy it, yet. If I was Nintendo, I would attempt to either create something new and surprising of my own, or attempt to bring in more deals with third party publishers like Platinum for games like Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2. Those types of games have potential to bring in new customers and make the Wii U appeal to a larger audience than it already does. 

Redesign the controller. Make either the screen bigger (probably costly so a bad idea) or the gamepad smaller. There is currently too much plastic in that thing. Actually theres more plastic than screen that you see from the front on the thing. It needs to be slicker.

The rest will get there with time.

Give it 8GB GDDR5 ram in a unified pool, a 1.84TFLOP video card, an 8 core AMD CPU and a 500GB hard drive and release with the pro controller.

Or just make the gamepad look a bit more sleek and drop the price to $299 for deluxe and pack in NSBU :P

Oh yeah and change the name to Nintendo U

I'd rather have motion controls than the tablet. One of my favorite aspects of the Wii was motion control gaming.

The Wii in and of itself wasn't compelling, it was only compelling because it was packed-in with Wii Sports.  The Wii Remote was great and all, but there was nothing to be done with it except sit and look at it, without software that utilized it's unique functions.   Without software, hardware is merely an expensive paper weight.  The same applies to PS Vita and why it's not selling well.  By all accounts, PS Vita is an impressive device with many good features, but there is no function to those features without software to utilize it.  Wii U needs something like Wii Sports to demonstrate it's unique appeal and why people need to own one.  In that regard, it's no different.

So, I would say that there is nothing to be done with the Wii U itself that would substantially change it's appeal and make it successful long-term, it's just that it needs unique software so people have a reason to use it.   You can cut price or re-brand, or re-package SKUs all you want... but none of that will make any difference long-term without the games to back it up.

I like the controller. If it didnt exist and Nintendo would have focused on power, we would have 3 identicle next gen consoles. 

I would say screw it.. pull the 32 GB down to 250.00 and launch a 64 GB at 350.00... and make a Pikmin 3 Bundle and Mario U Bundle.. that comes with the Luigi DLC

I don't get this urge for "different consoles". Every single generation so far has had only "identical" consoles (with the exception of the Wii), so why do people need this just now?