Oh sweet, you want to use yourdictionary.

http://www.yourdictionary.com/failure

The act of falling short of a goal. This is the Wii U right now. This has been the Wii U since launch. It even has one for people, so were both happy.

 It then follows "An example of a failure is an aspiring actress hoping to make it in the movie industry and ending up with a waitressing career."

Check what its about. A goal. Reaching a goal. The woman didnt reach the goal of being an actress(5.5 Million Wii U's), yet she still gets by in life because she still has a waitressing career (3.5 Million WIi U's). Because she didnt reach the goal she set, you just called her a failure.

So why are you saying the Wii U cant be called a failure, when it hasnt reached 1 single goal that Nintendo aimed at so far?

Facepalm indeed.

Facepalm indeed. Let's consider that a shaking of the hands, because this is going nowhere.

The woman failed at being an actor, the U did not fail at being a console. It failed its launch, sure, much like an actor can fail their first years. But to fail as an actor altogether is a little much.

Think what you will, but if this far usage of failure as all the sources I've provided have shown that your interpretation of the definitions is false, you will be facepalming for quite a longtime with a big hand that's called reality.

No no no no no.

The example was about reaching goals. The proof for this is that it was attached to the definition that was about reaching goals. The woman never hit the career goal she set herself, though she still has a career. The Wii U has never hit a sales goal Nintendo set for it, though it is still selling.

If youre okay to call the woman a failure because she didnt meet her career goal, then its more than okay to call the Wii U a failure because it hasnt reached 1 single sales goal.

Her goal wasn't to have a career. Her goal was to be an actress. She failed at being an actress, she failed. As an actress, she is a failure.

Same principle here. That's why I mentioned scope. The U is, as a console, by definition a product with the goal of making money and offering an accepted proposal. If it isn't well received, then it is a failure. If it fails to sell in its first year, it is yet not a failure, per console scope. Until the product is doomed to fail as a console, over its lifetime, it can't be called a failure. It can be said that it is in a bad trajectory, that it could become a failure, that it might fail, that it is failing atm, but it can't be called a failure. Per scope. Not yet.

Yeah?

Sorry to butt into ur convo but id have to agree with dolphin. Her goal was to be an actress for the rest of her life and she failed. Wii U yes failed to sell 5.5 million in 4 months but its unknown whether it will reach its lifetime goals.

the anti-Nintendo spinmasters are strong in this thread!!! I just got taken to Oz and back reading a few exerpts!!!

NIntendo's goal wasnt to simply "sell the Wii U". Nintendo's goal was to sell 5.5 Million Wii Us. Nintendo failed at selling 5.5 Million Wii Us. The Wii U failed.

It needs to be taken back to the original definitions I gave you. A lack of success. Falling short. The woman didnt have success in the career goal. She fell short and ended up being a waitress. She was a failure because she didnt reach the goal(s) she set herself, though she still carried on working and we can assume she has met different goals. The Wii U hasnt had success in any sales goal. Its fallen short and ended up selling less. It hasnt reached any goal Nintendo set for it, though it will carry on selling and eventually it will hit different goals.

If you can call the woman a failure for not reaching a career goal, it is more than okay for people to call the Wii U a failure for not reaching any sales goal.

This is silly, because we have no idea what "lifetime" goals are for videogames consoles other than "To win" and "To make money". Companies dont give out a lifetime sales projection.

What we do know is that currently, the Wii U hasnt hit a single goal that Nintendo as a company have publicly set. Right now, it is a failure because it isnt meeting goals (It hasnt met any goal). This doesnt mean that it cant go on to be a success.

______________

I have a question -

When taking into account that a failure is something that doesnt reach goals set for it, to this date, has the Wii U been a failure since launch?

Sure.

Ultimately, it's best to just offer a scope, because without a scope, the phrase is more easily incorrect in its expected interpretation.

"The U is a failure" will be interpretted 80% of the time as incorrect, given the U's scope as a console running a console lifetime race. 20% of the people will instantly realize you are talking about it being a failure now in its Q1 to Q3 performance, offering an implicit scope.

"The U failed its launch" or "The U launch was a failure" will be interpretted properly 100% of the time.

Bottom line is, the best way to troll is to use vague or ambiguous terms which can be easily misinterpretted. Best practice is to avoid it at all costs. Forums suck enough as it is.

It really is vague at best, I still think it's incorrect to word it that way.