I am interested to see someone clarify this for me.  

What I see is the Wii U is like current generation, with a bit of upgrading over it.  The argument to go from the 360 and PS3 to the Wii U is that it does more.  BUT, then if current generation is not enough, and the Wii U is needed, then why is the ONE and PS4 NOT needed as far as tech upgrade.  Why is the Wii U a perfect upgrade path for next generation, while the ONE and PS4 are overkill?  In short, why not just stick with current generation consoles if you have them, rather than buy a Wii U?

Because the Wii U is an upgrade to the under-powered Wii. I need my Nintendo exclusives in glorious HD.

You shouldn't think of it as the Wii U is an upgrade from the PS3 or 360, the Wii U is an upgrade over the Wii.  

Exclusives. No one(well hardly no one. If you're that one guy who did, please don't quote me)is or will buy the Wii U for graphics. They'll enjoy the great graphics it puts out, but they're not buying it for eye candy. They just want to play the exclusive games.

Because people buy consoles for games, not graphics.

At this point the only reason to get a Wii U is for the exclusives. It's not even a matter of how big of an upgrade the Wii U is over Wii, Nintendo fans will just buy the console for the game.

The Wii U is there for people who want more Mario & Friends. Pretty much as simple as that.

And nothing third-party?  I thought the second screen was supposed to mean third-party support.  The talk was about everyone on board, but that hadn't transpired.

Remember this?

Everyone was on board in some limited shape, except Bethesda. Now they are not. 

How many 3rd party publishers isn't supporting WiiU at all at this moment in time? 3. Bethesda (which never really supported a Nintendo platform), EA, and Take-Two. Thats it. johnlucas argues that, atleast EA and Take-Two will crawl back into supporting Nintendo in time. We'll see. If Nintendo can somehow turn thing around with WiiU and PS4/One isn't selling gangbusters, there's a chance they'll be there in some capacity. 

The Wii U is not for people who only care about specs. Neither are the PS4 & Xbone. What is the case for buying one of those when I could just make a gaming PC?