"Just look at the launch lineup and don't lie to yourself. "

Oh I'm so sorry.  You clearly weren't saying that the all current gen launch lineup was good.  I just grossly misinterpreted your statement.  Totally my bad on that one.

The PS4 has three games that can't be played on current gen consoles.  Tres.  The Wii U will have by that time... Uhhh lets see... New Super Mario Bros U, Wonderful 101, Sonic Lost World, Wii Fit U, Wii Party U, Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, Super Mario 3D World, Lego City Undercover, Pikmin 3... etc? But, you know, no reason to buy that console, because games don't count unless they're shiny enough.  Looking at that current gen slop we call GTAV is offensive to my eyes.  How can anyone enjoy a game like that? But, we should rush out to get a PS4.  Because Knack!!!!!!! Knack just SCREAMS I need to buy this next gen system!!!

Graphics are clearly all that matters.  That's why the PS3 trounced the Wii, the DS got destroyed by the PSP, and the Vita sold over 300K units last week.  It's all about the graphics baby.

There are two types of games, and they're not "next gen" and "last gen".  They're "enjoyable" and "not enjoyable".  Wonderful 101 is the most enjoyable game I've played in quite a while.  Sonic Lost World looks great.  Lego City was a clever take on the open world format.  Rayman Legends is the definitive version of one of the best platformers in year.  Nintendo Land is an underrated and hugely creative game.  I'm not going to sit there counting pixels and then turning my nose up and saying "oh that's sooooo last gen".  If it's a fun game that's all that matters.

It's more that I think they realize they have a good advantage over MS in the more important Western markets with a $100 price advantage. 

But it's not an advantage if you have no systems to sell, so they need to keep inventory open for the US/Euro markets. 

The Wii didn't stop the PS3 from selling in Japan anyway, the Wii U looks to be far less popular, so I guess really, why should they be in any rush? The Nintendo and Sony audiences are pretty different anyway in Japan. 

The XB1 is a bigger threat simply put. MS aims at the same exact audience that Sony is going for, Nintendo tends to shy away from the audiences that make up Sony's bread and butter (male gamers aged 13-30 who like blockbuster action games, sports sims, FPS games, Final Fantasy, etc.). 

It's not really disrespect, the fact is MS is simply a more direct competitior to Sony especially in the console business, there's really no doubt about it. 

Your arguments from that post are just naive, I was hoping for some serious ones. PS4 is building its library from scratch as opposed to Wii U? How many months do you think it's gonna take the PS4 to have more games than Wii U has? It's not like the year headstart was a runaway success for Nintendo with the longest game drought in history and pretty much no library to this day.

Scisca said:

@bold - no problem, everybody makes mistakes.

(in case you think you were not mistaken - my reply was to Zero999 saying PS4 has to build a library from scratch and that Wii U will have some kind of an advantage here and be a better choice in the near future. My full reply (do not cherrypick, my dear sir!!) was: "PS4 will be a better choice both in the near and far future - Sony and 3rd parties will see to it. Just look at the launch lineup and don't lie to yourself. PS4 will have more games than Wii U has in short time." As you see, I haven't been referring to the quality, just like Zero hasn't)

Not a single Wii U game from your list gives a next gen experience for me. Every single one of these games could be perfectly playable on PS360 with no or next to no difference to the gameplay or graphics. The only reason they are not available on other consoles is because they are made or moneyhatted by Nintendo, not because they just can't be experienced on PS360 in the exact same form and without having to cut assets.

Also, New Super Mario Bros U, Wonderful 101, Lego City Undercover, Pikmin 3 are already out and so far people don't really care, which proves my point even better. Among the not yet released are games that will most probably bomb in comparison to their previous iterations, cause they are worse than their competition at this point (I'm talking mainly about Wii Fit U losing its crowd in favour of Kinect, it's gonna be Brain Training all over again).

Wii Fit losing its crowd to Kinect? Ummm, that didn't happen.  After the Kinect's hot start in 2010, Nintendo has consistently moved more Wiis than Microsoft has sold Kinects.  In terms of casual gamers, the Wii brand is growing faster than Microsoft's.  If you look at the software side of things, things are even clearer.  After 2010, Kinect Software sold like crap.

This year alone the dead Wii has sold 1.3 million units.  The Kinect?  750K.  So, Nintendo's lead over Microsoft among their fanbase is growing, not shrinking.  Factor in the Wii U, and it's clear that MS is not making headway with the Kinect.  Last year, 0 pieces of non bundled Kinect software made it into the top 100 games of the year.  Meanwhile, Wii Fit sold over a million units.  A six year old game sold more than any piece of Kinect software.  Maybe the Kinect 2.0 will change things, but the claim that the Kinect cut into Nintendo's sales is not supported in any way, shape, or form.  Looking at the XBox One's launch lineup, and chance of them cutting into Nintendo's market seems remote.

People point to Brain Age and Nintendogs (which btw sold something like 3X as much as Kinectimals on the 3DS?) but ignore the fact that games like Animal Crossing and Mario Kart 7 are outperforming their predecessors.  This shows clearly that Nintendo is gaining momentum in certain categories.  People will say "oh that doesn't matter cause Mario Kart 7 isn't casual enough" but Nintendo selling more with those games is nothing but a good thing.  Some of those Wii gamers left Nintendo, but perhaps others moved on from Wii Sports to Mario Kart.

As for Wii Fit U, it's a different thing than brain age entirely.  Weight loss is always something people that are interested in, not a passing fancy like memory training or virtual dogs.  I really like what I'm seeing with the Fit Meter and the community functionality.  I can't say without seeing the marketing, but Wii Fit U can be huge.  As big as Wii Fit?  Maybe not, but could easily sell 10+ million.  People who think it will bomb probably don't know all too much about the weight loss industry.

The Wii U's strong start shows that NSMBU was a big deal.  Sales jumped for all of the games listed except Wonderful 101.  So people do care.  Those aren't the big guns for Nintendo, so we shouldn't expect a complete turnaround from that software, but each was met with a boost in hardware.

Nobody is going to buy a console for Sonic :P DK and 3D Mario are ok, but even among Nintendo franchises they aren't the strongest ones and will give you just as much as they gave GCN in its fight with PS2. But what's most important - there is just no new experience there. When I look at InFamous, new KZ or the XO launch titles I see that this is something new, something not possible on my current console. I see it as an upgrade. The games you listed are not upgrades, they are just different titles, but on the same level as the games I've been playing for years. That's the problem. There is no new experience, not even a visual one, let alone something like motion controls on the Wii to compensate for the lack in that department.

Wait, so we're going back to the Gamecube era now?  You know, the time when Call of Duty was a franchise that sold 2 or 3 million units?  Things have changed since then, Nintendo has far greater exposure, and there are other titles around it like Wii Fit U, Sports Club, Party, and so on.  The situation has changed in the last ten+ years.  Basing 2013 predictions off of the 2000 market is silly.  We can take some historical information into account, but we have to take other factors into consideration.

I look at Infamous 2 and I see a minor graphical upgrade.  I look at Super Mario 3D World, and I see 4 player co-op in a 3D Mario game, that I've never had before.  I look at Wii Party U, and I see some really cool game ideas not possible without the Gamepad.  Same thing for Nintendo Land.  Wonderful 101 is the best game I've played in quite some time, and Sonic looks to be the best one since the Genesis days.

I'm just honestly confused how something as unique as Wondeful 101 or Nintendo Land is somehow lumped together with the games you already played, but Infamous a game that (based on what I've seen so far differs little from its predecessor) is somehow new and exciting.  Boil down the argument, and you get "better graphics are the only thing  that matter". 

The only next gen stuff on Wii U so far for me is X and the new Mario Kart (forgot about this one earlier!). The rest is meh. The multiplats are 100% current gen, when the PS4 ports do actually give a different experience and are an upgrade of some sort. I can clearly see a difference between ACIV on PS3 and PS4. Is there any between the game on PS3 and Wii U? This is what drags Wii U under and you ignoring it won't make it go away.

So, again, just graphics?  Shiny graphics and upside down driving is next gen?  So far, out of Nintendo's franchises on the Wii U, Mario Kart 8 has evolved its series the least (except for perhaps Tropical Freeze).  We've seen nothing of X's gameplay.  It's pretty though.

I can see a clear difference between Super Mario 3D World and Mario Galaxy.  You know, because there is 4 characters, a different gameplay style, and so on.  If there is a 4 player co-op platformer that's as good on that on PS3 or XBox 360, please let me know, because I'd love to play it.  That's something I can't get on my current systems.  Is it theoretically possible?  Sure, but it's not there.

PS. You keep running to the safe haven of graphics not being the only thing. Yes, but still they are a part of what every next gen is. A significant part. Wii U is not delivering here, so what next gen is there about it? Wii had motion, DS has two screens. What does the Wii U have? A tablet that most people would want to get rid of just to get the console $100 cheaper?

Wii U has remote play ( feature that is touted by Sony but with a $250 added fee), social features that far surpass the PS3 or 360 and might outdo the PS4 and One, New gameplay possibilities (show me anything on the PS4 that couldn't be done gameplay wise on a 360).

And it has games.  Tell me, what was the big feature of the 3DS that made it successful?  Nobody cared about the  3D effects in the least bit, and it was actually a deterrent to many people.  The graphics were far below what the Vita was capably of, and only slightly above what the PSP could do.  There was no system selling feature, no graphical leap, but it's selling.  Why?  Because games.

Nintendo simply offers different styles and different games than PS3, PS4, XBox One, etc.  Their first party software is still the best in the business.  Their local multiplayer is the best in the business, and can be greatly enhanced with the Gamepad. 

Now, riddle me this.  I'm a gamer who loves platformers and is lukewarm on shooters.  I don't play online much.  I have young kids I want to play with, and a girlfriend who was into the Wii stuff, but isn't going to sit around and play Halo with me.  I had a Wii, and I was one of the many who loved Mario Kart, NSMB, and Brawl.  There are no new games for my Wii, and I want a new console.  Which one should I buy?