Perhaps waiting on those bundles, a few weeks will tell if there still is a market for Japan

NA there definately is.

The main reason why the N64 didn't sell better in Japan would be its software droughts. There were literally months without games. Momentum will inevitably collapse during periods of time with no compelling games at all.

The GC sold worse than the N64 (4m vs. 5m) despite a smaller controller. While the GC had more games than the N64, it was the successor to a console that wasn't the go-to place for home console games (speaking of the N64 here, obviously). On the other hand, the N64 was the successor to the SNES, a dominant home console. In other words, the general perception of Nintendo consoles had changed for the worse by the time the GC launched, so people were more inclined to choose PlayStation over Nintendo than a generation earlier when Sony was an entrant to the market.

The Wii wasn't locked within this perception, because its mission was to appeal to a broader market, not just the already established one. So the Wii did very well until software droughts began to occur again in the later years (third parties didn't like the system at all). The lack of space in Japanese homes is a myth, because Wii Sports and Wii Fit are among the best-selling games of all time in Japan. The Wii sold more than 12m units in Japan which is more than the PS3 achieved (which was flooded with high profile games).

The Wii U is failing for two main reasons. Firstly, its software droughts (it doesn't and won't get third party games). Secondly, it headed in the wrong direction. What made the Wii a success was for the most part deliberately removed. Ease of use and accessibility are gone with the Gamepad. Its not the size of the Gamepad that is the problem; the Pro Controller in its place would lead to failure too. All this creates a different image for the console (in comparison to the Wii). It doesn't help that the few software titles Nintendo put out so far are often similar to GC games (the GC was a failure, after all). Particularly the recent batch (Pikmin 3, The Wonderful 101, The Wind Waker HD) would be right at home on the GC.

America is a different matter, because multiconsole ownership is much more widespread than anywhere else. This means a console doesn't have to be the #1 choice in order to become a (modest) success in the region.

The main reason why the N64 didn't sell better in Japan would be its software droughts. There were literally months without games. Momentum will inevitably collapse during periods of time with no compelling games at all.

The GC sold worse than the N64 (4m vs. 5m) despite a smaller controller. While the GC had more games than the N64, it was the successor to a console that wasn't the go-to place for home console games (speaking of the N64 here, obviously). On the other hand, the N64 was the successor to the SNES, a dominant home console. In other words, the general perception of Nintendo consoles had changed for the worse by the time the GC launched, so people were more inclined to choose PlayStation over Nintendo than a generation earlier when Sony was an entrant to the market.

The Wii wasn't locked within this perception, because its mission was to appeal to a broader market, not just the already established one. So the Wii did very well until software droughts began to occur again in the later years (third parties didn't like the system at all). The lack of space in Japanese homes is a myth, because Wii Sports and Wii Fit are among the best-selling games of all time in Japan. The Wii sold more than 12m units in Japan which is more than the PS3 achieved (which was flooded with high profile games).

The Wii U is failing for two main reasons. Firstly, its software droughts (it doesn't and won't get third party games). Secondly, it headed in the wrong direction. What made the Wii a success was for the most part deliberately removed. Ease of use and accessibility are gone with the Gamepad. Its not the size of the Gamepad that is the problem; the Pro Controller in its place would lead to failure too. All this creates a different image for the console (in comparison to the Wii). It doesn't help that the few software titles Nintendo put out so far are often similar to GC games (the GC was a failure, after all). Particularly the recent batch (Pikmin 3, The Wonderful 101, The Wind Waker HD) would be right at home on the GC.

America is a different matter, because multiconsole ownership is much more widespread than anywhere else. This means a console doesn't have to be the #1 choice in order to become a (modest) success in the region.

That is a nice and complex post of yours.

When I talked about the controllers' sizes, I intended to mean it as a reason for an initial lack of acceptance, not the motive of the failure altogether. You are right about the N64 droughts and they come from the fact that, for the first time, Nintendo had to deal with the lack of 3rd party support (heck, back in the time I was much more of a Konami fan than a Nintendo one - I preferred the Contras and Castlevanias of life over Mario when the consoles arrived here in Brazil). We all know the story of the cartridge media = 3rd parties departure to Sony's house but I would like to add a different perspective to the bolded part of your text.

I agree with most of what you said. The thing is, though, Nintendo is - or was - usually (I said usually, not always) right as to dictate the trends of what you NEED instead of the things you WOULD LIKE. In the N64 case, I bought it, but only because my best friend had already bought a PSx and we decided to have different machines so we could try more games. If it was not for that deal, I would have got the Sony one and probably not looked back (boy, was I envy when Symphony of the Night came about).

Why was that? Because I, like many, was expecting to play Killer Instinct EXACTLY the way it was on the Arcade. Nintendo had us believe we would. But then the console came and WHERE WERE THE WONDERFUL CGs? They were there, in Sony's new console. Many people in Brazil were impressed by the CDs capabilities and dropped the 64 because of that. But Nintendo WAS RIGHT, the technology was not good enough at the time for full CD adoption (and I wanted to throw up in disgust every time those looooooong loading times came along at my friend's house). So Nintendo did not bring the graphics of the original Killer Instinct. Instead, they brought Mario 64 and showed everybody how gaming would be from there. They had done it already with the SNes six button controller (something that is still around) and did it again in two fronts, the analog controller and the full 3D games. Now CGIs are not very common nowadays since cutscenes with regular game graphics are much cooler. The problem was, the 3rds were long gone.

But Nintendo proved, to me at least, that they were right. N64 is a machine that left much more memories than the PSx did and its games stood the test of time way better. The only thing is, I started liking PCs because of the 64 3d experiences.

When Gamecube came about, I was almost certain that, had Nintendo used a regular DVD player, it would have put a better competition on Sony. But the loading times almost did not exist with their smaller CDs. They paid the price for trying to bring better gaming experiences (I skipped the GC and went full PC back in the beginning of the 2000s so I might be wrong. If not, it would have been my console of choice if only for that reason).

Wii brought me back because it was fresh. If I want good graphics I can always stick to PC. But Wii brought back the joy of playing with friends and family. And they again were placing a trend I really believed would become standard (especially since the Move ripoff appeared and MS released Kinect).

I myself thought that they would go the extra mile and make motion controlling the future (or at least a good part of it), but it seems Kinect took that role. Also, companies brought few ideas to the table (some great ones like Excitebots, No More Heroes, Zack and Wiky and others not so good - I am looking at you, Lucas Arts) but up to this day I feel that motion controls could have been so much better and more intense. I play for the experiences and Wii U has not shown me nothing new, so I am waiting. So in my case, and to add to your proposition, it was not their decision of abandoning simplicity , but the lack of ideas that got me pessimistic. In tech terms, I am much more impressed by the Kinect 2 and its possibilities, but then again it is a hard guess to believe that companies will come up with good ideas for it. The world of gaming is kinda stale and my expectations are very low. I want to like the Wii U and I care for the company since the GC is the only Nintendo console that I've never had, but I don't know if the U is the answer. Hope they can prove me wrong as they did during the N64 age.

I wrote this very fast so I don't know if it makes any sense lol (I should be studying godammit).

Nintendo has not abandoned motion controls. Infact they're better than ever in PIkmin 3.  Honestly the Kinect 2.0 is just a Wii Remoter + lacking one very important feature. IR pointing. I know this from personal hands on with it. Its nothing new, the wii remote still beats it out with its prcision, the IR and the gyroscope functionality.

As for the Gamepad, well 2014 will be the year Nintendo shows what they're truly about. What we see this year is what they need to get fans of longtime Nintendo franchises on board. They really dont have them yet. You saw what Pokemon just did for the 3DS in America eh?