yes, it inflated the retail price by a whooping $50, tops.

gamecube? I said nintendo games. in case you didn't notice, the wii had many multi million sellers, some of them crossing the 10M and 20M mark. being more recent than gamecube, wii software sales have more credibility to show consumer interest in nintendo games.

Ugh this is like the people who had the article on the virtual boy only selling 700,000 lifetime when in reality it did around 1 million.

Please go clear your own misunderstanding.

Now that we've established that, I dont see how you're harping on the gamecube. It wasnt a commercial failure, Nintendo themselves dont see it as a failure, it was a rouch patch for them, but it was also profitable for them. Software sales for NIntendo's core franchises were very high, they made money, GBA also helped too. It was a learning experience. Now here's the thing. Who kept their money? Sony or Nintendo? NIntendo obviously. So come back again when you get off this negativiety trip of inane psychobabble. Quit spewing garbage will ya?

The idea obviously came from game developers. Miyamoto sure had a lot of leverage coming off the DS and Wii success stories, he was also very involved in the 3DS hardware design. And Iwata went along with it, because he was sold on the idea that the Gamepad hits two birds with one stone: Allow first party developers to create innovative and unique games, and pick up third party support due to a standard control scheme. In the end the development and business sides are equally guilty, because it's the business side's job to keep developers in check and make sure that the created products are ones that people will want to buy. Nintendo is the only company insane enough to say "no" to Wii Sports 3. Everyone else would have at least reached Wii Sports 5 by now.

Hard to say who will get the blame, but it's more likely to be Iwata than Miyamoto the way things are heading. It's Iwata who constantly apologizes. In the end there might not be anyone who gets fired though, because it's been a long time since anyone at Nintendo's core got punished for failure.

I don't think it's feasible to separate the console and the Gamepad, because they are intertwined. While similar things could be said about the stereoscopic 3D of the 3DS (it's even in the system's name!), it was never more than a visual effect that was always optional from the very first day. Do away with it (like the 2DS is already doing) and all released games still work. The same can't be said about the Wii U.

Ugh this is like the people who had the article on the virtual boy only selling 700,000 lifetime when in reality it did around 1 million.

Please go clear your own misunderstanding.

Now that we've established that, I dont see how you're harping on the gamecube. It wasnt a commercial failure, Nintendo themselves dont see it as a failure, it was a rouch patch for them, but it was also profitable for them. Software sales for NIntendo's core franchises were very high, they made money, GBA also helped too. It was a learning experience. Now here's the thing. Who kept their money? Sony or Nintendo? NIntendo obviously. So come back again when you get off this negativiety trip of inane psychobabble. Quit spewing garbage will ya?

Amazing, I think you're the one who is confused.  Miyamoto directly said it costs >= $100.  If you have a credible source for your $25 estimate, then please share.  Otherwise, stop throwing around things you do not understand.   

That goes for Gamecube too.  Please show me the figures where Nintendo actually made money on the Gamecube, or where they don't consider it a failure.  Hint:  there is none.  They made a profit at that time, but that was also when they were selling the GameBoy Advance.

Are you for real? It most certainly was a commercial failure. Iwata himself stated that 'if we are only able to create a Gamecube, we should get out of this business' The Gamecube failure created the Wii phenom. Hopefully Nintendo learns this lesson again with their Gen 9 console.

The Gamepad is required for the eShop and Miiverse, although that could be changed with patches. Games that don't require the Gamepad can already be started and played without ever touching the Gamepad, meaning the console doesn't bother you with a message when the Gamepad's battery is dead. A game like Pikmin 3 could be fixed with a patch, because even if you play with Wiimote/Nunchuk, the Gamepad still needs to connect to the console constantly. There's no solution for a game like Nintendo Land though.

I am not sure if all the patchwork would be worth it, because what does it matter, if Nintendo is (largely) unwilling to make Wiimote games? By the time those games can come out, the hardware price (including the Gamepad) wouldn't be that much of a problem anymore anyway. Besides, I don't think the Wii U can be really fixed any way you slice it. The problems the system is facing are too big and Nintendo simply wasn't prepared for such a reality. So for the next few years it comes down to damage control and only the next generation console can truly fix what went wrong this generation.