The Wii U is almost a year old, and according to latest data, lifetime sales are ~3.95 million, which is very poor, below the GC if I´m not mistaken.

Anyway, with everything you knew about the system before its launch, would you have said 'no way' if someone, back in November 2012, had told you "I bet a year from now the system will be labeled a disaster"?

With your own opinions on the direction Nintendo went with the Wii´s successor, have the system´s very poor sales surprised you?

Back at E3 2006, when Sony announced the "599 Dollars" as the PS3 price, I just knew it wouldn´t go well, even if it was the successor to the almighty PS2.

With the Wii U, I admit I didn´t know what to think, had mixed feelings, didn´t think it´d do well as the Wii did in its first year, but never imagined it´d be selling below the GC...guess most people feel that way?

This is not about a possible turnaround for the system, it may very well happen, it´s just about the system´s first year.

I believe in a turnaround but i also honestly thought it was going to sell way better.

I'm sure it's performing below expectations for everyone. For me, I thought it could ride off the back of the Wii brand.

I think I said something along the lines of 50-60% of the Wii's sales lifetime. That seems like a stretch right now. I must say though that I remained adamant that it would not be a huge success once I saw the Gamepad and learned more about the concept, moving away from the Wii-mote was a big mistake in my opinion.

I figured it would have a mediocre start for a few months, then Nintendo will release the heavy hitters and sales will pick up. I didn't imagine that a year after launch, the lineup would be this barren.

I thought it would do OK for year or two, then slumber to these kind of sales,

I thought it would do better than it has but I didn't think it would do all that well overall.

I figured the casual market wouldn't be that interested, which has turned out to be the case. I also figured that Nintendo had a window of a few months to really go all-out on building an installed base and establishing momentum before the other next gen consoles arrived. I've been overwhelmed at how much they've failed at that.

Basically, for me, this can be broken down into two periods: when I thought that Mario Kart and/or Smash Bros. would land in 2013, and then when I realized that they would not. After I found out that Nintendo had nothing major for this year, I knew that it would be an uphill battle.

Personally, I thought that the abandonment of the Wii would position Nintendo for a strong first year with the Wii U in terms of software, which would absolutely be needed to fight the Microsoft/Sony hype. Add all of those factors together and it's easy to see why the Wii U is flopping around a bit.

Price, hardware, wii' sales drying up.... yeah, i think it should have been obvious to anyone wii u wouldnt take off. I think i said it will be between N64 and SNES

I thought it was going to be a huge sucess and more powerfull than PS3 and 360, with very superior ports and everything.
When people said it was not, I was shocked.

yeah would be nice to see the old thread. Anyway i seriously believe Nintendo Wii u will sell good. Obviously it would be monster if Mario Kart were out for Christmas but Mario 3d world will also really sell well and i believe the Wii u will have no problems in the future. I mean was there ever a Nintendo console that wasnt tons of fun??