If that's true shouldn't the Wii U be flying off store shelves?  I mean it has all of the top 4 rated next gen games and I know this is subective but its 2014 announced games completely blows away the PS4s and X1s.  Also Nintendo tends to have 1 or 2 games it announces mid year and releases for holiday season so its safe to say they still have some tricks up their sleeves.  On top of that its $100 and $200 cheaper.  Seeing how well received its games are getting its showing that power does not equal good games, not to mention games like Knack and Ryse have shown that.  So what's going on?

Yes they do, I know that I will buy a Wii U when Smash Bros is released. As good as SMW3D looks, it's not a game i would personally buy the system for.

A lot of people learned from current gen so this time they're playing it safe.

If Kingdom Hearts was announced to be PS4 exclusive, would you buy a PS4 eventually?

Making your demographics happy is what sells consoles, it's not as simple as "good games sell consoles".

PS4 and XB1 are hardcore gamers and there's millions and millions of them, so they are happy with a hardware upgrade + Call Of Duty + NBA 2K + Assassin's Creed as those franchises are what they live for. That audience is tired of the long PS3/360 generation and want the excitement of upgrading now, even if things like Destiny and Uncharted IV and Halo whatever aren't coming until next year. 

Wii U is making Nintendo fans happy, the problem is there's just not that many of us that buy a console just for Nintendo games and also large portions of the Nintendo fanbase tend to be kids, and that $300 price cut presents a challenge. Not everyone has parents that will pony up $300 for a gift when there are cheaper alternatives. 

Wii U was relying on casuals to come back for Wii Sports/Fit and to jump in on Nintendo Land and Wii Party U. That's where Nintendo's problems are all rooted from. That audience hasn't shown up for them. So where they should easily be cruising past 10 million right now they're stuck at about half that. 

Well I bought the WiiU for Mario, Rayman and Zelda, so yes.

Launch games don't have much influence though, hype is the biggest factor. It even makes people enjoy games they would otherwise never have bought.

Ya

Games sell systems. What they don't do is drive sales over the long term.

What drives console sales and keeps them up is Hype, then Value.

For the most part yes. Nearly every console I've ever got was because it had a game I wanted on it. The only exception would be when I got a Vita but that was because the hardware was just too damn good. PS1-Crash, PS2-Jak and Daxter, Gamecube-Smash, 360-Halo/online NASCAR, Wii-Wii sports, PS3-Gran Turismo 5, 3DS-Pokemon, PS4 Infamous/Drive Club. I'll also get a Wii U for X.

The Wii U has very little variety thus far. Yeah, platforming fans probably love it, but how well does it represent the other genres and game types?

Ultimately, Metacritic means very little. If you don't like FPS games, for example, do you really care if the latest FPS title has a 95 Meta score? This isn't like the NFL draft, where people often take the best available; this is gaming, where personal preference is king.

Without third-party support, and with Nintendo concentrating on a few genres, the Wii U will probably become a niche console, much like the PSP with content targeted at the otaku culture. Bayonetta 2 and X will mark their strongest efforts to change that, which should be interesting.