I think 50% of the problem is the name.

Wii U sounds like something.

Wii 2 sounds like the successor to the wii.

That was it. Simple, clean and should help sales so much more.

No hate. It's just one of the corniest things I've ever seen.

Frankly it's pretty gross. And that's coming from someone who likes corn.

And it comes from a Nintendo Investors report. Go figure.

BTW, you are the first here to not like it.

Am I? Well then clearly a lot of people here don't mind corny sigs.

Carry on.

You pretty much nailed it. 

It's almost as if Nintendo kinda felt like they were going to be abandoned by casual gamers and tried to make a few moves (emphasis on the word "few") to adjust, kinda like the Titanic trying to desperately move away from the ice berg it was about to crash into. 

The biggest problems Nintendo has had with the Wii U hasn't been the concept of being a under powered system, although that does stifle most western developers who want more power and options that they had on the other systems, it has been really bad planning leading into a lack definition.

You'd think the Wii U's defining aspect would be the Gamepad, but most Nintendo games give the option of not even using it or barely use it outside of Off TV play. Nintendo hasn't defined it like they managed to do with the Wii with its motion control or even the N64 was known in at least the US as the game console for multiplayer, hence the industry media which rarely care much for Nintendo these days is defining it as the "Nintendo" console for family games. The mass media really doesn't care because Nintendo doesn't have anything "new" that the Wii didn't have aside from better graphics and internet features that were on the 360 and PS3.

Honestly, the Wii U under a different name and given a actual branding strategy instead of warmed over ones that were used for the Wii, could do a lot better even if it had the same technical specs. The problem is Nintendo wasted their lead time and really it is currently at the point where their 1st party sales are taking a hit due to the lack of install base on the Wii U, if they can't right the ship by mid summer of 2014 short of the PS4 and Xbox One collapsing in a Wii U like fashion, they will probably have to write this generation off.

What may help the Wii U is when the current gen finally dies. Wii, PS3 and 360 are still selling and are now seen as the "budget" consoles. Along with previous gen handhelds still on the market it does feel somewhat saturated out there.

That's why I think they "killed" Wii so early: so it wouldn't be in their way.

Only problem is the Wii U is just not wanted.

It is still hampering Wii U to a certain extent, especially in the west where there is confusion between Wii and Wii U. Its not so much of an issue in Japan as Wii is virtually gone now.