Let's be honest about two things.  The Vita is far more powerful than the 3DS, perhaps the same power gap as the PSOne and Wii U (though it's hard to get a direct comparison).  The second thing is that the 3DS has obliterated the Vita, over 6 to 1 in sales.  It could probably cease production today and still beat it in lifetime sales.  And it's not just casuals that it beats the Vita with in sales, it's all types of gamers based on this massive sales gap.  So, isnt' it fair to say that specs don't matter with handhelds, only games and branding, etc.?

On the flip side, the Wii U is getting spanked by the PSOne and will soon be overtaken in sales.  Sure, Nintendo's marketing failure is a huge factor, especially for casuals, but what are the two complaints we hear from gamers on sites like this one about the Wii U?  1) Lack of games.  That problem hasn't been fully solved, but it's certainly gotten better in recent months and most agree that 2014 is looking great, at least for exclusives.  2) Specs - it's 8 year old technology/not next gen/not powerful enough, etc.  You've heard it all.  And this is a problem that Nintendo can't solve unless they take drastic measures and release the Wii U 2 in a few years.  But why is it a problem in the first place, when it's not a problem for handhelds?   Are we overstating the importance of specs as cause of the Wii U's troubles, or do specs simply matter a lot more for home consoles?

It's just the nature of things. When you're sitting down in your living room you want to be blown away and immersed in awesome graphics. When you're gaming on the go you just want a fun game to play. In fact, often times the more graphically advanced handheld games are too close to just being console games, which kind of defeats the purpose. Graphics are a big piece of the enjoyment pie on consoles, but a very small one on handhelds.

Then you've also got to factor in price. People are willing to pay to have great graphics on their TV, but for on-the-go gaming most would rather pay less for a simpler-looking game. $300+ after memory cards is a bit much, but $170 is just right.

Shadow said everything. We can close the thread now

False premise. Specs are equally irrelevant for home consoles as handhelds.

I still think people are overreacting at these launch numbers. If you look at the last 4 years, almost all of the games on 360 and PS3 did great in the 1st week and then no one cared and they got cheap fast. Even Halo 4 is only $15 bucks now and it has only been out for 1 year. I'm not saying the new consoles won't keep selling but I would'nt be shocked if the initial massive burst was followed by a big plop, after all the Shooter/FIFA fans get their console. The Wii U had a really good launch too and once the games stopped coming out and everyone who wanted one, got one, the sales went in the toilet.

specs are relevant for Home Consoles because of people expecting mind blowing experience with graphics and AI along Huge works to explore. Without good specs developers struggle to get things done quickly and need to spend more time on optimizations instead of pumping out more games. This is where PS4 shines, its easier and powerful to develop for developers so we can get more games done in less time with great details. Wii U lacks power to compete with PS4 and Xbone in 3rd party games but it has some good games but that's not enough for Wii U to survive in todays competition. They are fine in Handheld because of less competition and games doesn't require graphics much.

It's 4BONE, not PSOne.

Also I'd think it has to do with mobile graphics not being on par with home console graphics. People expect mobile games to have worse graphics, so one having worse worse graphics isn't that bad.

NES, SNES, PS, PS2 and Wii needs to talk with you.

Consoles and handhelds are not about specs...

They are about innovations people want and are willing to pay for...

Sometimes, to get these innovations you need new devices with a minimum set of specifications...

The Wii and the PS2 were also underpowered compared to the competition. So specs are as irrelevant for home console as for handhelds. What matters is: is it a good overall proposition. And in that specs may have a place as a factor, but not as a major one.