Even though I think the gamepad was an error from a commercial point of view, I just love this little thing. I think it might actually be good for Nintendo's next console, they already lost money now, next-gen they can keep the tablet, but not as main controller, just go back to Wiimote, and still make a powerful console for a affordable price.

People always complain aboutNintendo using gimmicks, but then say that Nintendo needs to use achievements - which is a gimmick, unlike a controller which is integral to the interface.

They need more than 1 new IP...

I did not dispute the quality of Wii U games...

Achievements/Trophies are a requirement for me to play a console...  I want my history trackable and provable...

The online is nothing compared to PSN and XBL...  The matchmaking, leaderboards, latency, gamer info, chat system, cross game chat, etc. are all more solid on PSN/X1...

Blu-ray is a nice to have...

I said the CPU/GPU are marginally better...  Maybe I should've said that the CPU architecture and the GPU does not compare to PS4/X1 well...  I would not brag about a machine that is just better than PS3/X360 and not near as good as PS4/X1...

I want to be able to buy a unit that has a decent amount of storage out of the box... as for X1...  After the update yesterday, I am no longer having performance issues.

Don't get me wrong.  I LOVE NINTENDO...  I have bought Nintendo consoles and handhelds for nearly two decades!  Right up to and including the Wii...  I would love nothing more than to play more Mario, Zelda, Pikimin, etc. games because Nintendo is great at making fun games... 

I will not purchase it until the hardware is truely next gen (Memory bandwidth needs substantially increase, available memory needs to at least quadriple, CPU cores need to quadriple, GPU needs to get to the terraflop range) OR achievements/trophies are on the system.  I can live with the hardware limitations if the games are great.   But if I cannot permanently track and prove my game progress over the Internet this system isn't worth playing games for 10's and 100's of hours and not being able to show off  my progress (or lack there of)...

Really?

I find global achievements/trophies to be a complete turn-off. Let individual games have achievements where appropriate, and keep them as true achievements. Beat the game without taking any damage, that is an achievement. Beat the game without killing an enemy, that is an achievement. But beat the tutorial level, an achievement that is not.

If you want to prove that you accomplished something meaningful, record it. Measuring your e-penis by way of a score of mundane and repetitive tasks, most of which unavoidable and part of a regular game playthough, shows more a compensation for a lack of skill.

This. Achievements = measuring your e-penis, nothing else. 

Many achievements are easy as stated. But, I am talking about having achievements on your gamertag like doing the game on the hardest difficulty, completing all of the things possible in the game, showing that you completed the game, and some of the more difficult to do achievements that do require skill...

I couldn't care less about the tutorial achievements and the grind out achievements.  I look for the skill achievements.

No, I didnt' hate the Wiimote. Motion controls were a neat idea, as something EXTRA, a new way to play. But not replacing traditional controls completely. I would not like to live in a world where motion controls were ALL that existed, and quite frankly, while there were certain games (Wii Sports, Wii Play, FPS games) that the Wiimote worked great with, there were many games that I personally owned, such as Soul Caliber Legends, Godzilla Unleashed, Sonic and the Secret Rings, etc., that had the foundation of being great games, but were ruined in large part by tacked on motion controls. They all, in every single case, would have been better with just normal controls. Even in the case of certain games that were very well made, such as Skyward Sword, it would have been 100% better with normal controls, because while the swordplay was fine, the super-tacked-on motion controls for everything else honestly soured what was otherwise a good gaming experience for me.

At the end of the day, I prefer regular controls, d-pad, analog sticks, buttons. Which is why I like the Wii U, because the GamePad is the perfect marriage of many good ideas. It's a normal controller, with a large touch screen that also acts as a second/off-tv screen, AND it has better-than-PS3 8-axis motion sensing. So you've got lots of options. That's nice. The best thing the Wiimote has going for it honestly isn't the motion controls, it's the IR pointer, which made menu navigation and aiming in shooting games a breeze. For most other types of games though, regular controls are highly preferable. And honestly, at least to me, there is nothing "more immersive" about VR or 3D glasses or any of that kind of crap. I just want to play a game. I don't need to "feel like I'm in the game", which personally, actually takes me out of the game/movie, not immersing me more into it.

the wii remote sucks. it was a cool idea at first when it was fresh, but not any more. let nintendo be nintendo they make right and wrong decisions. The gamecube was its worst selling console but for me was the best console ever made.
Nintendo always always ALWAYS play it safe. they have the creativity to make new IPs but they fuse those ideas to familiar characters. the have the money to buy exclusives but they dont.
dont waste your time with them, they will always do the opposite of the competition and ignore fans.

I would have just called it "Nintendo HD."  Then release it in 2011 with BF3 64 player.  It would have been right when the Wii was dying, and the general public would have eat it up!

(unfortunately) Nintendo does deserve the low sales, because the industry leader took a passive approach, instead of taking advantage of the Wii profits and getting revenge (for gamecube) with a premium console. I'm still shocked Ninty didn't take the 360 route: take advantage of the 1 year head start as the true next gen offering. Nintendo is mental if they really thought the gamepad was going to attract casuals...if anything, its the ultimate hardcore controller, when you remove hud off the main screen, etc. But you can't give a half assed hardcore console - its like selling pizza without cheese. Same on the flipside, Wii at the end of its life had a bad rep....off tv play and tvii are weak selling points to casuals, those are bonus features if anything. Not sure wtf Ninty was trying to do here, but they are stuck in the middle of nowhere.

Wii U should have been near XB1 specs & sold with a pro controller for the same $349 price. Gamepad should have sold separately with Nintendoland for $100.