I feel like relevance in the console race has already passed. Mario Kart is important, but just more from a business perspective of selling consoles, even if it can't catch up.

If antyhing, i'd think the little Nintendo skylander like figures are the biggest thing Wii U has... though are likely to late in the game to catch on/make a difference.

Mario Kart Wii has sold nearly 35 Million copies.

If average people care about ANY videogames, Mario Kart is surely among them.

What competition did the Wii offer to Mario Karts if you wanted a competitive, social (easy to pick up) game? The majority of people didn't buy MK because it was MK but because it simply had no competition and therefore was the best choice. Otherwise how can you explain the sales of MK on the GC? Same goes for SB on the GC. Nintendo has a dedicated following, but that following is not growing so 1st party titles will have a high uptake but the games will not boost sales of the console for any extended period of time. 

Erm, no...sorry, but no game can save a console flopping this hard. Unless they release a game that actually dishes out blowjobs, its sales are going to remain the same and just get worse.

I see that wink, but Smash Bros 3Ds is significantly different from the Wii U version. Only similarity is the roster. People will buy the Wii U version for superior controls in the winter. 

All I need to pick up on is that if they are good games, then why has the GC and WiiU done so badly?

How many quality racing games are there on the Wii? Anything like Forza etc? No. Grid? No. Only a single karting game among a pile of shovelware. You can try to claim "omg dey be soooo good games" but that doesnt explain the shitty sales for the N64, GC and WiiU. Fact is Mario Kart remains vastly unchanged for two decades and karting games on other consoles have bombed. The problem is you need to admit that two audiences bought the wii - the hardcore Nintendo fans and a bunch of flittering casual gamers, the latter being the vast bulk of Wii purchasers. Do you accept that? Do you accept that casual gamers don't care about Nintendo and just go with whatever is in?

How do I explain what... that they sold well?

A game can't get past 2 million on a system without broad base average appeal.

As for effecting how the system sold,  I'd guess though many casual average people bought the gamecube specifically for those games.

Gamecube launched strong.  Well stronger then it's sales deserved.  

It's a big reason why Nintendo decided to hold back those games when the Wii Launched... because those games DO move the needle with the average audience.

As for like super extender permanent software increases.  A signle game never sustains console sales long term by itself.   It takes a marathon of software.  

Games like Call of Duty have yearly releases.  Had they not, i imagine you'd see an identical effect.

The 3DS seems like it has the coolest mode though!   Smash run sounds awesome.

Wait till after E3 to make that call.

You're delusional. Want to make a bet right now that Wii U will stay at a 30k baseline or under for the rest of it's life? Cos that's what you're saying.