I loved the Wii, for sure.  Even though it wasn't a huge leap forward in power, I thought the addition of motion controls made it fresh and exciting.  And even if the games could have been done on the Cube, they were still big and fun.

In the past we've gotten huge Mario adventures like Galaxy and 64 and Sunshine and we've gotten Metroid Primes and Star Foxes and even back on the N64 they were taking games like Donkey Kong and turning them into big 3D adventures.  These games weren't just fun, they were exciting.  On the Wii U we've gotten a Mario that plays like a handheld game and has graphics that are way more bland than the Galaxy games.  Another Donkey Kong Country, which apart from HD visuals could have been on the Wii or 3DS.  Another 2D Mario, which apart from HD visuals is nearly identical to the Wii one, with almost zero visual flaire or innovation.  Another 2D platformer in the form of Yoshi's Wooly World.  And another one with the Canvas Curse sequel.  That's four first-party 2D platformers on the system.  And Star Fox used to be really epic for its time, but everything Mr. Miyamoto has been saying points to the new one being simple and possibly episodic, and we know it will take barely over a year to make.

My point is that these aren't the games that the kid in me gets psyched for.  Zelda U is, and to an extent MK8 is.  Those are sweeping and huge and they look amazing.  All this other stuff is solid, but lacks spectacle.  It's like they're downgrading everything and just making these simple, slightly pleasing games that almost no one but hardcore fans cares about.  Super Mario 64 sold me on the N64.  Metroid Prime sold me on the Gamecube.  Twilight Princess sold me on the Wii.  MK8 is the first game that's a real Wii U seller, because Donkey Kong and NSM3DW certainly ain't doing it.

The real lesson is that people want games with a community, preferably a larger online community. People want games like MK8,Smash,League of legends,MMO's, and online shooter games. Single player games are fast becoming games for a nitch audience, heck even games like Super mario 3d worlds, suffer greatly because they don't have online game play. Games that can build community's around them are the future, not closed off single player games like NSMBU.

You've both forgottento take the third and most important thing to take into account - Mario Kart 8 was MARKETED PROPERLY.

If Nintendo had put the same effort marketing NSMB U, Lego City Undercover, Pikmin 3, Wind Waker HD and Super Mario 3D World that they have done so far for Mario Kart 8 you'd probably have another 2m Wii Us in homes by now.

Have you seen NPD numbers for last month? It only managed 60k with Mario Kart. It was 4th place, almost got beat by the Vita. Even the XBO with no major releases and a looming price cut managed to outsell it.  Launch week in Japan wasn't any better with only 19k WiiUs sold and it's quickly dropping. I think you're vastly overestimating the effect Mario Kart had on the system. 

I mean NSMBU was possibly the worst IP ever to be used to sell a new system IMO.

if the Wii U does not live its full lifespan. Its not going down without a fight.

Well, it did get 4 million sold...

Are you seriously using percentage gains in an argument? You know those are completely worthless if the initial numbers are so low. For example, the Vita had an 1800% increase from April to May, and that's without any major exclusives. Is that proof the console is a success and is going to start outselling the 3DS? Of course not, you would have to be delusional to think that. The same level of delusion that would cause anyone to think that the WiiU is anything other than a complete sales failure. Watch Dogs may have had less of an effet on PS4 but PS4 still handily outsold the WiiU 3 times over in US alone. Even in Japan the WiiU only got a jump to 19k, which is very quickly dropping. 

I also noticed you ignored my earlier post about NPD and Japan numbers after the Mario Kart launch. Interesting, so actual hard numbers are not important to you but percentages are? The level of spin in this thread would make Reggie proud. 

The Wii U is trash...

I got one for a ridiculous price and I am still disappointed.

Ok, maybe trash is too strong a word, but it is not great.

The hardware has many shortcomings.  Not only is the CPU/GPU weak, I found the following deficiencies:

-there is no onboard LAN port
-it does not support HDMI-CEC (and therefore my sound system)
-there is very little onboard storage, so forget going digital
-the OS is horribly slow
-the online store prices are ridiculous
-there is no shared wallet system between the 3DS
-you cannot charge your controllers through the built-in USB ports while the consoel is in standby
-when doing system updates you get no progress updates so you think your system has frozen
-the drive keeps giving me random disc-read errors
-the fan is loud (maybe my console is a dud, who knows)

That is what annoyed me in the first week of ownership.

3D World would've been a way better launch title. NSMB2 had just recently launched when U came out, it was overkill.