Also, everyone seems to be convinced the Wii U will have a five year life and I just dont agree at all. The Wii U was already stated to have a very long life ahead of it by Nintendo, and there would be no point to say that if they then went on to do what they always do. Also, Iwata said he wont stop supporting the Wii U untill he beleives most Wii U owners are satisfied. More indication that there is a chance they are in it for the long haul.

The Wii U having a longer life than the Gamecube throws off the GC>WiiU argument a bit, which is why I guess people stick with it.

Or I possess the magically ability to do maths. Seriously, work it out. At the current rate (assume an average with small bumps of popular game releases), how long will it take to hit 10 million units sold?

I'm not joking - do the maths and then reply.

They said that because given the poor sales a lot of baseless rumors were floating around that they were looking to release a successor earlier than usual.  Nintendo said that to nix the rumors, nothing more.  The wii u may get a normal life cycle, a shorter one or maybe a longer one as you suppose but right now we don't know.  What we do know is that right now it is trending below the gamecube so unless its lifespan is considerably longer it looks like the wii u will have a difficult time passing 20 million, let alone 25.

Last year it sold around 1.5 million in the holiday, with ONLY Mario 3D World (an unfamiliar isometric 3d mario game), during the launch of two consoles, and a much, much more negative public perception than it has now, much less this Christmas. A Christmas that has Amiibo and Smash Bros, and will also have MK8 and Mario 3D World and whatever else they wanna sell that has already been released.

At this very moment, it has 6.7 million sold. Adding 1.5 million to that (a holiday with much, much worse conditions than the upcoming one) leaves the Wii U at 8.2 million. Even leaving the opinion that it's going to have a 5 year lifecycle and be replaced in 2016, Thinking it cant sell less than 2 million between early 2015 and mid/end 2016 (which also gives it another holiday season) is literally insane. 

And that's ignoring the sales it will have between now and the 2014 holidays. These are the least optimal conditions and it would still happen.

Exactly. I agree with you there. Which is why it's annoying when people act certain it wwont last longer at all. No-one seems to mind such an assumption in that direction, but mind an assumption that it WILL last longer. Double standards I tells ya. Not by you specifically, I guess. I dunno.

I disagree that it will struggle to reach 20 million, but it's just one opinion vs another for that as well.

You're comparing shipped (GC) to sold (360/PS3).

I also have no idea why you're only going to the end of their first March considering the Wii U has been out about 16 months longer than your comparison.

As of June 2003 the Gamecube had shipped 9.63m

As of June 2007 the 360 had shipped 11.6m

As of June 2008 the PS3 had shipped 14.2m

We'll know the June Wii U shipment numbers fairly soon, but as of March 2014 it was at 6.17m.

What baffles me about you people are that you somehow ignore competition in all of this. Competition is becoming stronger against the WiiU at the same rate the WiiU is getting games. As more next gen games come out, it will seperate the WiiU from the other 2 even more, and the image of the WiiU will continue to fall. Also why would it sell another 1.5m over the holidays? With the other consoles having more games and price drops, more and more people will be lured into buying the Xbone and PS4.

Also a 5 year life cycle would be a hilariously bad idea for the WiiU. When shops stop stocking a product, it should be canned.

All the consoles will become more competitve over time. I havent forgotten them at all. If by price drops you mean Black Friday and holiday deals, then that will also happen to the Wii U too, still making it the cheapest 8th gen console.  And you're right that games not being on other consoles separate them more and more eventually, but that's also inevitable. I understand the lack of 3rd part games on other consoles coming to Wii U is a problem for many, but I just think you might be overestimating how badly it will affect the Wii U, honestly. Or underestimating the games on the console. One of the two.

Plus, the Wii U makes a great compliment to another console/PC, so that might actually help it snag some extra sales by people who still got the PS4/Xbox One.

I still cant imagine it selling under 1.5 million this holiday at all, really. Or the console having a life less than 5 years.

Increased competition does not necessarily mean sales will drop.

Gamecube and Xbox released at the end of 2001 giving PS2 added competition, despite that PS2 sales increased and peaked in 2002.

PSP released worldwide in 2005 giving DS strong competition, despite that sales increased for the next 3 years.

PS3 & Wii released in 2006 giving the 360 strong competition, despite that its sales increased in the following years.

So it doesnt really make sense to say Wii U sales cant increase because PS4 & Xone released last christmas.

First, the Wii U can do more than 25 million. Second, you can't compare Wii U's sales with GC's sales and that is because that is just not logical after what the Wii did. Last, if we are speaking about how much the WiiU can pull, i'd say 50~60 million and no none of the 8th generation consoles will pass the 100 million sales at this rate (Just for anyone who was wondering).

Thank you :)