Cause with out it GC would have went the way of the dreamcast.

Also GC 3rd party suppport was nothing compared to the PS2s.  PS2 anahilated it it sales wise much to do with every 3rd party game known to men being on it.  Similar to what PS4 is doing to the wiiu.  

Also wii had better 3rd aprty support then wiiu, even it can be used to argue and show how really fuked wiiu is market wise.  

PS3 had massive 3rd party support and horsepower. It had good legs too. And I've been recently playing on the U and it really has some serious issues and shortcomings so I will give my opinion.

The controller ergonomy is pretty bad and it suffers from terrible battery life. The public today is way into shooters, action/adventure games, sports, etc. People were critical of the DS3 for its bad triggers. The gamepad doesn't have triggers at all (they are digital!!), the sticks are tiny and don't feel good for these kind of games and the general design of the controller isn't good. The DS3 and X360 controllers were both great, with some flaws, and the Wii U gamepad doesn't feel anywhere close to their level. The DS4 and X1 controller are considerably better than their predecessors and we have a massive gap in controller quality. One thing I hate on DS4 is that we have only 9 hours of battery, while the DS3 would give me 14-16h. It's a pain. The 5h of the gamepad simply aren't acceptable and I hate cables.

The power difference really cuts its legs. It isn't a big jump from PS360 and the years will only make it look worse compared to PS4/X1. Even early games show a massive gap. I've played MK8 and you can't simply compare it to KZ:SF or Infamous SS. Art style simply doesn't matter because the PS4 games have way more lightning sources, more advanced lightning, tesselation and so on.

I think it lacks some features that are too basic. The share features on PS4 and X1 really allow a more social gaming experience. In a lot of aspects, specially social gaming and online features, the Wii U looks an answer to PS360 while X1 is an evolution of PS360 and an answer to PS4 (that is an answer to X1). It looks to be an entire gen behind. Nintendo really needs to stop doing what they want because they are out of touch with the market, like Sony was during the PS3 era. They are in a point where they need to start looking at what their competitors are doing and improve their game to compete with them.

Just to end my points, the comparison between X1 and Wii U sales are useful, but don't take it so seriously. Consoles usually sell more in the 2nd year than on its 1st and so on until the peak (mid-gen). X1 will improve. It doesn't matter if the U is outselling it right now, it is simply a more healthy platform with 3rd party support and power to give it some legs.

@bold - the part that goes "3rd parties don't take business risks, they piggyback onto Nintendo's success. The same can't be said about the PS or the XB" sounds alot like "bad 3rd parties treat Nintendo worse than they treat MS and Sony", which is bs, as Sony has painfully learned with the Vita. They judge every console on its own and don't care who manufactures it. Nintendo is where it's at because of their own choices and nobody can blame 3rd parties. If that's not what you wanted to say - my bad.

@last paragraph - "times, they are a changing". Nintendo ignoring 3rd parties is a constant decline generation from generation and this will drive them out of the market. Ninty made it impossible for 3rd parties to make ports on part with the competing platforms and that's why they don't sell. People don't buy inferior products, that's the same reason why Xbone is selling so bad. But I just wonder how well Wii U would do if it offered us the full 3rd party experience at a PS4/XO level and all the Ninty exclusives. There's no doubt in my mind many people would go with Wii U as their main console this gen, something which is pretty much impossible right now.

I'm starting to think what are the chances of them releasing a "New Wii U" next year or so, beefed up to be on par with competition. They could even have an interesting upgrade program in which they'd just change the console without suffering the cost of the controller, which would stay with you.

Wow you really are kidding your self cause reality is agianst you and your arguiment is flawed and does not work.

Then use nintedo console logic, other then a fad driven one ninty consoles have been drooping sales wise for 3 decades now.  GC did what ever it did with some 3rd party support, wiiu with less is doing WORSE.  Its tracking UNDER the GC.  get it ??

PS3 was a late boomer. PS3 entered puberty in 2010. I can see the Wii U hitting puberty by 2015 for the latest.

PS3 launched at 500-600 Euro a year later than the 360. It also received great third party support throughout its' lifetime as well as great first party exclusives throughout . The Wii U launched early , at a reasonable 350 and doesn't have any third party support . The PS3 and Wii U simalarities are non existant.

The wiiU BOMBED it's first year. Then it's second year, it's doing a lot better, but still not good. The second year is typically better than the first year too. It has a better established library, and word of mouth has spread more. The only game that's had a lasting effect on the sales of the wiiU has been mario kart 8, and even that didn't increase it's baseline a ton. The WiiU isn't a late bloomer, it's just a console that's following general trends. It's not doing well at all, and it never has.

The huge spike around march/april had to do with PS3 launching in Europe.

While the increase in baseline had to do with the 100$ price cut that PS3 got.

lol yahh 1 out of 7 consoles they hit a massive home run.

Are you incapable of seeing that the wiiu is nothing of the sort lol, even n64 like sales is nothing but a dream for this failed console.