how is wii u casual they tried too but its a hardcore nintendo fan console
more hc than xbo and ps4(thats where the true casuals are)

Nintendo does NOT make "casual" consoles. Nintendo makes console that caters to its fan. And that is NOT casual.

The Wii was a console for casual gamers (not exclusively of course, but in large part), the Wii U they maybe hoped could be again but whether because of poor marketing, poor naming, poor launch titles, or simply because that market had moved on, it failed, and I would say right now the Wii U is more predominantly a "hardcore gamer" (a very annoying term) console than the others. It's market is basically dedicated gamers who are fans of Nintendo and people who want a more family friendly console (which I would consider a different market from "kids").

I don't think past Nintendo consoles before the Wii were more "casual friendly" than their competition. Nintendo may be DOOMed to have the image of being "not for hardcore gamers" in the public perception, but that is because the Wii was so successful in establishing that image of being "for everyone" rather than because Nintendo always made consoles for more casual gamers...

I think M$ and Sony have done an amazing job over the past 5 years or so painting Nintendo as a kiddie console to the general public. With Mario as the mascot it's admittedly an easy thing to do but also a bit unfair when in my personal opinion Nintendo consoles are more "hardcore". MS/Sony especially have done great in convincing one of the most important demographics (TEENS) of this... i.e. guns and graphics are everything!

How is Nintendo more hardcore?
-1st party exclusives aren't afraid to experiment with new gaming mechanics in both old and new franchises
-In general, the games are far more difficult. [ sure i can list the well known ones like dk tropical freeze, the later levels in mario 3d world, zombi u ... but how about some wii era like no more heroes 1/2, Muramasa The Demon Blade, Xenoblade Chronicles
- At the end of each generation, somehow N ends up with a laundry list of games that were barely noticed yet incredibly unique experiences. [ the last story, red steel 2, the conduit, sin&punishment, FF:Crystal Bearers, Silent Hill:Homecoming, monster hunter 3, boy and his blob... there are so many more! ]

If anything, Nintendo is going too hardcore, to a fault. Sure, they got tons of great exclusives but they are missing many many many essential third party games to help push the console during a scarcity of exclusives.

If the Wii U was a casual console... Wouldn't it have more sales?

Nintendo isn' a "casual console" maker. A better word will be niche console.

Nintendo always does their own thing, and that thing either appeals to a lot of people or just a few people. On 4 different occasions nintendo tried to make a console very much like what sony or MS are making now. On 2 of those occasions they didn't have sony competing with them. With the wii and now the wiiU they are still trying to do something different from what sony/ms will do, its just not working out for them so well now.

If anything Nintendo is a hipster market (although I hate hipsters).

Nintendo is hardcore. (Tetris is, OG DonkeyKong is, Angry Birds is etc)

COD etc. Is not. Its not hardcore when you can play the whole single player campaign without dying/failing and the only challenge comes from other people (not from the game itself)

The difference is accessible or non-accessible. Hardcore and casual are NOT each others opposites.

Maybe you mean mainstream?

This fella right here gets it.