I see the main fault being in Ninty's marketing, releasing a tad bit earlier and not having a steller launch lineup of games along with a more decent price point, I like the gamepad quite a bit but even I see that it should have been sold on it's own or bundled at a cheaper price.

That said the power has nothing to do with it since we saw what happened last time they tried that and how well that paid off.

2010-2011 or 2013 with PS4/XboxOne and without Wii name.

They should have held back and made it a bit stronger, maybe get to talking with third party folks to get asugh software on it as possible

Along with the HD twins, 2006.

Too late. Should have come out in 2011.

As is, never. It should have released as WiiHD, no Gamepad in 2010 as a premium, 3rd party friendly product with strong online. Xenoblade, Last Story and SMG 2 should have appeared on it.

Since that didn't happen, they should have dropped the Wii brand and launched at least a year later and with a more powerful system. But the earlier launch would have been best to maintain Wii momentum and prevent users from getting attached to Live and PSN id's and friends.

2005 or 2006

It wasn't released. It escaped.

I know people answering 2006 are taking a jab at Wii U being only marginally stronger than PS360 but that's the worst possible answer out there.

If the Wii U had been released in 2006 it would have been very expensive, the gamepad would have been just as unpopular and Nintendo would have found itself in the same situation as in the 6th gen with the GameCube. Not to mention that a 2006 release would mean the Wii would have never existed robbing Nintendo of their greatest sales success.

The head start was only going to be a plus if they took advantage of it and they clearly didn't have the games or OS in suitable shape to do that. Also their insistence on going with proprietary, low-powered hardware I see as an unnecessary cost.

So i say later; with a hundred watt console (and whatever x86 hardware they could buy at the same price point), released with Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8 and Windwaker, plus a few more 3rd party games, throw in a dash of good marketing and I think it could have been very competitive. A flash storage only option and an SKU with a built-in harddrive for those who find portables too confusing.

They would have had a console that would at least have been in the same ballpark as XB1 in terms of power, it wouldn't have looked like the Wii, thus avoiding brand-confusion and would have made an easier target for third parties.  I don't think Nintendo is every going to be the third parties friend but if ports are easy then they should at least get the obvious candidates.