And yet, the Wii had the best selling Zelda ever made, the best selling 3D Mario, the best selling Smash Bros, the 2nd best selling Donkey Kong, The 3rd best selling 2D Mario game. Those are not casual games.

The world is not black and white, there are multiple shades of gray. Nintendo could have tried to mantain a good share of the Wii "expanded" audience, but the WiiU did a terrible job at it. That's because Nintendo made bad decisions, not beacuse that market is "gone".

The Wii was specifically designed to "break barriers", to make games more accessible. The Wii had a purpose (a coherent market proposition) the WiiU hasn't. If they wanted Wii users to upgrade to a new console, they should have asked themselves: what the next console will offer to the expanded audience that the wii doesn't offer already? Some possible awnsers could have been: less expansive games (due to digital distribution), more games and variety (expanding 1st party studios), cross-buy games, amibos, more connectivity and social media integration, more services like netflix, etc. etc.

Of course the awnser shouldn't have been better graphics, plus a very expansive and complicate gamepad.

Now my point is not that Nintendo should have run after the more casual crowd at all costs. My point is Nintendo should have made a clear and coherent market proposition (like they did with the Wii - it's very affordable and accessible but if you liked the GC it still has Mario, Zelda and Metroid). If they wanted a more casual share of the market they should have made an accessible console, if they wanted a more hardcore fanbase they should have made their console more similar to Ps4/Xbone. Nintendo right now is stuck in the middle and doesn't really appeal to anyone, minus a share of their hardcore fans.

1. The power has nothing to do with it. The Gamecube was the strongest console in the PS2/Xbox era yet 3rd parties still abandonded it. The problem is Nintendo not making deals and sealing with the 3rd parties.

2. The name is just as bad as the Xbox One. Which is horrible.

3. The tablet is actually called the Gamepad.

4. The reason people do not know of it is due to bad marketing. Nintendo has never been good with marketing. They are slowly realizing they need to pick it up.

im pretty sure OOT is still the best selling one. But as you said yourself its not black and white. Those sales only tell us a part of the story. Now why didnt people return in droves to play those games for Wii U? Can it be possible that although they did buy them they figured; "these are for me?" And never wanted to play those again? Or just got tired?

Yes, my bad OOT is still the best selling. A certain % of users in the end doesn't like game and gets tired of it pretty quickly, this happens to every game on every platform. Since, as I said, the world is not black and white some will end up not liking the game, someone will like it enough to buy a sequel someone won't, again this happens with every game on every platform. The goal of every publisher is to minize churn rates and to get as many new adopters as possible, Nintendo made very poor decisions in doing so, both as a console maker and publisher. About why those people aren't returning in droves to play those games again on WiiU, I'm pretty sure I've already explained my point in the post above.

1. I'd argue power has mostly everything to do with it. It's because of power that people have claimed the Wii U is 'underpowered', not considered current gen, and why 3rd parties of opted out of developing games for it because of the large gap in power. It's also why we've had people on both XB1 and PS4 sides arguing which console is slightly more powerful and has the slightly better visuals. It also sparked the buzz words of 1080/60 FPS more so in this current gen. I know that arguement has been made several times, but I think this is the odd time where it does matter. It did puzzle me when PS4 was getting so much praise and sold so well when IMO didn't have that great of games or anything that great. I guess Sony did all the right things while the other 2 did all the wrong things.

2. Right, I think the XB1 name is outright terrible, but it doesn't mean Wii U is better. It's too similar to the Wii and doesn't distinguish itself too well from it, like the Playstation, 2, 3 and 4. While PS's name is very simple, those numbers indicate a new console. Wii U does not and causes confusion.

3. I know the controll is called the Gamepad. The tablet is just a habit word I use for it... (please don't hate me for it..)

4. I don't know if I would agree with this. Ninten marketed the Wii U very well! I'd see commercials about it many times and the 'Wii would like to play' ad was brilliant. I guess Ninten didn't have a good way to market the Wii U or just didn't bother, or goofed. I don't know what to tell you on this...

And I say all this while being a big fan and supporter of them. I don't mean to bog them down, but I think they goofed here.

Better motion controls instead of that stupid pad. More "Wii" esque software and more new IP. Buy the sixense company for their tech or something.
Worthy support of the Wii platform in its twilight years, so that it didn't leave a bad taste in people like it did when they just dropped it.
Account system from the beginning.
Actually put effort into 2D mario game.

It's fun that Oniyide is pointing at market data to decide who is doing the right things.
Your old self from the Wii days could learn a thing or to from that Oni.

1. You completely ignored my statement about the gamecube/PS2 and Xbox statement. COD eventually got released on Wii but that was because it had a high install base. That is the only reason. The games can be released on it regardless of res and fps. They just downgrade it. Wii U can handle any 720p and 60fps. Even smash is 1080p 60fps and it runs smoothly with 8-player as well.

2. Point is, don't just say the Wii U's sucks when a lot more suck as well.

3. I do hate on you for that. xD

4. You can ask anyone and do some research, marketing for the Wii U has been bad. Very bad. Which is another reason people didn't notice it. (It is getting noticed now though)

This was very important. In 2011-2012 while sales were declining a lot of Wii users still demanded for new games and yet no one supported the console. Nintendo dropped the ball way too early.

fair enough. but then my next question and this is gonna sound a bit cynical. Does it even matter? Wii had the highest selling Smash and 3d Mario...thats two games out of there enitre library ( unless im missing more) and now wiht WIi U we are right back to GC days and even worse at that. SO in the grand scheme does bringing up the sucess of Wii even matter? Especially now that the WIi U might go down as the worst selling home console. Seems to me like a guy keep bringing up his perfect season in JV basketball but he's like 40 now. I could be wrong.

Edit: as for suggestions, isnt that what they essentially did? except cross buy and this is Ninty so i wouldnt hold my breath for that. And IMHO the othe two are doing a much better job on those fronts except for ammibo which hasnt really been pushing Wii U that much anyway.

Maybe just maybe the Wii was a flash in the pan and whatever they were going to do after would never have had anywhere close to the success