If you ignore the GB, GBA (sold much more than the GB in less time), DS and Wii sure...

The Gamecube had a handle ,and you could literally punch somebody in the face with your Gamecube.

I should have said Nintendo home consoles; handhelds are obviously an exception.

The Wii is also an exception, because it captured a huge non-gamer part of the market.  That market has now moved on, putting the Wii U exactly where it should be in the declining trend.

Doesn't change the fact that it happened and shouldn't be ignored.

Ah the good ol' days, I won many school yard brawls that way.

- Wii U is too expensive compared to the competiton (that offer way more for the money).
- The gamepad was an idea that's beyond terrible.
- It's massively underpowered, while GC wasn't.
- Wii U has even less 3rd party support.
- GC had more Nintendo franchises.
- GC was on par with the features that both competitors had, not lacking behind by a gen.

Unlike most people here, I don't think money is an issue. You are comparing the price point of a console that released in 2001 with one that released in 2012. PS4 is more expensive than PS2 was, hell, even X1 after the price cuts is more expensive that the launch price for the OG XBox. Wii U is the cheapest console available, as GC was. But the Gamecube offered the same features of XB and PS2, with a similar power (XB > GC >> PS2) and more 3rd party titles. Wii U has way less features than PS4 and X1 and comes with a tiny bit of storage in the digital distribution era. Hell, Wii U doesn't have some features that are on PS360 and that's ridiculous.

Honestly, I don't know why everyone is surprised. Wii U lacks most of the features on the current gen, it's a project that's out of touch with the way people play nowadays: voice chat, party chat, sharing, easy online integration, digital distribution, 3rd party support + exclusives. PS and XB are platforms, they are almost like "SDKs" implemented in hardware, exactly what a console is supposed to be.

This is why I didn't buy a wii u , not yet anyway. I could not stand the wii mote. And I do not want touch controls. If I can buy a wii u with a normal gamepad with a big hard drive I would buy one. I will never buy another Nintendo home console until they get rid of the gimmicks and go back to what they do best and that I make games. I own every Nintendo console except the virtual boy and wii u. If they wanted the wii u gamepad/ motion controls on a console it should be an add on Microsoft finally got that, so should Nintendo

I'm very confused by anyone who says Wii U is too expensive. It's the most affordable home console and the games available give you the best bang for your buck... i.e. not all games are $60 releases, there are plenty (like Kirby/Capt Toad) that are quality games for $40.

While I do believe bad marketing of the console contributed to poor sales I think in general "increased competition" is what holds Wii U back in comparison to Gamecube. We all know that the original Wii captured the hearts and minds of both hardcore gamers and casual players. Casual players now fulfill their needs through mobile platforms.

I don't know what u mean by gimmicks, hasn't Nintendo's entire history as a console maker involved trying to evolve controllers?

Pre-NES, a standard controller was either an Atari style paddle or the monstrosity that ColecoVision/IntelleVision used. Nintendo's created the standard D-pad and A/B setup.

SNES added the standard diamond button layout and shoulder buttons.

N64 added a trigger, analog stick and rumble feature which are all standard now.

Gamecube added analog shoulder buttons and featured the first functional wireless controller.

Wii had the first commercially successful and fully functional motion controller.

Wii U adds a touch screen to its controller

So as u can see, each and every Nintendo console has featured controllers that attempt to add new features or new input methods with many of them going on to become standard among the entire gaming industry like D-Pad, diamond pattern, shoulder buttons, triggers, rumble, etc. I don't see any reason why they should stop trying to better the way we play games.

And hopefully when they show Star Fox and Metroid they are going to go far above and beyond expectations. Every other first party title has.