Wii U seems to be marketed as a Wii accessory, while Xbox One appears to be its own thing.

The reason its the name is because understanding it was a marketing failure is to complex for most people so the argument is either simplified to the name or its proliferated by bandwagon.

Yo Mama! They both suck. But it comes down to marketing and third party support on this I think. I still run into people that don't know there is a "new" Nintendo console named the Wii U. lol. Pretty brutal really.

I have gamer friends who only recently realized that the Wii U was more than a tablet expansion on the Wii. People who know a good amount about gaming stuff (not necessarily true core gamers obviously, but pretty close).

The name wasn't the problem by itself. The problem was that it took forever to differentiate the Wii from the Wii U entirely. Microsoft made it clear that the XBO wasn't a 360 add-on.

What I don't get is how someone buys a console and enjoys it and then does not even check if that manufacturer has a new console. I believe that people weren't happy with their wii's so they had no interest in a new Ninty console. Same with psp and vita. When I asked my friends who had a psp if they knew what vita was, they said they didn't know. I asked them how come the thought of a successor never crossed their minds and they said they just didn't care if there was one since they stopped using their psp's a long time ago.

I feel the same thing happened with wii. The masses didn't/still don't know about WiiU because they didn't enjoy their wii so they never bothered looking it up. The opposite happened with ps4 and xb1 that had, by and large, previously satisfied customers.

I'd say the name "Wii U" was nintendo trying to imitate what that wii did and it somewhat failed because ut was right AFTER the Wii; which lead some people to think it was another version of the Wii. MS on the other hand "Xbox 1" was announced/launched 12 years since the the original Xbox which was discontinued by like 5 years so no consumer would be fooled by that.

Both names aren't good, but Xbox One is marketed MUCH MUCH better. The Wii U had a few commercials here and there but Xbox ads are everywhere! (in NA anyway) Plus the Wii had a bad reputation by the end of its life while the 360 had a great one, so people are more trusting of Xbox to deliver than the Wii which (by what I saw in middle school and high school) was the "system for little kids" according to my peers so the negative connotation of the Wii transferred to the Wii U.

You wouldn't believe how many of my semi-casual gaming friends groaned when I said I was getting a Wii U. It was because when they though Wii U they thought casual shovelware fiesta XD

People who make these assumptions make two mistakes, where one is quite grave. The first is assuming that the One's name hasn't caused any confusion, we don't actually know that for sure but the nature of the average xbox customer makes it rather unlikely. I still think it's a strange choice of name for the third xbox.
The grave assumption would be hinging the Wii U's lack of success on its name; this is not the main problem, nor is marketing, the problem is that it has no appeal and was built from the core to try to cater to two markets but ended up missing both by a wide margin. Better marketing would surely have helped it sell more units but it was never going to be a success due to its design and concept and this is something that neither marketing nor a different name could change.
Underneath the One's name and early scandals of E3 2013 lies a product that people actually want and that has a more focused aim at a distinct portion of the gaming market, that makes a huge difference, removing Kinect as a mandatory pack-in was also a great choice and helps this aim even further (making it mandatory to begin with was a horrible one).

All that said; I feel that Wii 2 would have been a much better name, it's simple, descriptive and to the point and would have made a lot more sense to the kind of customer that has been absent in the 8th gen console market. Like I said though; even with a better name, said customers would still remain absent and the story would be much the same when all is said and done.

I think 3DS should have been Super DS, same specs as 3DS but without 3D, launch September 2011 at $169.99. Could add a 3D sku later.

Wii U should have been Super Wii, same specs as Wii U but with an improved Motion Plus instead of the Gamepad, launch September 2013 at $249.99, could add the Gamepad as an accessory later.

Super is pretty easy to explain, it automatically makes u think of a more powerful version. Taking away 3D & Gamepad allows them to launch at lower prices withoht taking a loss. The delayed launch dates would allow for better launch window software support.

Super DS-Nintendogs+Cats, Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, Resident Evil Revelations, Kid Icarus all within the first 6 months

Super Wii-Nintendo Land, Wind Waker HD, ZombiU, Super Mario 3D World, Super Wii Fit, DKC: Tropical Freeze all within the first 6 months.

I think this strategy would have worked out better, easier to market, lower launch price, sold at a profit, better launch window software support.

Xbox "One"