Maybe.

I am a Nintendo fan but the power of the Wii U and the gamepad itself are only excuses some developers use not to bother with it. Unless the Wii U was a carbon copy of the PS4 and Xbox One, the developers and publishers would find reasons like the audience as to not support it because any extra work/time/money they put into another port to them is a loss.

Its why some PC ports are usually not released along side their console counterparts if at all. Short of Nintendo dominating with the Wii U, having the power comparable to PC mega games AND a massive hit that drew in the modern casual 'core' gamers that by annual releases and could potentially be imitated they wouldn't have gotten the third party support from the major publishers to win this generation.

Maybe if the Wii U came out in 2010/2011, maybe if there was no Gamepad, maybe if it was more powerful, maybe if it saved mankind from a alien invasion... etc. But even with all those maybes, there are plenty of elements in play that could have torpedoed the system.

Heck look at the 3DS in Japan. It is obviously the winner of its generation in that country but look at the way 3rd parties treat it. Despite being the top hardware week after week, despite having the most hits, despite being more powerful and capable of handling some of the games they put on the Vita, aside from a few stalwart franchises from certain companies, it mainly gets licensed family/youth games, while the publishers throw key titles at the Vita mainly because it can share development with the PS3/4 and the perception flawed that it is that certain games sell better on Sony platforms.


Logic does not always go hand in hand with what is done in business or retail.

Here are my reasons for not Purchasing a Wii U. Keep in mind that I've owned an NES, SNES, GC,Wii, GB, GBA, GBA SP, DS Lite and 3DS. So I'm not a Nintendo hater. I love their games.

1. Underpowered - I wanted a Wii U but when I read that it was undepowered I was concerned about 3rd Party games 2 - 5yrs down the road. The Wii started off great but quickly found out that Only First Party Nintendo games were good on the system. 

2. The Tablet - I have kids and they break things. Yup they've broken Wiimotes, DS's and PS3 controllers. Kids do those things and it's no biggy cause I can go down to Walmart and pick up another one. With the Table you can't. You have to send it in and wait and wait and wait....Not being able to pick one up at Walmart or EBgames is sad.

3. WiiU Name - I like the Wii for what it was but got tired of it after a while. The Wii U name is just bad and had left a bad taste from the Wii itself. People remember the lack of 3rd Party Support and didn't want to be burned.

4. Games - Sure there is Mario Kart and Smash but I wanted a "real" Mario game and zelda. Much like Wii had Mario Galaxy and GC had Sunshine. Sure there is Mario 3d World but it doesn't feel like the game. Just feels like the 3DS versio HD'd. So far no Mario "Galaxy" type of game or Zelda yet.

5. Trophies and Online Chat - Yup some people like them. Personally it adds more value to a game imo. I want to see how many Mushrooms or Stars my friends have and challenges me to get them. Online chat in groups is a must in this Generation.

Now having said that is the WiiU a bad console? No it's not. It's a good console. I just think they have sold me of why I need one and there are more than just fans that feel that way. Again I like Nintendo games but I will wait for their NX console.

Not a prediction and would a stronger Wii U have come with better marketing? The Wii wasn't powerful at all, but it was beautifully advertised which helped its sales.

True, in comparison the Wii U's initial marketings especially in NA was pretty bland, neon rooms in a Celebrity square type set with familiies playing games that could have easily been on the original Wii besides having a little HD shine.

That and they did a horrible job in showing that the Wii U was a new system. I got back into gaming when the PS4 launched and before that I thought the Wii U was a special controller for the Wii. From I know and saw I wasn't the only one that thought that.

The Wii's hardware was extremely weaker than the 360 and PS3 yet it won last gen.

The power of the console really has little to nothing to do with it.

The most powerful console rarely wins the gen (PS4 notable exception). Power isn't really what people consider when purchasing a console.

You can't predict something that can never come to pass. What you're doing is what if-ing.

And you'd be wrong. Wii U didn;t lose the generation because it wasn't a stronger console. It lost the generation because it lost the vast bulk of the audience that made Wii a success. Some of that audience already shifted during the 7th gen with 360+Kinect. Most of the remaining audience simply tired of console gaming and saw no reason to buy into another console generation. The Wii audience clearly did not care about specs or HDness. Wii U is a far stronger console than Wii, and with solid HD capability it can offer a much more visually appealing experience.

PS3 and Xbox 360 mostly split the PS2/Xbox user base in a more even way. PS4 and Xb one are mostly splitting that same audience in a less even way, but not as uneven as the 6th gen.

Wii U at $500 launched at the same time as PS4bone would have been a disaster. Not only was Wii fading from audience awareness very quickly, but at a price point close to that of Xb one and $100 more than PS4 the vast majority of the Wii audience would still be nowhere to be seen.

Sony's fanbase is quite strong... a stronger Wii U probably wouldn't create a lot of converts. Speaking of converts, I feel like Sony got a few from Microsoft this time around.

Not a chance in hell.

The Wii was the outlier, the one in a million, the every dog has it's day. The Wii won last generation due to a chain of events and being/releasing a console at right place, right time. The Wii completely disappeared by the end of the generation because as the generation wore on, the right place, right time and events that gave it the position of power had evaporated or become insignificant.

These were the three biggest factors that led to the Wii winning last generation. I think with even one of these factors not in their favor, they don't win the generation and it looks just like the last several have for Nintendo.

1.) Pricing - The Wii was absolutely priced brutally low. Seriously $250 vs $400 Xbox vs $600 PS3. It was a cheaper than really any console had been in years and was clearly the cheapest console on the market. (This means for parents of young children and pretty much a vast majority of non-working children under 16/18) this was an easy purchase to make. Even games were cheaper cost. This effect was quadrupled with the insane price points that Sony launched with (600$) and was a great competitor for the 400$ Xbox.

2.) Entry Software - Killer fad software that came bundled with the system itself. Nintendo completely struck gold with Wii Sports which in my opinion drove a huge percentage of initial sales of the system. It became that thing that everyone 'had to have', it was like owning Monopoly.

3.) From Fad to Curiosity - Their excellent entry software that encouraged a healthy percentage of sales expanded the entire Fitness/Fit/Motion fad (I say fad because it's really not a selling point for anything today), it simply isn't quite there yet. While this led to some different, unique software being pushed to the market that really hadn't been seen to that degree. (And in my personal opinion, it actually hurt their cause long term by moving from more traditional gaming approach with very tight controls to the seat of your pants motion revolution), for the short term it proved an excellent sales tactic and kept the Wii flying off the shelves.

The Wii U wouldn't have touched any of these factors because it didn't get to knock out Sony right out of the gate with a 350$ price difference. It wouldn't have the advantage of working against an unknown competitor like Microsoft was with it's Xbox 360 and because of this, it would have never reached fad status because too many people are distributed across the spectrum on other platforms which are also relatively affordable.