The reason is simple. Why should I buy a Wii U for CoD xx, if I can get it con the PS3 I already own, or on the PS4 that will get more games I want?

How can Nintendo attract a fanbase that isn't willing to buy their system? Just bringing games isn't enough, cause you know they're gonna come out on the other consoles. And trying for exclusivity would require tons and tons of money, which in the end will not bring a profit because gamers would be too pissed to get another system to get a game... So Nintendo 's in a predicament.

What they could do is expand their own game library, make their own games that appeal to that fanbase and get some small but wanted 3rd party exclusive, which they've been doing (not greatly though).

Pretty much every 3rd party game released on the Wii U was missing key features the other console versions had. Online play. splitcreen, and DLC were often skipped on Wii U. And then top that off with 3rd parties not wanting to take the time to release a solid game on Wii U, all of them or most of them ran like shit on the console.

I think it would have been a little different if every review that came out pretty much confirmed Wii U version to have the most issues or missing features.

In other words, 3rd parties have just as much blame on their shoulders as Nintendo.

We also need to remember things like ..

Nintendo still being the only ones out of the three who charge third parties for patches..
Nintendo likes to supervise any form of DLC that goes into their console, and if they don't feel it's right for their consumers, they give third party publishers hell for it.

Those two factors are still very toxic with their relationship.. Nintendo still feel that they need to be the dad of the industry, because if they don't keep things in check, nobody will. They might have lost the grip they had on these publishers back then, but I don't think they're too happy about publishers running the industry instead of the hardware makers running the show.

I don't think that. There are two points that Nintendo can't really do nothing about. First, the userbase buys 3rd parties that are similar to Nintendo games or 2nd parties backed by Nintendo, and even those can have a hard time selling. You can't change the tastes of the market. There have been very few 3rd party titles that have become sort of system sellers for Nintendo, and most of them were on handhelds (Dragon Quest, Professor Layton, Just Dance... The biggest non-Nintendo system seller is GoldenEye, and that was a RARE title, a company worshipped by a lot of Nintendo fans). Add to that most companies are used to sell 0,5-1 million units on each system to be sucesful, and Nintendo home consoles look really unnatractive for big publishers.

Second, the people that buy system for 3rd parties will go to PS or XBox, because they know the games they like will surely go to their console. Nintendo couldn't keep the Wii-DS audience, and has failed to attract other audiences with the WiiU. Now the "hardcore" market has stablished their accounts, friends and loyalties in general to other systems, and making them switch sides to a company that has failed to catter them for two gens is incredibly difficult. Thus, possible 3rd party buyers won't go to Nintendo.

Sales are the key for 3rd parties. That's why the Wii keeps getting Just Dance, and that's why the PS2 kept getting FIFAs. Unless Nintendo manages to improve their sales, I won't expect other big companies to really try. And If Nintendo could do that, why don't use those effords into makin their own games to sell well?

Also, Nintendo could do a lot of thing to improve their relations with 3rd parties, but I doubt it would make a big difference, specially with companies like T2 or Zenymax. But Nintendo doesn't really need every big title (it would be nice, but it's not needed).

I'm sure GTAV would be 1-2m if they released it on the Wii U back when it first released on the PS3 and 360.

Maybe they needed 0.5-1m to make a port succesful last gen when the 360 and PS3 were completely different, but they wouldn't need anywhere near that if the Wii U was x86 and easy to port to.  Ofc Nintendo has failed to attract any other audiences with the Wii U all it has is Nintendo games, why would anyone else buy a Wii U?  Its not easy to make gamers shift consoles but its not impossible, Sony showed that this gen, I think they showed that 40% or 60%, can't remember which, of PS4 owners didn't have a PS3. 

If you want sales you need games, Nintendo has shown this gen they are incapable of supporting a system on their own, even if you combine the Wii U and 3DS lineup and use this hybrid idea there would still be a massive drought of games here in NA right now.  My Wii U has collected more dust than any other system I've ever owned, and I buy all the systems.

I would believe that, if there weren't third party games that have outsold all of those games.

"but what this list does show is that Wii U and I guess Nintendo in general is skewed towards a certain type of cute, colourful game."

stupidity.

bolded: that's one of the most pathetic things I've ever read. congratulations.

 Moderated for being another Alt - Miguel_Zorro

is not console power, is not architecture.
third games dont sell on ninty consoles, so they dont make them anymore.

Having a easy to work with arcitecture couldnt hurt through... if its cheap enough to port games, even if they dont sell tons, they will still get ported, as long as the 3rd party can profit from doing so.