Yeah I'm a bit disappointed in it.

I do have fun with it's games and there are some very good ones, a handful I would consider being memorable amongst the Nintendo classics even.

But when I look back at the previous generations, it pales in comparison. I don't nearly have as much fun, not nearly want to play as often, as I did in previous generations. I wasn't big on console gaming during much of the 6th generation, but even compared to it, the WiiU and the 8th gen doesn't do it for me. It's a pretty bad situation, so bad that I feel every other generation was much longer, probably because I never had to wait as much.

So is it not just me? Am I not just simply losing interest in gaming or worse, in Nintendo? It isn't. It's not me. It's the system and it's games. When I play older games, I am reminded how it used to be, it's hard to describe, it just seems better. It often seems like WiiU games took the easy way out, like Nintendo downsized the games somehow.

A lot of it has to do with the system's lack of a definitive Mario platformer, and the continued absence of a real Zelda game. Mario 3D World is an excellent game, one of the few on WiiU that I consider worthy of being mentioned amongst Nintendo's greats. Yet it's missing something. It's missing the grandeur of a true 3D Mario adventure like Mario 64 and the Galaxies before it. 3D World just can't hold the weight.

It isn't everything though. It's also the lack of something truly new. GameCube lacked this as well which is why I got turned off of console gaming for a while, something that's on the brink of happening right now as well if the handheld generation (which in contrast has been great), didn't keep me from falling. With something new I mean something that is never seen before, an innovation that keeps you hooked, something that makes your mind wander. Wii had it with it's motion control and it's new genres, N64 had it with the advent of 3D gaming. On WiiU, it somehow seems as if everything that's on it could have been released during the last two years of the Wii instead.

This isn't an issue exclusive to WiiU however. It's an issue of the entire 8th generation. I don't regret buying a WiiU, because it's still better than what the other until now have to offer. Or at least, that's my perception. The entire generation is kind of missing 'it'.

Super Mario Maker is about to be released though. Finally, to me, this is a game that undoubtedly belongs on a next system, like it belongs on WiiU and couldn't be anywhere else. It's bound to proove the usefulness of the GamePad for sure other than being a glorified map screen. I'm sure of it, even if it's too late for the general public to get interested. We'll see how this game will change my view of the WiiU.

My family and I have had countless hours of enjoyment with the "U" since getting it at launch.  We have more games than we have time to play at this point and I feel we've gotten more than my moneys worth of enjoyment out of it thus far.  I'm not clamoring to have to invest in something new again at this point, but when that something new eventually arrives I will not feel cheated in the least.  I have zero complaints for my family's experience with the "U".

Bravo. You said exactly what many of us believes!

I'm not gonna wait till the end of a consoles life to fully evaluate if it is worth the purchase. Many experiences, especially online ones, are made better by playing the game soon after it comes out. It's up to the console maker to provide a steady stream of games and stay true to their promises.

No they were not ready for HD development, they largle underestimated HD development.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2013/07/08/miyamoto-admits-nintendo-underestimated-the-switch-to-hd/

http://www.dualshockers.com/2013/07/12/shigeru-miyamoto-discusses-what-went-wrong-with-the-wii-u-and-his-hopes-for-the-future/

You only have yourself to blame then, there's certainly no one else forcing you to buy it before games are even on it.

The consumer isn't to blame for that though. HD certainly took a toll on ps3 games, and nintendo was foolish to underestimate it

Great post. Reflects on a lot of the things that made me a true PC gamer in the 7th gen, I thought I had lost interest in gaming overall but it turns out I was simply on the wrong platform(s) as the consoles couldn't give me the experiences I wanted.

company makes promise ... I make purchase based on said promise ... company doesn't deliver ... and I should be disappointed in myself and not the company?

I don't regret my purchase, the wii u provides the bare necessities to be a decent console (smash bros, mario kart, pikmin, 3d world). But I am dissappointed since I expected and was promised more (like more 3rd party).

Off course, all Wii U problems are only made by Nintendo. I just stated that they were not ready for HD development (Pavolink stated that they were) and that's just one of Wii U problems.