Contrary to what many say, Wii was successful not just because soccer moms bought it, but also because core gamers who grew up with Nintendo - who had been ignoring Nintendo through the Gamecube years - flocked to premium-looking core titles like Zelda:TP, SMG and Metroid P3. And even core gamers were drawn by the modern new style, fascinating new way of controlling games and the virtual console collection.
Wii U attempted the same formula of appealing to novice and proven gamers as well. The idea was similar. While Wii offered the remote for casuals but added the nunchuck for more complex games, the Wii U's Gamepad would offer a touch screen for casuals and dual analogues for core gamers. So you can say it was an evolution of the Wii concept of reaching a broad audience with a unique control scheme.
Unfortunately the touchscreen was not a new concept and casuals could find better versions elsewhere, the design of the console was not fresh, the core titles were not all that exciting and core gamers tired of Wii by about 2010 so brand good will was gone. The results are what we see...
