But nobody bought the Wii for multiplats, and no one bought the PS2 for games they could get elsewhere. It was exclusives. 

Wii was the second best selling home console of all time and mostly sold first party titles only. Playstation 2 had a lot of exclusives due to an era where a game didn't have to sell 2 million to break even. Now that all of that is gone... It's a strange time with resolution gates, SJW censorships, and DRM scandals. 

We can't base this off of 1 console generation, that's flawed logic. Wii sold because of the widespread gimmick. And of course, their 1st party content was amazing but coming off the Gamecube, we can't assume that everyone bought a Wii because they wanted more 1st party content. It was the hype surrounding the Wii and the breaking of the general idea of what a gamer can be. Nobody bought the WIi for multiplats because the multiplats were half assed and the Wii lacked the robust online features that PS3 and 360 had, it also lacked the graphical capability that those consoles had. Nintendo had a good relationship with 3rd parties but the neglect that third parties have recieved with Wii and Wii U, has formed a bond with PS and XB that even if Nintendo had the right hardware for 3rd parties to flourish, they wouldn't be comfortable putting their content on a Nintendo console.

We look at the software sold on the Wii and it speaks for itself. 

The perfect scenario for any company is they've got something and the only way you can get it is to buy their product.

Any debate that suggests otherwise is just plain stupid.

And...the software for Wii U? The casual market fueled the software sales for Nintendo's first party content. Now that the casual market is gone from Nintendo, the software sales on Wii U pale in comparison to Wii.

Compelling games matter, if they happen to be 1st 2nd or 3rd party exclusives is just icing on the cake for console makers.
Fun anecdote, I visited a friend a couple months ago and her 13 year old son didn't even know that Halo is an Xbox exclusive, that's the majority of the people buying consoles out there in the wolrd outside of these forums.

It speaks for itself there too. 1st party dominates. All it takes is for people to get interested in their hardware for their software to reach untouchable numbers again. The takeaway point is that no matter how many people own a Nintendo console, their 1st party IP is ALWAYS the top selling.

This sounds like the words of a older guy who cant accept that things change. They do, it has. Deal with it. For all the "great" 3rd party games Ninty has there systems on average have been trailing behind, sometimes by a large number. Now either first party games dont matter that much and people prefer 3rd party. OR the first party games arent good enough to move consoles.

Not gonna argue with you on that one.  But other than Nintendo and Sonic, "First Party" has never been massively relevant in the gaming field.

*Edit* Except Gran Turismo, but that was more due to the game, than the fact that it was first party.

The only time a First Party game counts, is when it hits a market that hasn't previously been successfully hit by anyone else.

First party games only matter if most third party games haves been secured.

If a good game exclusively on your platform can do wonders, then a good game exclusively NOT on your platform can do horrors.

It's like trying to run before you can walk