The Wii U gamepad was very poorly utilized. If more games had shown up which would have put it to good use - and especially some asymmetric games where what's on the Gamepad differs to what's on the TV screen. Still waiting for an RPG program where the DM uses the gamepad and the player party acting according to what he puts on the TV screen...

Ironically, the Wii U was probably one of the least successful platform for asymmetric gameplay since the beginning of the 3D era. The Switch has several successful games in the genre including the popular Among Us. The Wii had Super Mario Galaxy, which was a co-op asymmetric game which offered the unfortunately dubbed “girlfriend mode”  and other games like Mario Party (all the way back on N64) and Wii Party which features asymmetric multiplayer games. Even GE007 allowed for customizable asymmetric gameplay by pumping up Jaws in power and putting it on a 3 vs 1.

I’d say the issue is that Nintendo branded a concept that already existed and didn’t show how the Wii U hardware would improve things in a meaningful way to new and most existing fans. The personal separate screen isn’t unique as Nintendo already had its handheld line. Also, at the time, iPhone and Android were blowing up, and Mac/PC had been around for decades.

Out of those? Probably the hybrid concept. That was a stroke of genius. Anything that can make a brand go from near-death in the minds of gamers to dominating in a way that has never, or rarely, been seen in the home console market... it's gotta be pretty impressive.

I am going to go with Stereoscopic 3D. - It's a gaming experience that hasn't *really* been successfully replicated elsewhere.

I mean technically the Wii did that too, going from Nintendo's lowest selling console at the time to their highest by far, but yeah the sheer scale of the comeback from Wii U to Switch is insane.

Yes, there are parallels there. But the Wii-U is Nintendo's worst selling home console ever, and the Switch is going to be their best selling home console ever. Hard to argue with that lol.

Oh I'm not arguing with it, just pointing out that at the time Gamecube was also the worst selling Nintendo console and Wii the best.

Yes, that's true. I always have trouble remembering that because I actually thought the Gamecube was great. Not N64 great, but great nonetheless. But it was definitely a step down, regardless of the sales. 

Yeah sales and personal enjoyment often don't line up.

N64 is one of the best consoles ever to me, despite its underwhelming sales, while I didn't much care for the PS2 or DS despite them being the highest selling systems ever.

Both Wii and Switch were phenomenal comebacks for Nintendo sales wise, thanks to their central hook being so wildly attractive as to overshadow their technical limitations.

Fabulous concept. Take my money, sir!