Every console Nintendo releases is said to be a failure by the industry experts. But every time it hangs in there, probably with a lot of help from the A1 titles such as the Mario's and Zelda's. The Wii only done so well due to the casual games (Wii Sports, Wii Fit, shovelware) which got everyone from baby to grandma buying a console. Although there's a lot of under-rated games on the Wii.

The Gamecube didn't do too good due to the bad choice of media, the 1.4gb mini-discs. Only chosen by Nintendo to combat piracy, which in the end became easy to rip. The hardware was capable of making great looking games for that generation, just look at SW Rogue Leader, Mario Sunshine and Zelda Twilight Princess.

The Wii U is in that stage were for the next year or two the big games will be released. Super Mario (just arrived), Donkey Kong, Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Zelda, and maybe one or two surprises (hopefully a Metroid game). After that we'll probably see ports from other consoles, a few HD remakes and then cheap shovelware. The Wii U has potential, but it needs the big games and third party support. It also needs games that utilise the Gamepad like no other game has done so far. It needs a game changer to make other console fan-boys sit up and take notice, or to get jealous enough to go buy one.

I own a Wii U and all last generation consoles (X360, PS3 & Wii), along with a 2DS, Gamecube, N64, SNES. I have always bought the newest Nintendo console on launch day/night, only because Nintendo know how to make something different and start new trends that other consoles eventually try to copy later down the track (motion controls with the Kinect and Move & 2nd screen gameplay now showing up with tablet integration).

Nintendo know how to make the best games in gaming, no question. Just play Super Mario Galaxy or a Zelda game. But if they want to stay in the game for the next generation (in about 5-7 years) they need to turn their console into a media centre which can play blu-ray/dvd's, download movies, record gameplay, etc, everything pretty much what MS and Sony are doing. Or build a kick-ass handheld with 1080p, movie watching and phone calling capabilities.