Andrex, as much as you don't want to admit it you are spinning this shit like hell. The Wii U's power is disappointing to say the least and the main draw is inferior to other options that have already taken over said markets. This system might sell well on the Wii name but that's still a longshot in more ways than one.
Disappointing to what Ninthings hoped maybe, but I really doubt anyone here expected the Wii U to be wildly above what's being reported. How is that spin? Nobody here believed in its power anyways. If you're saying you're disappointed, you're either a troll trying to be more negative about this situation than is necessary, or you were a starry eyed ninthing. Pick your choice.
It won't be a total failure, sales wise it will barely beat the Gamecube or maybe not even that.
Dude your more of a sales noob than I am, and I'm pretty nooby.
As a game console it is the worst Nintendo had to offer yet.
A console is defined by its games, foremost. Hardware-wise, N64 was probably the worst. Tiny, expensive carts, weird as hell controller, weird/fake 64 bit architecture (made nicer by comparisons to the Saturn, but even still), on par with the PS1 overall despite all the tradeoffs, with Nintendo trying to fill in all the gaps with add-ons like the 64DD (which failed/wasn't released.)
The Wii U is using a derivative of Blu-ray, which all three are going to use next gen. Most Wii U games will probably run at 1080p, which despite some rumors I'll go on the record as saying will be the highest offered for 99% of games next gen. The Wii U is offering retail games on the eShop from day one, which is actually more progressive than some of the competition. The controller literally accepts all the inputs that competing systems have, and the Pro controller is basically a 360 one with Nintendo's great d-pad and ergonomics. The shader model is "good" at best, pleasantly surprising at worst. 99%+ backwards compatibility with the previous gen, unlike any Nintendo console before the Wii.
Worst Nintendo hardware? I'm not seeing it.
Are there problems with the hardware? Definitely. The CPU is probably really weak, but we've known about that -- a tradeoff for both backwards compatibility purposes and Nintendo trying to keep batch rates reasonable. The RAM is extremely competitive to this gen (double the 360's), but who knows about next gen. The internal memory is on the short side.
But it isn't the worst Nintendo console hardware. Not when the N64, GameCube, and Wii have been released.