I honestly feel bad for Nintendo and am quite surprised that it isn't brought up often enough.
The US is coming off of a really bad year after a really bad recession where they are less likely to spend significant amounts of money on a console unless it is a justified purchase. Ironically this helps Microsoft and Sony since they are lagging behind with their new consoles.
So if people are in fact going to get a new console, they have to have significant justification.
Nintendo has always justified their consoles with their games. The Wii U launches with no Mario, no Zelda, no Metroid.
There is no actual reason to go out of your way to purchase this console. It is the Nintendo 3DS all over again, it feels like they aren't learning anything from their mistakes. At least the 3DS saw a Nintendo 64 remake of Zelda 64 months later down the line.
Most of Wii's success was based off of it's Gimmick in the Motion controller. And while motion controls have been around for a very long time, they focused on it and refined it.
However they launched with a Zelda Game, a Gamecube port.
There is no Zelda/Mario/Metroid Launch title and there is no Gimmick in the Wii U, it is a tethered glorified Nintendo DS touch screen. There is no attraction to it like there was to the Wii.
Even if the Wii did not launch with a Zelda game, the attraction to the Motion controls sold the console because it was new and interesting. Wii U's gimmick is a touch screen.
Put that together with a bad economical year for the US where Parents and Gamers are going to be watching their money more, and you are going to have a bad launch...
It almost feels like they are launching this console because they feel obligated to do something. Not because they actually want to. I am absolutely sure they know they can not launch a major console without one of their signature titles. It is almost bad luck to do so.
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