So the Wii U will be-able to play the same games that are coming out on PS3 and 360, but when the next consoles come out from Sony and Microsoft, won't Nintendo be in the same position the Wii is now?

Underpowered and gimmicky?

Seeing the controller I don't know why anyone would want to play normal games on that thing in this generation. Next generation, they will get crushed even further. Goddamit Nintendo, focus on the console and not the gimmicks.

We won't know until we see the system specs for all three platforms.

Maybe they just want to get sales before the next consoles come out. The next 2 or 3 years will either make or break the Wii U. If it doesn't sell well now before the competition release their shit it will not do well at all. Saying that it does have an advantage of being the first out by a substantial amount of time so maybe it doesn't need to compete with the next 360/PS3, it might have madea significant profit by the time the other 2 are released.

I'm guessing this will be Nintendo's half step forward. Which means it will be a little more powerful than current gen but not as powerful as next gen. I think they screwed up for reels this time. But hey, by the time the new consoles come out from Sony and Microsoft. This thing will probably be $200.

It seems to me you're basing this comparison purely on graphical fidelity. This generation Nintendo fielded the weakest machine graphically, and it effectively gave them a license to print money for several years running. Based on that fact alone, I can't see any reason why Nintendo wouldn't want to be in the same position that they're in right now.

I don't know that the Wii.5 will even be able to compete with the 360 and PS3. The demo didn't exactly impress on the visual front. Maybe it can perform on par, but I wouldn't take Nintendo's word on the matter. The gimmick controls would almost certainly hold the console back from playing as well as the current generation does. Furthermore, Nintendo seems to have done everything in their power to alienate serious developers, and they've limited themselves to a pretty niche audience. There may not be enough U owners of the appropriate demographic to make porting games from the existing consoles worth the risk. Nintendo will move a lot of units, but software is another matter, and they'll have to do a lot of work to pull PS3 and 360 owners from the companies that didn't abandon them.
 
When it comes to hardware from my perspective, Nintendo is shit. They make money, but they hold gaming back. Nintendo's software relies almost exclusively on cartoon visuals, and it doesn't take much power to manage making a Mario game look like a Mario game. Rather than consider third-parties, competition, or (gasp!) trying an IP with a different style, they place the technical cap at their immediate needs. "Fuck everyone else; our machines should only be adequate to run our games." The Wii was nothing more than a spruced-up Gamecube, and while skimping on the tech saved a lot of money, it neutered their ability to attract solid third-party games or even compete with respect to multi-platform titles.
 
The same is true of their shitty controls. They haven't made a good controller in over twenty years. Both the Wii's controls and those of its successor are designed entirely around gimmicks. That Nintendo wants to work around the limitations and embrace novelty over utility is fine, but they do so, once again, at the expense of third-party games. I didn't care for Wii games in general, but I certainly can't say that many of them would not have played better with a traditional controller. All Nintendo had/has to do was package a normal, well-designed controller alongside their jiggle-sticks and touch-screens. Then at least developers and gamers would have options. The attach rate of Gamecube and classic controllers on the Wii was too low to design for. Until Nintendo learns that their novelties don't have to come at the expense of all else, I don't think they'll compete in a realistic way with any current consoles, let alone their successors.

this comparison doesn't matter since there won't be a new competitor console for a long time

We don't even know the specs for the Wii U yet, trying to compare it to something that is far from existing is pointless. The new xbox could give me a sensual member massage and the PS4 could be a submarine for all I know at this point .

I wouldn't be surprised if Sony are now scrambling saying "we can do alot of this Wii U type stuff with our PSVita hooked up to a PS3 with the right software" as an afterthought! 
 
I think it's a clever move of Nintendo to have the Wii U not quite as powerful as the current PS3 & 360 hardware, they will keep their costs down for now and promote it like mad and rely on innovative software from all parties. 
 
Then as soon as PS4 and the next Xbox (720?) are revealed, Nintendo may be in the perfect position to upgrade the Wii U (box) in the form of a 'Wii UII' that could out-do both Sony and Microsoft's next-gen efforts in terms of hardware performance.  
 
Even then, the current Wii U controller that was launched yesterday could be perfectly compatible with an upgraded Wii U or Wii UII  so the controller wouldn't need upgrading straight away. By this time the 3rd party developers will have got to grips with taking advantage of it's capabilities and Nintendo could end up with the most powerful and unique console of them all in the next generation of consoles.

It will go one of two ways: 
1) Wii U will be successful and will convince Xbox and PS3 to stick around for a while (2016?) and continue to develop for this gen rather than take a risk and a loss on next gen. 
2) Wii U will flop and MS and Sony can begin their galactic war for the next-gen.

It will go one of two ways: 
1) Wii U will be successful and will convince Xbox and PS3 to stick around for a while (2016?) and continue to develop for this gen rather than take a risk and a loss on next gen. 
2) Wii U will flop and MS and Sony can begin their galactic war for the next-gen.

I don't know that the Wii.5 will even be able to compete with the 360 and PS3. The demo didn't exactly impress on the visual front. Maybe it can perform on par, but I wouldn't take Nintendo's word on the matter. The gimmick controls would almost certainly hold the console back from playing as well as the current generation does. Furthermore, Nintendo seems to have done everything in their power to alienate serious developers, and they've limited themselves to a pretty niche audience. There may not be enough U owners of the appropriate demographic to make porting games from the existing consoles worth the risk. Nintendo will move a lot of units, but software is another matter, and they'll have to do a lot of work to pull PS3 and 360 owners from the companies that didn't abandon them. When it comes to hardware from my perspective, Nintendo is shit. They make money, but they hold gaming back. Nintendo's software relies almost exclusively on cartoon visuals, and it doesn't take much power to manage making a Mario game look like a Mario game. Rather than consider third-parties, competition, or (gasp!) trying an IP with a different style, they place the technical cap at their immediate needs. "Fuck everyone else; our machines should only be adequate to run our games." The Wii was nothing more than a spruced-up Gamecube, and while skimping on the tech saved a lot of money, it neutered their ability to attract solid third-party games or even compete with respect to multi-platform titles.  The same is true of their shitty controls. They haven't made a good controller in over twenty years. Both the Wii's controls and those of its successor are designed entirely around gimmicks. That Nintendo wants to work around the limitations and embrace novelty over utility is fine, but they do so, once again, at the expense of third-party games. I didn't care for Wii games in general, but I certainly can't say that many of them would not have played better with a traditional controller. All Nintendo had/has to do was package a normal, well-designed controller alongside their jiggle-sticks and touch-screens. Then at least developers and gamers would have options. The attach rate of Gamecube and classic controllers on the Wii was too low to design for. Until Nintendo learns that their novelties don't have to come at the expense of all else, I don't think they'll compete in a realistic way with any current consoles, let alone their successors.

I'm mainly a PS3 user but  I like the potentail of the Wii U. One thing that struck me on the trailer was the Wii U controller being used as a sight/scope, imagine that being used effectively on  Battlefield 3 or Aliens Colonial Marines  (ive mocked Aliens from a screen shot to illustrate)   

It wont compare well, but that isn't a problem for Nintendo because they can just release another console. It is beneficial for them actually considering they make so much money on selling hardware.

Because it's not the "power" that sells consoles nowadays..but the marketing and gimmicks. Heck, I saw 2 random businessmen yesterday buy each a new Wii in store for probably no reason.
Mainstream audience =/= nerds. (not that I'm calling you guys or myself nerds) 
Only nerds care about the number of pixels or resolution or graphic card's capabilities.
"They" don't care the stats, horsepowers or games. Just the novelty to jump around like 5 years old...

Honestly I don't care if the new system was a tablet or a hologram interface. What got me somewhat interested again was the fact that a bunch of 3rd party devs are on the boat on this one. And since we don't even know what the specs are for the Wii U past the tablet controller, we can only speculate that the PS4 and next Xbox will be more powerful than the Wii U solely based on the console cycle of the tech being released later should in theory be more powerful. 

All I need is a F-Zero game in hd and I will buy this thing.

We don't even know what the official specs are for the console so I can't exactly say it will be under powered when in reality the specs could still be considered good enough to tune out great looking games even after Sony and Microsoft's next consoles.

The next gen Sony and MS consoles will go above and beyond the Wii U, in a few years, technology will have marched on (as it always does).

My question is, why would anyone want to play the hardcore HD games on a WiiU if they can just play them on their 360/PS3 with same graphics and most likely still have a better online structure considering both have a lot of players already.

I don't know, you know why? Because there isn't any information about Sony's and Microsoft's next console. Why start a new console war before none of the has even come out?

They are positioning themselves to launch on a different schedule than the other consoles.  The life cycle of Nintendo consoles has typically been 5 years, while the ps3 and 360 are not even close to being over.  By the time PS4 and new xbox come out, nintendo will be close to revealing their successor to Wii U.  I think they are planning on offsetting their releases from their 2 competitors.

It's probably going to end up in the same position the Wii did.

Seeing the controller I don't know why anyone would want to play normal games on that thing in this generation. Next generation, they will get crushed even further. Goddamit Nintendo, focus on the console and not the gimmicks.

I think Sony and Microsoft will take elements from the Wii U and incorporate them into their next gen systems, so how the Wii U will compare is as a forerunner of those platforms.

People need to stop embarassing themselves with dumb assumptions. 
 
We don't know ANYTHING about the tech that is inside the Wii U. Rumours range from PS3 power to way way above. So it's impossible to predict how it will fare. 
One thing to consider is that the graphics tech of the recent years is hard to implement in consoles because of heating issues and power usage. So it remains to be seen how big of a leap the next 360 and PS will make. 
 
And quite honestly 90% of the consumers wont be able to see a difference between Wii U and PS4/720. Diminishing returns are a bitch.

@PenguinDust said:

I think Sony and Microsoft will take elements from the Wii U and incorporate them into their next gen systems, so how the Wii U will compare is as a forerunner of those platforms.

So they'll do the same thing that they always do, then.

@Reuben said:

My question is, why would anyone want to play the hardcore HD games on a WiiU if they can just play them on their 360/PS3 with same graphics and most likely still have a better online structure considering both have a lot of players already.

I would say that the chief advantage would be the ability to play it in bed like Ken Levine was saying in the developer montage. As someone who primarily uses handheld games when I want to play video games in bed, that's genuinely exciting for me. It remains to be seen whether I give it preference over the familiarity of the 360 controller or the apparent brilliance of the NNXE, but I think it stands a very good chance because I do love convenience.

People need to stop embarassing themselves with dumb assumptions.  We don't know ANYTHING about the tech that is inside the Wii U. Rumours range from PS3 power to way way above. So it's impossible to predict how it will fare. One thing to consider is that the graphics tech of the recent years is hard to implement in consoles because of heating issues and power usage. So it remains to be seen how big of a leap the next 360 and PS will make.  And quite honestly 90% of the consumers wont be able to see a difference between Wii U and PS4/720. Diminishing returns are a bitch.

Honestly, biggest problem I see is with the media.  The frustrating thing with Nintendo is that they take one step forward and one step back every console iteration.  
 
The Wii using DVDs was a good step forward because it really helps developers and levels the playing field. Now, we hear Nintendo is going to be using a new, proprietary, high capacity but non-Blu Ray media platform. Why can't they just makes things more simple for developers?  
 
I don't want to get in to 'what will look better' because we don't know what's under the hood, but I see moving to a proprietary media as a mistake that could result in headaches during porting. 

Not really. It hardly matters for developers as long as the size is good enough, which it is. For consumers it might be disappointing to not be able to play blu-ray though.

A bunch of bitches pulling fantasies out of their ass where NIntendo's system doesn't add up to their fantasy console. You know what I think? I think once again Microsoft will build a system in an inclosure that can't handle it and everyone will go through about 4 of them, cus they make shitty hardware. My little fantasy scenario is actually based on history, see. And I think the various lawsuits Sony is going through could circumvent a PS4 from existing at all. Again, reality and history. By the same token, most games probably won't use the Nintendo tablet affectively. So really, WiiU will "only" be the place to play the best versions of multiplatform games. Waah, that's all it has going for it for the next 2 or 3 years, that and the best first party in the business seeing as most 2nd parties are freeing themselves up like Bungie and Insomniac. Poor little thing. Now it'll be the market leader and the graphics leader for a while, that's all it has going for it. Not good enough, says neckbeard.

@PenguinDust said:

I think Sony and Microsoft will take elements from the Wii U and incorporate them into their next gen systems, so how the Wii U will compare is as a forerunner of those platforms.

So they'll do the same thing that they always do, then.

I swear if Microsoft brands the next XBOX, 720. I will slit my wrists.

As all 3 have been rather silent on new hardware specs of anything new, it's going to be a while before getting any kind of concrete answer to this question that should be asked at a later date when we have an idea on what they are doing.

LET'S ALL TALK ABOUT HARDWARE WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT OKAY COOL 
 
No one can say yet how powerful the Wii U will be. Hell, Nintendo probably hasn't even finalized the hardware in that thing, yet. And Microsoft and Sony haven't even mentioned the next console generation. You guys not to stop being dumb.

LET'S ALL TALK ABOUT HARDWARE WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT OKAY COOL  No one can say yet how powerful the Wii U will be. Hell, Nintendo probably hasn't even finalized the hardware in that thing, yet. And Microsoft and Sony haven't even mentioned the next console generation. You guys not to stop being dumb.

Well they already made the japanese carton boxes right? Or Pachter said something to that degree. So I suppose they likely do know the specs. Unless they aren't on the box.

I still need to see proof that the wii u can play a xbox 360/ps3 game.  Lets see it do Just Cause 2 or Enslaved.

It'll be shit. It's funny how this Nintendo console matches (or maybe exceeds a little bit) the power of the PS3/360 6-7 years after those launched. It should look substantially better, but it doesn't.

It won't matter, because Nintendo is by this point putting themselves on their own time frame ahead of the other two manufacturers, and will gain enough of a competitive advantage that they won't have to run the same race anymore. It won't matter how much people on gaming forums hate their console.

@sins_of_mosin said:

I still need to see proof that the wii u can play a xbox 360/ps3 game.  Lets see it do Just Cause 2 or Enslaved.

An 8 year old computer could run the specs on those games. Yeah, that's a real challenge you put out there dude.