Im a gamer first, Nintendofan second. I don't favor any company above the other (except I hate Sony for their whole line of products). Most guys here have a short attention span and/or don't want to read wall of texts, so I will keep it really short and to the point. Read it, then discuss, im interested in everyone's opinion.

WiiU - Status Quo

• bad reputation for being underpowered
• soso-launch lineup
• bad market penetration through ad campaigns (whats Wii VS Wii U?)
• lack of first party titles
• lack of third party titles
• lots of great first party titles on the horizon
• underpowered compared to competition

Wii U - what needs to change

• get more publicity, more ads, spread the word it even exists (don't see much of it)
• bring more first party quality titles (sure, needs time)
• bring more third party quality tiles (hard to do, low install base and low specs won't help)
• iron out the things the Wii U should have never launched with (patches on the way, good)

Anyways, everyone who follows this page knows about all of this so Ill stop here making my assumption and an educated guess that once Sony's and MS' consoles are out, the situation (in my opinion) will be as follows:

• Wii U (Nintendo) will have strongest E3 show in years, stealing some of the limelight of competition
• By the time BOX and STATION launch, Wii U can fire its high caliber titles to get some more attention
• Sales will pick up, just like they did with 3DS
• Third party support will raise with install base, but not to extraordinary heights
• Third party support will wayne when BOX and STATION are in their second generation of games
• Hardware of Wii U will hold up quite nicely graphically but will fail to get straight ports of physics/cpu intensive games of the competition
• Wii U will establish itself as gorgeous platform for Indies, will see more ports from tablet-touch-devices (thanks to gamepad) than form other consoles
• Valve will release steambox after all next gen consoles are out of the doors and bridge the gap between console and pc gamers
• Wii U will establish itself as the console with the best "couch coop" and "couch multiplayer" experiences if Nintendo pursues "asymmetric gameplay" further
• Wii U will be in direct competition with tablet-games and the Ouya, more than with the other 2 big consoles
• 3 years into their life cycles worldwide sales will rank like following: 1) XBOX 2) PS3 3) WII U 4) Ouya 5) Steambox (it takes time to take off)

So in my book it means, if you have a gaming pc and/or steambox PLUS one "traditional" console you should be fine, which console it is, depends on the exclusives you prefer. If you love nintendo first party titles, theres only one way to go obviously.
Thats all just my opinion and speculation of course.

In MY book, the 3DS will have more quality titles than the Wii U after 4 year lifespan respectively. And im fine with that, love my 3Ds.

I agree with everything you said, except the 'Status Quo'(besides lot of good 1st party games), and 3DS having a better library than Wii U in next couple years.
Anyone with an attention span at all can recognize Wii U is a different console. I knew the difference between GB, GBC, GBA, etc., and I was 6 years old. I understood differences between SNES, Sega Genesis, N64, PS1, GCN, PS2, XBOX, etc. I guess what I'm trying to get at, is that all those things are kind of similar for what they do, and how they do them, but even a child can look at Wii U, and understand it's not Wii. You can't even buy the Gamepad seperate, so there's no way to make a mistake like that anyway. When they do start selling gamepads seperate, by then, they expect people to know even more about the differences. People can somehow notice the difference between Apples products, so this should be a breeze to get past.
As for the 3DS game library beating Wii U's... The 3DS has a good library, so yes, but quality of both consoles are still going to improve, and some people may not look back at the older 3DS titles. I was done with DS by the time 3DS came along. A year or 2 before actually... Nintendo is probably going to combine the platforms more in the future, too, since it's more convenient in every way than it was years ago.

This is just my perspective.

Also, I think 3rd parties will ensure security in the install base, and convince the usual Xbox/PS kid to get one eventually.

I honestly don't see both Xbox and Playstation surviving through this next generation. Sony seems to be the most vulnerable since its stock is borderline worthless. Unless their next machine is massive sales-wise I think they'll be dropping out of games completely unless they have a profitable development arm. I don't know what to think of Ouya - Steambox makes more sense to me, but I'm not really seeing a meaningful market for either of them. I think this generation is Nintendo's to lose, really.

I thinks it is too early to think about Wii U's future, but that's just my opinion.

I have to agree with you on the fact that Sony is in trouble. I know they have burned a lot of people in the past, but the last couple of years, they have finally seemed to get it. Next to Nintendo, I think they have the better first party titles. Unfortunately, it may be too little too late. The company as a whole is in massive debt. There corporate note were downgraded to junk status late last year. The Playstation is really the only area of the company that has turned a profit, and I just don't know if a new console will be what it needs to get them over the hump.

Most consoles launch at a deficit per unit purchased. I do not see how this is going to be any different for them. They do have The Last of Us and Beyond: Two Souls coming this year so that should offset some of the losses with the console, but how much? It really can't be determined. All in all, I'd say your right on this. The end of this generation will most likely see the end of Playstation if something drastic does not happen. That's enough about them though...sorry.

i just posted a really interesting article in the "nintendos stratagy for wiiu" thread. it goes over the future of the wii u in an interesting and very positive light. check it out and see what you think.

You are telling yourself a lie if you think MS and Sony are just going to die out this next gen. Sony has some red flags due to their financial situation but both will carry on. Not like Wii U is off to a blazing fast start and is the console everyone feels they must own such as PS2 was(I still stand by my Dreamcast as being the better choice back then).

If you don't think Sony is on the rocks then you haven't been paying attention the past few years whilst the company has been hemmorhaging money. The Playstation brand isn't enough to carry the company as it currently stands. Kaz Hirai might be able to turn it around, but in the current economic climate I wouldn't place any bets. Maybe if the company gets broken up into bits it could survive in some form, but even then you're talking about a platform that historically sells at a loss out the gate. Unless the new machine is a lot different in approach from the PS3 I don't see how it competes with the PS3, let alone other machines.

If Nintendo hangs in there and they can mollify investors until the end of the year I think they'll weather the storm and stem their losses.

Obviously Nintendo will survive this gen. After all, they're not the ones losing a whole ton of money on the level of Sony or various other companies in the industry. Will they survive the one after the Wii U gen or the one after that? That's the more interesting question.

And yeah, Sony's in trouble. I suspect they're probably going to be leaving the gaming market if the PS4 doesn't make money on the level of the PS1 or PS2. And considering that Microsoft entered the market to stop them in particular, them then leaving isn't as crazy as it sounds.

Obviously Nintendo will survive this gen. After all, they're not the ones losing a whole ton of money on the level of Sony or various other companies in the industry. Will they survive the one after the Wii U gen or the one after that? That's the more interesting question.

And yeah, Sony's in trouble. I suspect they're probably going to be leaving the gaming market if the PS4 doesn't make money on the level of the PS1 or PS2. And considering that Microsoft entered the market to stop them in particular, them then leaving isn't as crazy as it sounds.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Vita is the last Sony handheld (face it, it's already practically dead) and the PS4 is the last Sony console. Sony is so far in the red and their options for consoles are an expensive powerhouse (financial suicide in our economy) or a system that barely outperforms the PS3 (meaning upgrading is pretty much a waste of money). They have one of the worst track records for innovation as well so they likely won't follow Nintendo unless it's a blatant copy (which they'd have a severe disadvantage considering the Wii U will have had a nice head start by then, established install base and a larger selection of games). I don't know what Sony has planned for the PS4 but it will take a lot of luck to save their game division.

As for Microsoft, I doubt they're going anywhere anytime soon. They have plenty of money to put into their next console, regardless of its reception, and consumers will want an alternative to the Wii U, competition is healthy for the industry. The Ouya is nice but I don't think it will be grouped on the same ground as other consoles, and the Steambox should do well but console purists probably won't be satisfied with it in place of a standard console. Basically, though the economy is going to make this coming generation rough, I only guess Sony is going to not make it out. Nintendo has a large enough fanbase and Microsoft offers what Nintendoesn't.

I'm sure Nintendo will hang on just like they did with the 3DS, it's the PS4 and neXtbox I'm concerned about right now. If it's true they won't allow secondhand games or backward compatibility, that means they'll be relying most on their digital service. In which case they'll be slaughtered by Steam. If they do allow secondhand games they'll have a benefit over Steam, but they still have to face the challenge of selling people a new piece of hardware that's not much of a step up from their last consoles. Every time I'm standing in line at GameStop there's some dude returning his Xbox because he has a "gaming rig" at home. How are Sony and Microsoft going to hold onto these guys?

Leaked specs of the nextbox and gaystation suggest that they are real powerhouses, talking about 8core processors, 8GB of ram, video cards with 2 gigs of ram based off the 7-range of radeons. Regardless of specs - it will come down to innovation and "ease of development" and in both respects Nintendo has a good base in my opinion. What good is ULTRA HD and better specs if its more expensive and takes longer to make games, which, still have to prove that they are good at all. Just look at Aliens Colonial Marines. Sure it looks good, but besides that...

But tomorrow its too late because then todays future will be present and a day after it past already.
Seriously, THINKING is never wrong or too early/too late really. Its our hobby and I and others just like to talk about it. Same as soccer fans, not only playing but also the talking and strategizing are the fun part of it!

Thanks for your input mate. Well I didn't mean progamers like me or you that have a clue about whats going on with Wii vs Wii U but I meant people like parents and the general public. Most people didn't even get the launch of Wii U. Thats a marketing-debacle really.

And well you know the gaming lineup is also a matter of taste and why I think 3DS will come out heads first over Wii U is that so far the titles that are announced just appeal more to me on 3DS and it might also play a role that a game for 3DS is made "quicker" and "cheaper" than on the Wii U, but whoknows, combined hardware divisions might nullify this.

One way or the other I really wish for the best of Nintendo even if there are plenty of their decisision I cannot really follow (no analogue triggers, no headphone jack on pro controller, no systemwide voice chat/party system, nintendo account system, sluggish OS, ... ) they are still by far the most creative and friendly hardware gaming company out there.

In its last financial results Sony posted a profit and it's stock is 60 per cent higher than it was last year.

Sony's console division is its most lucrative.

THE VIDEO GAME MARKET AS A WHOLE IS DOOMED!!!!

Always wondered what it'd be like to troll...

_{...but thats true}

Can we stop doing these threads? Pretty please? Or maybe merge it with one of the other five labeled something along the lines of "I'm worred about the Wii U's future, howsabout you?" It's the same five dudes who comment (yes, I'm guilty of that) and end up getting into the silliest battles over the silliest things.

Though I suppose it is entertaining to watch... hey wait. I just figured out what this whole internet thing is about!