Mario Kart and the other typical Nintendo fare didn't sell Gamecubes and Mario sure isn't selling Wii U's right now. Existing franchises sell to the people who already bought the system but it takes something fresh and new to sell the system in the first place. It was "come for Wii Sports, stay for Mario Kart". One game that offered something one could only get on the Wii sold systems and then that existing userbase bought the more conventional stuff once they already had the system. NSMB was one of the most massive hits of last gen and it has done jack diddly **** for the Wii U so I don't think some other big Nintendo franchise will save the day, though perhaps a quick string of them might. The Wii U really needs a game that only the Wii U can provide.
I agree that the writer of the article does not sound like the sort that would be won over by the same old Nintendo franchises so what he's talking about really intrigues me.