a couple of things I understand.
Wii was only marginally more powerful than Gamecube. Wii U was only as powerful as a ps3 or xbox 360(it has way more ram, and a better gpu, but the cpu clock-speed is slower). So technically it much more powerful than the other systems, but only if developers don't have lazy programmers. Developers have lazy programmers though. So counter-intiutive. They have to work to make graphics look good, which is something few will do.
Nintendo, when releasing a system has only been really aiming to hit the lowest target, and then there was some sort of newer expensive controller associated with it.
If Nintendo had ps4 graphics and the same controller it would be a home run 2 years from now. Why?
The wall has been hit. What is the wall? Well, what the wall is, is this thing we have been talking about for years. Where games look so good that any future improvements will look marginally different. I had expected this to happen between the ps3 to ps4 systems, but there really was a leap in graphics capabilities.
I don't see games looking so much better than ps4 though. The photo-realism quality of some games is pretty astounding. There has been a cost though. The price of a ps4 and an Xbox One are pretty expensive. I would hope the wii u would go down in price, but the fancy controller is whats hindering any price drops. The wii u is overpriced. They can't get the price of the console down because the controller is so expensive. If it didn't have such a great controller im sure it would cost $100-$150 less by now.
we can speculate about nx all we want. I just hope it has some power. I hope Nintendo are prepared for the power. Those were things I wanted out of wii u though. On the other hand, the games that have been released on Wii U have all been good. I know Ian is really against the Wii U controller, but honestly if you think its a gimmick than your thinking its the wii controller. Its 95% a traditional controller. 4 face buttons, 2 shoulders, 2 triggers, 2 joysticks, and a d-pad. The only thing different about it is that it has a screen, which major convenience is for inventory/stats/maps. I think there are a lot of good things about the wii u controller. There are still improvements to be made(the quicklaunch/multitasking could use some improvement)
another prediction Zelda Wii u will be a wii u game, but it will play on nx and launch with nx. There might be an improved version in the way they did Twilight princess. Except, i expect them not to tell us about the nx version until after the wii u version has shipped and been out for 2.5 months. I also imagine it would have some sort of expansion pack DLC. Nintendo seems to have finally succumb to the dlc world. Which, the way they are doing it is pretty positive. They basically are keeping a game alive. Heck Majoras mask followed the same model back in 2000. Except you had to buy a separate cart. Now eshop.