The Wii U has struggled to capture the imagination of players like the Wii. Many people, including friends close to myself, never fully cared or understood what value the Wii U Gamepad offered.Even now, almost three years later, that value is still missing.

According to a Fortune interview with Mr. Miayamoto, the misunderstanding of the GamePad was a reason for the Wii U’s struggles.

“I feel like people never really understood the concept behind Wii U and what we were trying to do. I think the assumption is we were trying to create a game machine and a tablet and really what we were trying to do was create a game system that gave you tablet-like functionality for controlling that system and give you two screens that would allow different people in the living room to play in different ways. …. Unfortunately, because tablets, at the time, were adding more and more functionality and becoming more and more prominent, this system and this approach didn’t mesh well with the period in which we released it. I still feel it was a very novel approach—and a very interesting idea” – Miyamoto

Mr. Takahashi, who helps overseas Nintendo’s Software Planning & Development Division with Miyamoto, had this to say about Nintendo’s approach to their next system.

“For us, the next step is to think about what is going to be that element that is really going to catch the attention of a large number of players again and get them excited. We’re constantly thinking about this idea from the perspective of the players and the needs of the players in terms of what can we can do with our ability and our technology to capture that excitement and passion.” – Takahashi

How do you feel about this explanation from Miyamoto? Is that a reason the Wii U has struggled to garner attention?