Why the Wii U was a necessary stop-gap between the Wii and the Switch

The Nintendo Wii was released on November 19, 2006, and it retailed for $249.99. At the hight of the Wii's popularity, it was known for its amazing motion controls, fun party games, family-friendly atmosphere, and the Miis. Over the Wii's life, it sold 101.63 million units worldwide. The Wii was finally discontinued on October 20, 2013. On November 18, 2012, the Wii U was released to the market with a mixed reception. Some people liked it and others didn't. This happened because of confusion. Some people thought that Wii U was supposed to be an add on to the already existing Wii and others thought it Was a portable Wii handheld. Even though Nintendo never explicitly said either of those two claims, the way they marketed the system seemed to indicate one of the two. When consumers finally realized that the Wii U was going to be a new home console, Many ask the question of why one of the controllers was fat, brick-like tablet. People thought the tablet controller was a huge gimmick to make the Wii U stand apart from the original Wii. Did it work? No, not really. The Wii U wasn't a huge upgrade from the original Wii, but it did add a few new things. It added an HDMI port, new games, and somewhat newer hardware. The Wii U failed for many reasons. First, People did know what to expect from the tablet controller. Second, the third party game library wasn't as good as the Xbox One or Ps4. Third-party developers didn't know what to do with the tablet controller. Third, many Wii owners didn't see a reason to buy a new system that was practically a Wii all over again. Then why am I saying that the Wii U was necessary for the Switch's success? This is for many reasons. With the Wii U, Nintendo had a portable dream. Nintendo had a history of handheld devices, but all of those devices were miles behind their home consoles. Nintendo wanted a console that could be as good as a home system, but that could be portable. This is evidenced in the fact that some Wii U games could be played on the tablet controller alone, without a need for a tv. This was handicapped by the fact that you had to stay within 15 feet of the console to use the tablet. If Nintendo wanted to make their dream portable system they had to have a backlog of money and the revenue of the original Wii wasn't going to last forever. Nintendo had to do what the money, era, and time permitted, and that was the Wii U. The Wii U might have failed, but it caused Nintendo to step it up with their next console, dubbed the Switch. The Switch was a success thanks to the stop-gap of the Wii U and Nintendo's portable dream. At least the Wii U lasted longer than the Virtual Boy, but then again that's not much of an accomplishment.