The biggest problem with Nintendo's promotion of Wii U lays in their utterly dogged, single-minded devotion to never talking about technology.
They absolutely refuse to ever say anything about the hardware in abstract terms, and focus purely on the core experience that they're pushing with a particular platform. They refuse to give the slightest indication they're concerned about competing with anyone else in areas as 'base' as graphic quality.
The thing is, you can see where they're coming from. Generally speaking, they have the right idea. But even Apple, which focuses almost entirely on lifestyle branding and promotion, does actually make it clear that new iterations of an iPhone or iPad feature significantly more powerful hardware. They do put as a major bullet point that the new device isn't just a variant or remix. It has a new processor, new graphic capabilities, new screen, etc.
I don't even think Wii U is a bad name and when considering it as representing "Wii Universe" it makes a lot of sense. What with the social features and such that Wii U is built around. The right marketing can help any branding, rather than hurt it. What has hurt Wii U so far is Nintendo's presentation and pitch style, more than the name.
Same situation with 3DS. It wasn't just the name. They refused to talk about technology. They refused to even say it was the successor to the DS. They refused to say it was the 'next generation of processing and visual capabilities in a Nintendo handheld". All they talked about, at first, was the Glasses Free 3D Screen (tm) And that's it. Just that over and over, making it sound as if it was indeed just a DS variant with a 3D screen.
