At the time of its release, the manner on how it they’d marketed that was confusing as they showcased the Wii U gamepad as if its a portable console (its not) since its rather the main controller for the Wii U console. I was in high school when the console was first revealed, my reaction to that was “WTF?” as I thought the gamepad was portable, as the ads often flex that it can be (or the way they showed it came off as that).
I think the name was confusing, but it really only exasperated more fundamental issues. The product wasn’t that appealing for most people.
The gamepad was a cool trick, but ultimately not being portable made it seem sorta pointless? I mean, that’s cool that you can play it while someone else watches TV. But all the nifty ideas around asymmetric multiplayer or supplemental touchscreen controls/displays just come across as gimmicks.The gamepad was big and clunky and near permanently paired to one system (and within a few feet).
Third party support was never strong there, and the bits that were withdrew almost immediately. Nintendo themselves were struggling to put games out quickly, with the transition to HD, plus their studios’ attention divided into making 3DS games.
The system was no powerhouse, so by the time other next-gen consoles released, it looked left behind. Unlike the Wii or the Switch, it didn’t have an especially compelling gimmick or pricepoint to make up for that.
(I say this as a Nintendo nerd that had and loved the Wii U, just my impressions of how others perceived it.)
I think the name was bad, but I also don’t think its failure is as simple as just that.