Is it just my impression or you people are not giving the Wii-U any chance??
There are facts that are already confirmed about it and the most important 4 are that it will not be cheap, addresses the freaks especially in the first years of sell, a lot of RAM and capable of full HD.
Even newspaper say that Wii-U will not be a pure gaming console but take the way of PS/XBOX with multi-functionality not that this make me somehow happy because I used all my console only for games and nothing other). Another little fact is that Nintendo is not ready to pay for patents for the game medium allowing to spend more money in other parts of the console.
What I don't know is in how many steps Nintendo want to grow up. If the Wii-U is to be seen as tergetting the "grow up/core" gamer, is Nintendo ready to throw away all "family/casual gamer" they just win with the Wii?? I think no so there are 2 ways to go here:
1)Wii-U will be top notch but there will be a "light" version of it for casual gamers or Nintendo has 2 different consoles in plan
2)Wii-U will be mediocre so that maybe loose part of the casual gamer but win some core gamers.
Anyway I believe Wii-U need a chance because it's the first step toward a "grow up" Nintendo (for all that want this).
I think the main issue is that everyone's been screaming essentially your entire first two paragraphs like a prophet but this stuff has been around for years. "Lots of RAM" and "full HD" are really unimpressive when two consoles have been sporting it for half a decade, three if you count the PC (which is more advanced on hardware). As for multifunctionality, I don't think anyone cares either since all these consoles can do it already. Web browsing? Wii or PS3. Or a computer like an sensible person. Or an Android or iOS device. Netflix? Like every device recently (so Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, PC, 3DS, Vita, PC). Plus with Sony and Microsoft having their fingers in multiple pies, they get access to more features. Microsoft has connectivity with Windows, Zune, and Windows Phone. Sony probably has something go with their control on Sony Pictures and Sony Music.
EDIT: Actually, if you wanted a Sony pro on that end, integration between their handhelds and consoles. One account is tied to the PSN across your consoles. You can purchase a PSOne game on your PS3 and play it on your PSP. The Vita is even larger on this respect but they've definitely been promoting their handhelds and consoles like peanut butter and jelly.
The controller is just honestly a stupid concept. Like a touch screen controller would be nice... But who the fuck would want something THAT big? It's just unwieldy. Why not have a smaller screen, like iPhone size? The device doesn't have enough features to be a standalone tablet either, so keeping a smaller screen for menus and touch based stuff would be fine, not to mention sleeker. Also why anyone would want dual slider pads when you can have two analog sticks is beyond me.
At this point, unless Nintendo can sell their console for $200 or less, I see no reason why anyone would pick it over a Xbox 360 (since that's the cheapest of the HD consoles currently). The Xbox 360 has a large library of games already, all these features everyone loves, good graphics, and its entire casual gaming sector is compartmentalized with the Kinect (meaning core players won't have to deal with a trade off of motion controls for their regular games). If you don't like paying for online, then pay $50 more for a PS3 and basically get all the same things.
I also find it funny that people go "OMG A HD NINTENDO CONSOLE INSTANT BUY" when every Wii diehard prided themselves on being "true gamers" and "didn't care about graphics". Well bullshit, everyone was like "OMG ZELDA IN HD I MUST BUY INSTANTLY" without seeing jackshit outside of a brief tech demo.