I have always loved Nintendo (my first love behind Sega) and support them, but I will admit, they have dropped the ball on the marketing and promotion for the Wii U because I know a hand full of gamers off the top of my head who dont have one and who think its a portable console. I got to properly educate them. I am still shocked tho' that this whole time, I have been completely wrong about it as a gamer and collector 
Marketing only takes you so far, though. Getting across what the system is will help snare the casuals, but for hardcore gamers and developers, it's a chicken and egg problem. Developers and publishers want hardware that allows them to execute their ideas with minimal hassle, and a healthy ecosystem built around it in order release their games with relative confidence. Gamers need hardware that lets them play games with minimal hassle, and a healthy ecosystem built around it that makes them feel confident they'll get their money's worth.
Nintendo is in a situation where they need more games on the system to get players to flock to it, but developers aren't biting. There's no sales momentum, and most of them aren't going to be torchbearers for it when the hardware itself is underpowered enough that releasing multiplatform games for it are either a waste of time or a pain in the ass, especially when the PS3 and 360 have massive install bases and can already be the "cheap" alternatives to the PS4 and Xbone.
They'll have an audience, as they always do, but they need content a lot more than they need marketing right now.
