So lets get to the meat of this right away, the Wii U is a good system on the brink of greatness. I give it a B to a B-. Now that we've gotten that out of the way lets talk about why:

From the moment you pull the system out of the box you realize that it's something different, infact something unique. Wii U is the first of its kind but it likely will not stand alone for long. You have two screens to play with (in most cases), one is your TV and the other is your controller. The concept is great and the technology works very well but developers imaginations haven't quite cought up with the concept. In most cases you'll use your second screen (the controller) as an inventory or menu screen. The concept of two screens is an amazing leap forward though and I feel that it's only a matter of time before developers make some truely interesting and fun experiences with the system. So let's break the system down:

Performance

The Wii U is Nintendo's first system with HD graphics. As it stands it's some where in the realm of a current gen system (Xbox 360 or PS3) and in some cases games coming out for the system (Deus Ex) are considered to be graphically better then their current gen counterparts . When it comes to standing against the upcoming next gen line up (PS4 and Xbox One) I would say that as usual Nintendo is behind on the horsepower side. A good example of how powerful or underpowerful the Wii U is would be Call of DUty Black Ops II, during my play through of that game I experienced frequent lagging and from time to time graphical slow down. It's nice to see that Nintendo brought their product to the modern age of gaming but I worry that it may be a little to late.

The biggest performance issue in my opinion though is the Wii U remote. The battery only lasts about 3.5 to 4 hours and if you want to continue to play beyond that you'll need to plug it in (to a wall outlet, the system itself has no outlet for the controller). In my opinion it was bad planning on Nintendo's part to have such a weak battery in the controler. I don't have a PS Vita but I imagine it's battery lasts a bit longer and in the future the PS4 will use the Vita just like the Wii U uses the remote.

Games

At launch and up untill now the Wii U has had a weak gaming lineup. It's not the quantity that is the issue (as there are quite a few games to chose from) but rather the diversity of said games. Most launch titles were ports from other systems and Nintendo's first party lineup has been slow to come. The good news is that with E3 concluded we now have a lot to look forward to from Nintendo it's self and I would recomend the Wii U mainly to buy and play the first party software rather then third party games.

Value

I got the black system which was around $350 without tax. With the PS4 coming out at around $400 and the Xbox One at $500 I would say that the Wii U is a good value for what you get. However I think for the system to sell more it'll need to lower the price a bit more. $350 is still to close to the PS4's $400 so many gamers may think to themselves "For around $50 dollars more I could get a more powerful system with better graphics and a stronger third party support". 

In short the Wii U is a great system that in my opinion got off on a bad start. Likely many of it's pitfalls are due in part because Nintendo was rushing to get the system out a year before its competitors. I fear though that the year they gave themselves could be wasted playing catchup in a market which has clearly turned against it. The Wii U has a bad rep because of many of its short comings. If you're a Nintendo fan I'd say pick up a Wii U and support the company in it's time of need, you won't regret it. However if you're tight on money and can only afford one Next gen system I would recomend waiting to see how the PS4 and Xbox One stack up against the Wii U before taking the plung.