Nintendo has always been a company that aims to surprise everyone, even by launching a next-generation video game console that is less powerful than other consoles of the previous generation.

Make no mistake, the Nintendo Wii U is a next-generation video game console and the next-gen moniker doesn't necessarily mean that a console should be packing in more powerful features. However, gamers have become accustomed to a next generation console being more powerful that all the others from the previous generation, that was the case with the Wii, so what went wrong with the Nintendo Wii U?

Well known hacker, Marcan, who is known for hacking the PlayStation 3, did a little digging in the Nintendo Wii U's territory, only to return with news that the console is weak. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 both have a CPU that is 3GHz per core; however, the Nintendo Wii U's CPU is a meager 1.243125 GHz.

The CPU isn't the only lackluster aspect of the Wii U, the GPU is slow as well but not significantly slower than the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The GPU speed sits at 549.999755 MHz; however, it should be enough for the kind of games Nintendo developers for its console. Fans of the Wii U should not expect to play games looking better than what is available now on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but they will be a step up from the Wii.

Compared to the Nintendo Wii, the Wii U is clocking faster but not significantly in the CPU space. With a slow CPU and faster GPU, developers may come across bottleneck problems. Right now, the Wii U is not looking like a good machine for future ports.

Despite these problems, don't write off the Wii U just yet. Nintendo consoles are not known for power, but that did not stop the Wii from performing better than the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The Wii U will mostly appeal to casual gamers, whose numbers are larger than that of the core gamer.

By the time Microsoft and Sony are ready to release their next-generation consoles, Nintendo will possibly be preparing for a price drop to entice buyers to choose the Wii U over other alternatives. Whether Nintendo will replicate the success of the Wii with the Wii U; however, remains to be seen.