"Mass market is about lemmings and sheeps..."
Projection. The core flocks around things that the gaming industry touts "HD! Blu-ray! Online!" The mass market has not flocked to any of those, and Nintendo made the Wii to conform to them. They did not conform to the Wii.
A flashy-first game is awesome when it comes out. A great-first game is awesome forever.
Plus, just for the hell of it: Kelly Brook at the 2008 BAFTAs