The Wii will be doomed when the next gen systems come out. I don't see why people would rather go pick up Kinect, when they already have a Wii. A motion sensing camera seems dumb to me and not all that practical in a party setting, which is where the Wii really strived. I actually expect more from move, mainly because it does a similar thing as the Wii. But i garuntee that neither Move, nor Kinect will move consoles to a large amount, mainly because most people will already have the Wii, and the people who care about the motion sensing aspect of a game, normally don't care if it's in HD. SO if hey already have a Wii, why go buy another system that does basically the same thing, but wait for more money than you spent on the Wii... that's just a bad idea. People who will buy kinect, are Xbox users who are trying to support the Xbox in all it's ways ((same thing for move and PS3 users)) But i believe that the Wii will once again claim holiday supremacy, mainly because it does what the other consoles do ((even though they are late to the party)) but it does it for less, and has more games that do it. ((it is motion controls)) Also it has a bunch of great games that are exclusive for the system already stacked up so it's not like you can get them on another system, so yeah. Wii trumps PS360 because its ahead of the game, and it has the library of Interactive games already up and proven to sell and be fun, also has exclusives that only come on it's system ((and not split with another system)) 

Multiple people have said that it was combination of price drop and motion control exclusivity last year that propelled the Wii in the final 3 months of the year.  Not that the sole reason for the Wii success was price difference. 

Right now there is no sign that the Wii will all of a sudden start selling 220K per week like August 2009, or 160K per week like September 2009, or 370K per week like October 2009.  First title we are told will propel the Wii forward is Kirby (when was the last time Kirby sold well by the way) and it comes out mid October.

With exclusives like Kirby, Donkey Kong Country, Goldeneye, Metroid Other M, Epic Mickey, The Last Story etc. The Wii has a big Line-Up for the rest of this year. On top of that some multi-games and niche exclusive games like Black Ops, Conduit 2, Lost in Shadow, Trackmania, HAWX 2, Ghost Recon Rail Shooter, Earth Seeker, Sims 3, Driver, Need for Speed, a new Raving Rabbids game etc. etc.

In my opinion the Wii has by far the best Line-Up of all three consoles so far this year and it seems it will hold this position for the rest of the year.

So z101 when do you believe the Wii will start catching up to its performance last year?  When does it start making up ground?

This year August 150K per week. Last year 220K per week.

Last year September 160k per week.

Last year October 370k per week.

The genius to bundling Wii Sports was that it was the platform's proof of concept.  I agree it was a game that tens of millions would have bought anyway, but it's a game that really sold the hardware to casuals and non-gamers, through word of mouth and first hand experience chiefly rather than how the industry usually works.  Making sure that it came with every Wii, that it was always there to "hook" someone trying the platform for the first time, was one of smartest decisions Nintendo's made this generation... honestly, I'd say you're very much undervaluing the game's impact.  Price, by comparison, was a total non-issue.

And I don't think you can discount the $299 Core 360 out of hand, when it was basically the same setup as what PS2 offered for $299 five years previously (barebones console, wired controller, need to buy a HDD or memory card), nor the $499 PS3 (missing only WiFi and some HDD GBs). Price was never a selling point for Wii considering it routinely went for over MSRP 2nd hand for it's first couple years, and indeed the $249 launch price was deemed overpriced by most within the industry when it was first announced.  If you think pricepoints are the real driving factor behind Wii's overwhelming success and social phenomena, then I'd say you haven't really been paying attention this generation... there's a reason Nintendo's only needed to give Wii one actual price drop in four years...

I think this is a bit of a silly argument. it does not matter whether it sells more than it did last year. What matter is that it will sell a shit load. If it sells 3.9mil (not saying it will by the way) this year instead of the 4 mil it sold last Christmas do you really think Nintendo will start worrying about declining sales? hell even if it sold 3 million i dont think thats bad. I mean its in its 4th year and its still doing really well. Its no good comparing it to the 360 which just had a new mode released. What exactly are you arguing here? Its very obvious the reason the Wii is not firing up the charts (like it has done it whole life by the way!!) is because consumers have not really been given a reason to by one. Which all Boils down to...... GAMES!!!

Who cares about most within the industry?  The public perception is literally 'all' that matters.  The $250 dollar price point was significantly cheaper than either of the other two companies alternatives and consumers looking for a 'new' console surely got their new console.

You're right there is a reason Nintendo only needed to give the Wii one actual price drop in four years.....It's taken the Over-priced HD consoles that many years to reach a comparable price to the original $250 dollar Wii.  Hell the PS3,  STILL has not reached the Wii's original price point.     

We'll see Wii sell quite well from October-December, as its holiday lineup comes into play, it'll probably sell less overall than last year, but it'll probably still rack in around 18-20 Million for the year when all is said and done

It wasn't a strawman attack given that it was you that stated, "...it was ENTIRELY sold on price IMHO."  This statement suggests price and price alone the attributing factor for the console's success.  At least in your final paragraph you begin to assist the price factor with the motion control factor.  But again that's still missing the final key piece.  Software.  Wii ground fame on the triunvirate of price, input method and software.  To disregard any as an equal factor is naive. 

But you asked for hardware winners and their entry price point.  I'll give you that.  As well as the price points of those consoles that did not win their generation.

3rd generation:
Winner: NES ($199.99)
Others: Sega Master System ($199.99), Atari 7800 ($139.99)

4th generation:
Winner: SNES ($199.99)
Others: Sega Genesis ($189.99), TurboGrafx-16 (249.99), Neo Geo ($399.99)

5th generation:
Winner: Playstation ($299.99)
Others: N64 ($249.99), Sega Saturn ($399.99), Aari Jaguar ($249.99), 3DO ($699.99)

6th generation:
Winner: PS2 ($299.99)
Others: GC ($199.99), Xbox ($299.99), Dreamcast ($199.99)

As you can see, not one time in the modern era of video games has the cheapest home console won their generation. 

Again though,  not once has a generation winner been priced over $300 (Something to take note of).  It's a sweet spot price point that looking back,  I am shocked MS / Sony believed they could force onto the consumer (Sony pricing themselves $300 above that, Microsoft $100). 

Let's pretend for a minute that the price roles were reversed and the Wii was released at $600 (With it's same software) and the PS3 were released at $250 (With it's same software).  Do you believe the Wii would have won?  Again, if this is a battle of 'Software'  no price would be too small for these 'killer' apps. 

Many would not have jumped into bed with the Wii (Even if they enjoyed the software because the price point is very restrictive).  The sales would have been horrendous.  Even far worse than the PS3's initial sales. 

Fun/Quality software is very much a case of accessibility as much as anything else.  This is why after a few years a generation is generally established because by the mid point,  once more people have exposure to the leading console they inevitably associate that fun with the console they are most likely to be playing (The leading console) and don't associate as much fun with the console they are most likely not playing. 

I would argue that the early software on the Wii (Namely Wii Sports) was popular in large part because it was accessible for everyone at the $250 price point (Moms,Dads, Kids, Teenagers, Grandparents, College Kids, etc). Which is especially why Software is not an equal to Price point in this case.  Which furthers the rationale why no generation winning console in recent history has crossed that $300 barrier yet.  By being priced above $300 you are effectively out of prime casual selling range.

Where as equally quality launch games on the PS3 (Warhawk / Resistance) were shoved aside because they weren't accessible to the general consumer.  Sure you might know one friend with a PS3 but even still you can't afford  $650(A PS3, and a copy of Warhawk) to play with them.