The GameCube was more powerful than the PS2 as well; it was a gaming console without the gimmick of playing CDs or DVDs.  

The DVD player was very much a gimmick. The fact that you mention its appeal to casuals and claim it not a gimmick in the same paragraph is mind boggling. 

The GameCube was more powerful than the PS2 as well; it was a gaming console without the gimmick of playing CDs or DVDs.  

I know this post will probably anger some Nintendo fans, but if you read all of this, you may agree.  I hope not to anger anyone though. I want to expose some dirty Nintendo practices and hopefully convince some to buy better else where. There are so many wrongs that Nintendo does against their customers. I believe in fair profit and business. I think they are too greedy and take advantage of their customers; especially their most loyal fans. This is no troll post. I honestly believe this, and here are my key points and some ranting:

1. This is the worst. No power cord for 3DS XL. I can only imagine how many people (especially parents that buy for children) bring home their already highly expensive handheld, just to discover that no power cable comes with it. It is not an optional purchase. It is mandatory for the system to work! Back out to the store to buy the power cord and possibly more gas.  For those parents " Sorry little Johnny, stop crying. I didn't know! Daddy will be back in a half an hour or so with the power cord. Oh wait, the store is about to close. You can just look at it's highly reflective screen until I get home from work tomorrow."

2. No powerful hardware for their home consoles. Only gimmicks to excuse making cheap hardware for large cost. They struck it rich with Wii and have been doing it since. Even the GameCube had no DVDCD player, unlike PS2 and Xbox. Well, I'm not sure about Xbox with DVD's, but it could play CD's, I think. Plus Xbox was the most powerful of it's generation and had a hard drive.

3. No good launch lineup for Switch. Nintendo offers one big game that is available for their last generation console as well. 

4. No more support for Wii U. After Zelda, I think that is it for big titles. Can you guys name any? I think any big game company like Nintendo, that has billions in the bank, should support their consoles and customers, for at least 5 years. I can understand why Sega abandoned Dreamcast. They were in money trouble. One of Sega's top people had to put his personal funds into Sega to help his company. Nintendo could at least port Super Mario Odyssey to Wii U, since no proper 3D sequel to Super Mario Galaxy was made for Wii U. 

5. I just read on here, in another forum post, no headphone jack for Switch. Is that really true?! If so, I'm almost shocked. "Turn that annoying game sound down! I can't hear the TV, youngun. But daddy, I can't hear what's going on if I turn it down. It's portable son, right? Go outside and play it. B but what about the 2 feet of snow, 20 degrees, strangers and wild pit bulls?"

6. No Virtual Console at launch. Details later as usual. 

7. No Metroid announced for Switch. How much do fans have to beg? 

8. No more preorders for Switch at many locations. Are they creating more demand like was rumored with the original Wii? 

9. No to making enough Nes Minis to meet demand. The same question as in #8. 

10. No price cuts for 3DS or Wii U in a long time. Maybe if Nintendo had not been so greedy with Wii U, it might have sold a lot more and made their money back with game sales along with the Wii U purchases like MS and Sony has done. 

11. No Nintendo Direct for Switch. Even though I own no Nintendo systems, even I enjoy Nintendo Directs. I think many ppl do. Ever since Iwata passed, there have been very few. I miss Iwata BTW. I did not agree with many of his business decisions, but the guy was likable. 

12. No decent prices. The pro controller and Joycons are priced out of the range of many people. The price of the Switch, a pro controller, an extra Joycon set for just on extra player, and a game... (Passes out.)

13. No pack in game! Next to having no power cord for 3DS XL, this is the worst. 1, 2 Switch would have been an ideal pack in from what I've read. A game to showcase what the Switch can do. No pack in game makes little sense even for Nintendo. That will bar some from even buying a Switch. Those that are poor will have little incentive to buy the switch when the $300 price tag is already high. Sony and MS offer more powerful consoles with a game at the same price. 

14. No hard drive for Switch. Want to download Dragon Quest Heroes 1 and 2. Well too bad! It is a 32 gigabyte download. The same as the switch internal memory. Of course that internal memory won't be all free. Some will be used for the system. Even if it was all free, there would not be any space to save a game. I understand it's part portable, but couldn't they have gotten it up to 128 gigs? A lot can be stored on a tiny card now. Greedy again, Nintendo. I guess you can add the possible cost for an SD card to #12... (passes out again.) 

Well, I think that should be enough points to convince anyone but the most diehard Nintendo fans about the greed and disappointment of Nintendo. I could go all the way back to the NES days and point out greedy practices against 3rd parties as well as other things, but it would take too long for me. The Nintendo seal of quality has indeed been broken, in my opinion. Sony and Microsoft have better in store for your gaming dollars guys. Think about it.