keep in mind that nintendo sells top quality software exclusively on their hardware. So did sega. and now sega is a 3rd party junkie with no exclusive hardware - in other words, sony / 360 fanboys actually DO have something to gain if nintendo were to go under and become a software company - albeit thats no longer a possibility as of this generation (but last generation...yeah...). This on top of what others have said (bragging rights, longer life span for their console, etc) is fairly good reason to want company A to win and company B to go other, at the expense of jobs, as it seems.
also. some people just dont like the ways some companies handle things. i dont like sony's PR department, and some people dont like how MS "bought" themselves into the business, and others dont seem to like the "kiddy" aspect of nintendo being around. so removing them from the picture makes you feel good about videogame companies.
finally, i'll leave you with this - a lesson on schadenfreude. (no, i dont know how to embed).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtYzsRMaQpo
um..stuff
