The 2 - generation - change rule

[z64dan]

omgwtfbbq said:

it just seems to be an ongoing trend in gaming that every company fucks up their third system:

Nintendo, N64: screwed over third party developers and stuck to cartriges
Sega: Saturn included a whole bunch of add-ons which alienated the fan base
Atari: 7800 failed dismally against NES (but the 5200 wasn't too crash hot)
Sony: PS3 too expensive, not going well so far
MS: well they haven't maid it yet, but due to a terrible outing by Xbox and so far 360 aint looking too crash hot, if they even make a third gen it won't look too bad compared to the previous two

Nintendo seems to have bucked this trend with their handhelds, however. 

The reason they bucked the trend is because they realized the failure of pushing forward in the same direction every time, and they decided to take a risk (which they didn't take with N64 or GC). When the DS was first announced, it wasn't automatically the most awesome thing. People are always scared of change, especially when their money is on the line.