Wii now 10m ahead of PS3 - putting this into context / future predictions

[Final-Fan]

DOATS1 said:

i dont think that wii is a "casual" machine. i just think the games are. if they wanted to, they could release a blood filled fps on the wii. but that wouldnt make it as casual. anyway my point is. the casual games wont be its downfall, as all they will do is release more casual games. to keep the casual market interested.

"Nintendo isn't just IN this industry. Nintendo IS this (handheld) industry."

fixed.

just remember. sony have released two consoles and have racked up 200million + total unit sales. nobody has sparked the industry like sony have. its because of sony, that ms decided to join. its because of sony, that nintendo got off their lazy asses and captured the industry back again. and it will be because of nintendo, that sony increase the competition next time round. and yes nintendo are the heavyweights, but nintendo dont make the industry. competition makes the industry.

I think what johnlucas meant by "Nintendo IS this industry" is that Nintendo is the one who has been innovating and bringing new things to consoles even when it wasn't winning. 

Nintendo has introduced almost every standard found in modern controllers.  D-pad:  Nintendo.  Diamond-pattern face buttons:  Nintendo.  Shoulder buttons:  Nintendo.  Thumbstick:  Nintendo.  Trigger-like button:  Nintendo.  Rumble:  Nintendo.  Now, with the DS and Wii, the pace has only increased.

Note that I do not claim that Nintendo necessarily invented every one of these control innovations, but they were always the first to incorporate them into a console's standard controller.  The others copied Nintendo!  Also, Nintendo should really get credit above for wireless control, but the Wavebird doesn't count as "a console's standard controller". 

(With a track record like this, no wonder not all of their design choices pan out 100%.  The tri-pronged N64 controller wasted space, since only two of them could be practically used at once.  The uniquely-shaped, radially-positioned face buttons of the Gamecube weren't adopted by any of the next generation of consoles, although I would bet that if Nintendo hadn't gone with a revolutionary new design it would have built on that pattern.  Interestingly, I can't think of any abject failures in Nintendo's control schemes -- quite a feat for a perennial trailblazer.)

So in this way Nintendo truly has been at the forefront of this industry even in their darkest years, always paving the way for the next generation in a way that I don't think Sony ever really did.  (Sega actually did a great deal of innovating, and MS has its one great achievement in XBL.)