4 plus years in a generation the top dog is going to lose the fury it once had as the underdog. Nintendo remembered the failure of the N64 and GC in comparison to the PS1 and PS2, thus forth from 2006 to 2008 they came out quarter after quarter with a huge freaking chip on their shoulder and delivered.
I agree with RolStoppable, Nintendo lost focus somewhere in 2008 and the numbers here and elsewhere have shown with the Wii market share decreasing year after year from 2008 on.
As for Kinect being a "referendum" on Nintendo, I disagree. Microsoft has not franchise on par with Mario, Donkey Kong, or Zelda where they can scantly advertise for it, develop it into an awesome game reminiscent of classic from the SNES days, and sell 10 million guaranteed due to the quality and the nostalgia of years past.
If anything, what the success of Kinect has illuminated is how ready Nintendo is for the next generation. I presume the bulk of Nintendo's energy is going into the 3DS and once the launch is all done, they have plans to cut the blood flow and end this generation as soon as possible.
