Great topic, pretty thought provoking because it does seem to be a changing trend in the industry. In my view I think there are probably a couple of factors floating around.
1. Talking specifically about the handheld space, I think a lot of people in that industry are edgy about the impact that other portable devices such as iPhones, iPads, and Android phones and tablets on designated handheld gaming devices, like the 3DS. They may see poor initial sales of a 3DS as an indicator that the consumer market is turning its back on dedicated gaming handhelds. Now, whether you believe this to be the case or not doesn't really matter, any evidence that suggests this might be the case would cause Nintendo's share price to drop and a lack of investment in the company. This further compounds the idea that dedicated gaming handhelds are on the way out.
2. Overall the gaming industry suffers from a lot more scrutiny than it did before. If initial sales are not deemed to be very good by the gaming media and engaged online video game enthusiasts, forum posters and bloggers, the effects on the console can be devastating from a marketing perspective. The internet gets filled with "do0med" posts and articles as forum-goers and even bigger gaming websites like IGN publicly ponder over whether the console is "dead on arrival". A marketing nightmare for any console producer. The effect becomes cyclonic, the more people talk about it, the more people believe such a product is "do0med".
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