Why doesn't Nintendo redesign their home consoles?

[pokoko]

cusman said:

I have no idea why Sony keeps wasting internal R&D on PS3 redesigns when none of that has resulted in reducing price or improving quality (which was already good on everything after the original 20/60GB models which did overheat more than everything 2nd gen onwards). The newest redesigned shell for PS3 shows Sony priorities are all wrong.

Sources, please.  I'm almost certain the new version of the PS3 offers a significant reduction in cost for Sony.  I don't see how it couldn't.  That's the main reason for redesigns at this stage, to lower the cost per unit.  As technology improves, they're able to build something smaller, lighter, and cheaper which still meets the same performance levels.  With a product you intend to support for a long time, redesigns make a lot of sense.

If you're talking about reducing cost to the consumer, I'm pretty sure the first Slim saw a price reduction, and the newest version, though bundled at the moment, represents a better value.  Pretty much everyone expects the stand-alone model to be cheaper.

I really don't understand what you're talking about with the priorities statement.

Nintendo, on the other hand, doesn't typically support thier home consoles long enough that redesigns would be necessary.  The Wii saw an effective life of, what, five years?  It's a different strategy.  Also, it was low-cost to start with, and lower-end materials do not fall in price the same way higher-end materials fall.