I agree with the OP. Next gen is about belonging to a generation not based on power alone or fancy control methods.
Back in the early 80's there was the Commodore 64 vs the ZX Spectrum. The C64 was a generation ahead in terms of power and yet the competed with one another. The ZX was half the price which was a big plus in it's favour. Imagine a young kid saving up to buy a video games machine or a parent on average income thinking of buying one as a present.
However for the last 4 gens previous to this one, all the consoles were roughly comparable (ish) in power and each generation was a huge leap in power compared to the last from all the major players. We have simply become accustomed to this. I welcome it but not everyone else cares about technology as much as they do about innovation. Nintendo is just taking a different route. It's played the power route with the SNES, N64 and GC and each time it lost more and more market share. The Wii changed all that. Whether the Wii U will carry on the success of it's older brother remains to be seen.
