There are two cases which could be pointed out as possible counter-arguments to Nintendo never launching first, I realize. Those being the Game Boy Advance and the DS. However, neither is actually a case of Nintendo taking the impetus. The GBA had no competition to speak of; it was an effort to stave off gamer drift with incremental upgrading, as was the industry norm. The DS was prompted by rumors of the PSP which surfaced years before it was announced, and the dual-screen handheld was brought about due to an influential new company president called Satoru Iwata. Iwata knew that Sony would invade the handheld market sooner than later, and that the same tactics which had made the PS1 and PS2 successful would work against the Game Boy line.
The DS and PSP launched almost simultaneously, with the DS launching slightly ahead of the PSP, but that was coincidental. The plan was to disrupt, and the competition and the tactics they would employ were known factors before the system was released. This was an uncommon event; usually Nintendo's competitors' plans are not concretely known until they release something, necessitating a response. As for possible same-style competitors to the DS, Nintendo is more in the dark on the matter at this point. There are no incumbents rumored to be developing a DS-alike, and Sony is tight-lipped about any future PSP successor.
Sky Render - Sanity is for the weak.
