Well, that's sad for the other 4-5 people you know, but there are so many people out there right now that still want the machine and don't have it that the thing would have just sold to someone else. eBay is a good metric for these issues, and it is brutally frequent that Wiis are sold there for $400 with Wii Play also included. Factor in shipping, which the seller will always charge too much for on eBay, and you see a situation where people are already paying $450 for a Wii and Wii Play. The demand for the Wii is just that high.
As for the majority of consoles launching at $200 from the NES on, I have to say you're just looking at Nintendo consoles. Their competitors have regularly launched at a higher price, with the Dreamcast being the only non-Nintendo system I can think of to possibly launch at $200. Nintendo maintains that price-point, their competitors usually get there after a price cut or two. If you factor in inflation, then either the GC or the Wii is the cheapest launch price a console has ever had by a large amount.
With inflation the N64's $200 pricetag would be $300 now. And whether you realize it or not, for the general consumer $400 is not too expensive... if the console gives them the experience they want/. As I've pointed out, there are people paying $400 for a Wii as we speak and there are probably 25 million that would buy the PS3 at $400, the 360 doesn't have as much going for it as either of those two in the consensus view of people who want to play games.
And yes, the consumers did decide a long time ago a console was worth $200. This is not a long time ago, this is today. When I got my NES it cost $200 and candy bars cost 35 cents. Candy bars cost 75 cents now and consoles, should they provide a good enough experience, are worth $400 now.
The fact that Nintendo hasn't raised their prices as quickly indicates not that gamers won't pay more, but that Nintendo does business in their own way. The retailers forced Nintendo to increase the cost simply because, unlike Nintendo, they are aware that a dollar simply doesn't go as far as it once did and people are willing to pay more for things now than just 5 years ago, let alone 20 years ago.
So, again, the $400 console price range that you think is drying up is actually the $400 360 price range drying up. The Wii would still be kicking ass at that price, since there are already people paying over $100 mark-up plus shipping to get the console at that price when they could have it for less by waiting. The PS3 would be kicking ass at that price too because many loyal PS1 and PS2 owners will ignore the 360 and wait until the console that brought them here gets into their price range.
MS has run out because they don't have over a decade of brand loyalty to work with and they have a very bad reputation to overcome from their dealings in other sectors. It's an uphill battle for them, and they'd lose to both competitors at the same price-point. Really, they can't beat Nintendo or Sony without an outright pricewar, and that's how they are beating Sony for now.
You do not have the right to never be offended.
