I don't know... Nintendo did powerful hardware for reasonable costs with almost everything else--especially the SNES, GameCube, and Game Boy Advance--to an extent, the N64 and even the Virtual Boy (first 32-bit "poprtable" I believe).  I think for the Wii, we're mostly being charged for the Wiimote technology, and not the hardware tech--which I'm sure could've been sold for profit at around a $100--as the GameCube was a year before it's demise.  Aside from the original Game Boy and the current-gen, Nintendo typically focused on making generally powerful hardware.  For that matter, the original NES was powerful when it came out--the Master System and TG-16 came out after.

I think Nintendo could've found a way to make the Wii and DS powerful enough to fit easily with the current-gen--and still be affordable--but I think it was a conscious decision not to, so as to further differentiate the systems from the competition.

Seems like 3DS is a tad more powerful than gamecube, so games like metroid prime is very possible,  tech specs is very impressive I must say, this will be the handheld of 2011 till 2017.

wow awesome....imagine the possibilities!!

Well the estimated cost of the Wii was $160, but that was not taking the controllers packed-in into account.

Plus it wasn't just the specs of the other parts that upped the cost. It was also fitting them into a smaller and more power friendly size. It's the same reason parts for laptops cost more than desktop parts with the same specs.

Also, this was a Nintendo that wasn't sure of itself after what happened the last two generations. It seems the Wii specs were about playing it safe with the cost rather than differentiation. So that any potential losses would be as minimal as possible if the system didn't take off.

thats like saying prime should be possible on a 360 pretty much. I mean,prime for all its prettyness is leagues behind RE5 even on low detail,its in an inferior generation if you will. 3ds is not 360 but is scarily close.I mean, at this point, i really dont think Wii is in any similar league, as the good looking wii games have taken years to develop, while the few 3ds demos just months.

That's demo versus full game, not system specs. Demos for high tech Wii games still looked good when made in a short time.

Full MT Framework list so far...

• Version 1.0: Dead Rising (360)
• Version 1.1: Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (360/PS3) / Colonies (360)
• Version 1.2: Lost Planet: Extreme Condition / Colonies (PC)
• Version 1.3: Devil May Cry 4 (360/PS3/PC)
• Version 1.4: Resident Evil 5 / Gold (360/PS3/PC)
• Version 2.0: Lost Planet 2 (360/PS3/PC)
• Version 2.1: Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: The Fate of Two Worlds (360/PS3)

• Version Lite: Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes (Wii/PS3)

• Version Mobile: Resident Evil Revelations (3DS), Super Street Fighter IV 3D edition (3DS)

all alpha games, like the conduit, looked much worse prior to final release. COD Reflex was a huge example. They all looked worse.Those 3DS shots were alphas.Final builds are bound to look better.When the alphas push graphics in much higher level than the final versions of other games, you can tell theres a gap in power.In other words, to even doubt that prime would be a problem to port to 3ds made me giggle. I expect something more challenging .I want to see the assasins creed in 3ds(the upcoming AC 3ds). Now thats an impressive game for this generation(in graphics demands). So far, the Resident holds alright against its HD counterparts. Mg3 is a work in progress to me so far. SF4 is getting close to the HD looks, DOA is holding strong against 360. PS3, 360 ,wii games even.But cubes?please.

Again, the 3DS is using the same shader system, so developers instantly knew what to do. That was probably why Nintendo included the system.

Oh, no doubt they were playing it safe.  With the Wii being little more (technologically) than a supercharged GameCube, I think they could've squeezed it into a smaller package without much expenditure.  You're right about laptops generally being spendier as they are "compact" versions of PC's, but Sony squeezed the entirety of PS2 power into a handheld a year before the Wii came out.  I just can't imagine what the hell costs so much in the Wii for mass production.  The system's size is fairly comparable to the GameCube (and we can remove a full inch from the bottom of the Cube to see it's full size since it's made up of expansion ports underneath).

But yeah, they didn't want to spend a lot or take too big a risk.  Banking entirely on the Wii Remote was their risk.