I'm of the opinion that Nintendo's need to manage the risk associated with the Wii made it the system it was ...

With that said, neither the HD consoles nor the Wii really represent what I would call a typical console when it comes to processing power. The HD consoles are more powerful than most consoles have been (upon release) and this made them larger, more expensive, and much more energy hungry systems; and the Wii was a less powerful system because Nintendo wanted a smaller, less expensive and more energy efficient system than most consoles have been. Had Nintendo released a more powerful system (4 to 8 times the processing power of the Gamecube) and still focused on 480p I think they would have increased third party support while decreasing the number of potential consumers who complained about graphics.

I know there are those people who think that it not being HD is a major negative, but even 5 years into the generation lacking HD hasn't really hurt the Wii that much; and with that kind of processing power, the Wii could have delivered very nice graphics while maintaining 8x or 16x AA and 8x or 16x AF (which would limit most of the obvious graphical flaws associated with standard definition gaming).

This. However, I have to disagree with you when you say (or imply) that the Wii can't do good looking games. Look at the Galaxies, Epic Yarn, Brawl, Monster Hunter Tri, No More Heroes 2 and many others if you need inspiration!

Lacking HD has made the Wi cheap to develop for. This means a wider variety of games, which means a wider variety of people will play it. Heck, it's tracking nearly 2 years ahead of the PS2 at this point!

I agree with all those games looking good except Monster Hunter tri. That game was so ugly, at least what I saw from it.

I disagree. Sony has shown how talented their 1st party developers are this gen. In fact I may be so bold to say that in terms of quality, they have at least matched Nintendo and maybe even exceeded them.

You gotta be kidding me.

Uncharted, GT5, LBP. Modracerds whatever...good games? sure why not but all of them doesn't have a candle against nintendo.

Neither uncharted, nor ratchet and clank nor LBP nor Killzone nor GT5 nor Modracers have atracted new gamers nor pushed hardware. Those games just sell to Sony fans while NSMBWii, Mario Kart, Zelda and the Wii-XX line sell to everybody. Not for nothing those games keep selling while the others don't. Have you seen ordes of non-gamers, elapsed gamers and old gamers along with the core gamers rushing to the stores to buy LBP or modracers? HAH!

And no my dear is has nothing to do with brand power. Many games by Nintendo with their mascots have failed on sales and popularity. Is simply one thing:experience.

Nintendo has years of experience making games, using technology as a mean and not the end (wii sports, wii fit= while sony just pushes games to take advantage of technology. (GT5, Move)

Keep loving your Sony FP games but don't mix apples with watermelons. Keep it real.