I'm not complaing.  I'm just wondering, that's all.  Jezzzz, is everyone so defensive round here??!

Then along comes Nintendo, who shouldn't have a say in this gen. They should really follow what the big 2 are doing and try and do it a bit better. But no, they don't. They decide to go with the gaming is fun and should be cheap option. The majority of the public agree and flock to this cheap and cheerful games system.----

you cant throw that up in a thread and expect people to not call you on it

I used to say that one-for-all devices are the future, and it still makes sense in many ways. After all, every device you can buy nowadays is just a computer. There's no reason, for example, why internet, telephone, short messages, instant messages, ... should not be unified in the future.
However, in videogames, the user interface (= hardware) is essential. If you ever tried to play games on a mobile phone, you'll probably agree that a dedicated gaming handheld is the real thing.
So I wouldn't call the direction Nintendo has taken anachronistic.

Edit: Ok Melissa, you were faster.

Despite the GC being close to the XBox last gen, everyone knew the GC was a flop for Nintendo.  They had been producing consoles for years and years and had been the dominant force.  Then they got beat by Sony (in their first gen) then by Microsoft (in their first gen)

Going into this gen the big 2 were Microsoft and Sony.  Surely that is pretty obvious?

The Wii is fun?  Yes?

The Wii is cheap?  Yes

The Wii is cheerful?  Yes

Which part are you disagreeing with me on?

I disagree. I think the future of videogames is videogame systems that just play videogames.

If I waned a system that coupld play games, act as a high def player and have all sorts of other crazy features i'd just hook a computer up in my living room. Mutli-function products usually stay niche and don't expand the market, so they stay on as gimmics while focused products tend to hit a larger audience.

Yes which is one of the big reasons why it's doing so much better than Sony + Microsoft at the moment. But yeah how dare Nintendo dare do something different and be hugely successful because of it. Who needs variety in todays day and age?

Oh I agree.  Variety is the spice of life and all that.  But there was nothing really stopping anyone building this all encompasing all-in-one box and having a wii style interface for it, along with a 360/ps3 style interface as well.

Somewhat Off Topic Attempt To Cool Off (S.O.T.A.T.C.O.):

MrMe: I think people are disagreeing with the attitude you seem to be using more than specifically what you've said.

Everybody else: imagine MrMe is speaking incredulously in the first post, as opposed to aggressively. The Wii *was* a surprise to everyone, even to Nintendo. That's basically what he's saying.

 I agree that Ninty is tapping into a different market, but it's very hard to assess that market and determine how big it is regardless of what Ninty fanboys in here say. This new market is big, no question there, but I also think it's very volatile and unstable compared to the "safe" markets. Kinda like the stock market, huge dips or jumps at any time, very unpredictable.

Well, maybe the real reason the vision died was because people really, actually don't want all-in-one functionality, and without Nintendo none of the consoles woulde have sold well and the market would have shrunk.

Demand wasn't diverted away from PS3 / Xbox 360 as media centres; it simply didn't exist.