Blu-Ray (not Blue Ray) may still be a success and I still see this as a smart move since Xbox360 had a year head start from PS3. (it needed something to set it apart) The problem is Blu-ray doesn't sell as fast as DVD did for the ps2 for an obvious reason, not everyone has a HDTV yet. But if you do have an HDTV then PS3 is a no brainer as Blu-ray is an advantage to both games and movies.

  Here in USA HDTVs are becoming more wide spread. While Sony may had taken a big risk with adding the Blu-ray I feel Wii did the opposide mistake of playing it too safe (not thinking ahead) and not having Wii in HD. As more and more people get HDTV the more the Wii will show it's age and the better it wll be for both Xbox 360 and PS3 especially PS3 with it's Blu-Ray. 

I think Sony just overestimated the Playstation brand and thought they could use it to push Bluray on 100m people, launch the console later than MS and ensure it was the most powerful and still maintain their previous position.

With regards to HD - it may be becoming more popular but there's 2 arguments to this

 1.  Only very serious gamers will not buy a Wii cos it's lack of HD graphics - in order for the majority to see this as a stumbling point is gonna still take years which leads to point 2.

2.  When HD TV's are in the majority of homes and it's accepted as an industry standard do you seriously think Nintendo will not compensate by releasing a new Wii model that outputs to HD TV, i've said in previous posts that I think the Wii will be like the Ipod with several different models all playing same software but with options like colour, storage, HD capability, tighter motion controlls ( eventually) and this is just the base model we are seeing now, probably will be named the Wii Classic or something down the line. 

This model IMO is just to get a user base out there and a library of games then introduce new features and models slowly as and when the markets ready.

Nice way of looking at it Grey Acumen, that’s along the line of what I was initially thinking concerning a consumers view of next gen. All the consoles offer a next gen experience by their own definition, 360 and ps3 of a similar experience, but you could say the wii offers a kind of extra generation (new gen @ celine) experience

Does any one think this puts them ahead as far as next gen goes? Is the wii like Next Gen 1.5? Or do graphics play an integral part in holding the wii back from this position?

yeah, exactly like that glove! lol nintendos done a good job this time around of removing the gimmik idea from the product

Nintendo has always been known for it's gimmicks (anyone here  remember the first one, lame robot gimmick that came with the first Nintendo system?). After all these years one of their gimmicks actually sells... no wonder Nintendo was surprised by Wii sales.

I think when you remember Miyamotos quote that in 5 years time we wont believe what games we will see on the Wii and when you see that VR clip going round then it's a possibility that the Wii may just be more next get than we could imagine and I feel if the guy that done the VR clip (is his name Lee or something?) knows this then Nintendo certainly will.

2 gimmicks if you include the DS smidlee - I think I read somewhere that was selling pretty well (sarcasm).

In case anyone miss out of the first Nintendo's console gimmick, here it is on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcxrecy__XQ

That clip brings back memories.

@UltimateLife
It's not only a question of user experience but also a question of business model around that user experience.
Nintendo is creating and offering a new business model to this industry, when previously the only way was the incremental approach on "what you put on the screen".

man that robot! y did they put him in mario kart DS, he is so out of place! sonic and mario i understand them going together and all the characters in SSB but that robot!!! Nintendo must want his memory to live on a little stronger then in just nostalgia ROB was prolly like todays robosapien and roboraptor