"year or more after..."

Saturn launched on November 1994. Playstation launched that December. (one month in Japan and other regions were really close too)

Dreamcast launched on November 1998. PS2 launched March 2000. (1.5yrs)

So yes, I guess PS2 technically fits that same criteria, however, Dreamcast was DOA. I just didn't really think about it as Sega was already well on their way out of the console business by then as everything after the Genesis was a failure. (solely in terms of sales and market share) Same reason most people only include Sony/MS/Nintendo when talking about that generation.

Then in terms of N64 and Xbox/GC, all three launched well over a year after those mentioned above and frankly didn't stand a chance. You also have the same thing with PS3 and 360. I know for certain that if PS3 launched within $50 of 360 at the same time, 360 would clearly be last place. Hell at the same prices they launched at, PS3 has always had a lead when you align launches.

You can't argue how much a solid head start gives to a competitor. MS and Sony won't allow Nintendo any more than a maximum of a one year head start.

Hey scrooge! nice to see you around here again =)

But how come you think that the 3DS was too late? I'd say it was a year early :P The DS sold pretty well up until the 3DS' announcment...

I'm reading the forums daily, just not posting that often  

Looking at the sales it really wasn't that late. DS sales didn't collaps until the 3DS was released. So yeah you're right Although I'd argue launching the 3DS earlier would have given them the chance to push out the Wii u one year earlier as well. (Nintendo can't support two new platforms at once. It hardly worked for the GBA and GC and at that time Nintendo tried to cut down development times of their games... also the GBA got a lot of SNES ports). *double checks 2011 sales* And the Wii u is definitely quite late

I can't really tell if it's too late or too early to launch WiiU xD I think Nintendo should have gone HD last year, or the year before that and released WiiU next year... Or perhaps 2010 even... I can't decide! too tired :P

The right time to launch a consoles is when your old one declines in sales but before its sales collapse. The (temporary) decline of their home console business had a huge effect on Nintendo's profits. A healthy home console would've offset most of the losses they took with the 3DS.

But you can't launch it too early either! just look at dreamcast... Would the Wii U have been a good idea in 2010?

Nintendo wouldn't have been able to sell them at $299 for a profit in 2010. That's really what it boils down to. They are repeating similar hardware strategy used for the DS, the Wii and the 3DS by using mature (older, cheaper) tech while utilizing current advances in processing capability. For Nintendo it hasn't been about making the most advanced hardware with up to the minute specs for going on ten years now. Low production costs for profitability at consumer accessible retail prices paired with clever design to make the most out of the resultant hardware.

Of course if by some form of black magic they had been able to sell the Wii U profitably at $299 in 2010, then yes; the Wii U absolutely would have been a brilliant idea.