Nintendo were quoted as saying the Wii has a 4year lifetime.

Look, the Wii is the "first" of a new generation. In 4 years, it will be possible to manufacture significantly upgraded Wii's (specs-wise) for around the same price that Wii's are being made at the moment.

I think Nintendo would then *love* to get a head-start on the competition with the "Super Wii" (ala NES-SNES), which fixes any issues, maybe has a harddisk, better Wiimote, more mem, faster CPU, etc.

It could launch for around the price of the PS3/360 (or maybe less?), and would give Nintendo an excellent lead into the next-generation. This is all assuming they want to take this route, and not do something completely different..??

NOTE - If the 360 or PS3 struggle, *they* will be the first ones to a new market with a new device. Not Nintendo. Can you imagine the position Nintendo would be now, if they were the ones with the 1-year head-start - and 360/PS3 launched a year later, together? 

 Actually a 'Super Wii' that would be 4x faster in 4 years could sell for around 150-200$. The Wii should cost well under 150$ in 4 years. (speaking on keeping the same profit percents)

Likely the PS3 and 360 will both cost around 350$ in 4 years. (rember, the 360 now costs 470$)

However it is very likely t osee alot of 360/PS3 mutli-plat high budget games showing up in the next 2 years. That is gonna hurt the Wii. 

I thought that (when asked) Nintendo pointed out that the SNES, N64 and Gamecube all had 5 years between their release and the release of their successor (in North America) and said they anticipated the same with the Wii ...

 I dont know really tho, Nintendo is getting bad about 're-releasing' everything they ahve 4 times befoer they release the 2nd one. I'm waiting for it for the Wii. (like the DS got with DS lite... I still hate the DS lite. I love my DS body... not DS Lite)

Actually, now PS3/360 games is superior Wii in terms of graphics and sound. Look at EA Sport title and compare it with Wii Sports. You never understand Nintendo's strategy, they are focus to create fun to all people. They are not compete with PS3/360 in leading edge technology. This is so call blue ocean strategy, read more books boy and you will grow up soon!

Thus far this has only happened with their handhelds.  Nintendo has never released a revision of a regular console with meaningful functional differences from the original.  The only meaningful upgrade I can think of is the memory pack for the N64, which was packaged in with any games that required it.

At any rate, I think that the Wii has shown that timing is not everything; you can be a year late and still take the cake.  The PS2 didn't win because it was first, it won because it had the most games that people wanted to play, because of the momentum and developer support that Sony had built with the PS1.  The headstart sure didn't hurt, especially since the launch wasn't all that great, but it had a lot else going for it.  This round, Nintendo has shown that you can launch whenever you want if you're not targeting the same market.

That means they can launch in 5 years if they want to.  They can launch in 7 years if they want to.  They can launch next year if they want to.  I think it's likely that they'll stick to a 5-year cycle, but certainly no one predicted what the "Revolution" would become, so it's really anyone's guess.  The only thing I can predict with certainty is that they'll do something profitable -- that's one thing they've always done.

i thought it was called blue ocean. IF nintendo does the 5yr thing, it is entirely plausible that the wii will be the overall winner at the end of said 5 years. in 5 years nintendo WILL be able to put into the wii a HD graphic's chip comparable or BETTER than the 360/ps3...for the current price point. the current wii can do 480i, i HEARD it can do 720p but barely. imagine this.... wii 2 same controller style (wiimote's xfer over), full backward compatability with the wii HD graphics (480i/720p/1080p) capability dvd format OR since the price will be almost the same as a dvd now a BR or HD-Dvd format drive built in 20gig flash hard drive (if the price has come down low enough in 5 yrs) etc.. for 250....

Nintendo has gotten out of the whole 5-year console war thing. They will release a system whenever they want to, however they want to. They have proven that they can consistently lower their price point, and then release an improved system at the same price point (DS/DS Lite). Nintendo has proven they can be 100% backwards compatable with any game ever released on their systems. They could theoretically release a Wii2 with a hard drive capabilities and PS3-like graphics in 3 years, while still being 100% backwards compatable with Wii and GC games. Think Nintendo DS. It could still play GBA games, but you could also play DS games! Nintendo knows the consumers want added value to their older purchases. Now I don't have to throw away my GC games, I can still play them! Nintendo would be able to release a Wii2 in 3 years and still let us use the normal Wii controllers, and it could also add other innovative features, while still being 100% backwards compatible. Nintendo is no longer running on Microsofts and Sonys schedule. They make their own rules now.