I don't think any of the big three delivered on their vision for this generation.  Let's take a look:

360

Did a lot of things good.  Graphically great, processing great, but some of the physical features really stink.  Like, what about the noisy optical drives and fans?  I was hoping to scrap all my DVD players in favour of 360...  Now, well, let's just say it didn't happen.  And the RRoD caused 30% failure rates, which has really cost Microsoft a lot of ground.  I went and had to take two of my 360's back.  Went to the courier to drop them off.  in the line of 10 people three had 360's and 2 picked up 360's while I was there as well.  That courier is making a mint delivering 360 rebfurbs (Invest in courier stocks I'm thinking).

PS3

Again, did a lot of things good.  Graphically great, processing great, but what about the development environment?  With a very large portion of multi-platform titles not physically performing as well on PS3 as 360 it can't be only developers faults.  And whats worse is that it looks like Sony's growing solution is to install the software on the internal hard drive.  Do they have some sort of fundamental issue within the console?  It would seem so.  Why are so many companies coming out and saying PS3 development held their product back?  Why would Devil May Cry require a hard drive install if there wasn't some sort of fundamental issue there.  Also, Six Axxis can only be considered a flop.  Especially since they didn't put rumble in at the start.  And price...  they are moving down, but they are continually about $100 more then the mainstream selling 360 premium.

Wii

Yet again, did a lot of things right.  They really found a winning formula where many have failed before with motion controls, but forgot to put the power behind the device to get the kind of graphics and AI we are seeing on 360 and PS3 in games like Unchartered, Resistance, Gears, Call of Duty, and Halo.  And why not a DVD playback from the start?  No doubt Wii got the most right.  Everything works great and the limitations of the console are well known to developers.  But, doing things like the Unreal Engine III, consistent implementation of multi-player, and the choice to put more "proven" processing technology within the console is going to hold it back over the long term. 

My summary:  This generation has turned out to be more of a dissappointment then the Next Generation of consoles where we were all supposed to be heading into gaming Nirvana.  Imagine a box with the raw power of PS3, the Blu-ray playback of PS3, the throughput architecture and development environment of 360 and online marketplace / multiplayer of XBox Live, and the motion controls of the Wii.  Then, somebody would have got it right.

To me I am looking to the Next Generation already because no one really got it right this time.  What do you think? 

Nintendo delivered on their vision, just not YOUR vision

their vision didn't include a DVD player

their vision was to create a console that was accessible to people for whom the standard gamepads were a barrier to entry...they accomplished that

they wanted people 4 to 104 to play and enjoy the wii...they accomplished that

they wanted to expand the market...they accomplished that and continue to expand it weekly

they wanted a console with games that people could play and enjoy together, in the same room....they accomplished that

 they wanted a console with games that were about FUN not being more 'hardcore' than the next person...they accomplished that

Ninty struck it right in the nail!!!! - just look at the sales!

your vision of a powerful, reliable, quiet machine with motion controls should come true next gen, as all 3 consoles will use motion/ir controllers from the start this time

the way this gen is going is much better...developers can work out how to best leverage motion controls on a system that is easy and cheap to develop for and where they don't get distracted by graphics...and on the flipside, big name developers can work on the graphics/ai/physics on the ps360 and learn how to lessen costs and speed up development on the hd machines this gen

so next gen should be a perfect storm with developers knowing how to quickly, cheaply and optimally leverage the motion controls AND the graphics/ai/physics/processing power to make a ton of amazing games


if u prefer graphics to controls, then play ps360 this gen while u wait...if u prefer controls to graphics, then play wii this gen while u wait...or get 2/3 of the consoles and have it all, albeit in separate gaming experiences

I think for the Wii this generation is a success. As a PC gamer it's nice to finally have a console that can give me an experience the PC can't. Any other platform, for that matter.

The top 5 highest rated games on the 360 have a superior PC version and that's not even the biggest tragedy of the 360. I love a lot of their games (Crackdown, Forza 2, Dead Rising) but the RROD bit me too many times (3). I got rid of mine and called me and MS even.

The PS3 would be great if it weren't for the horrible load times, the price, and the fact that it always gets the worst of the 2 multiplatform games. Also, wtf is up with installs? If you bring up the PC to compare this to, my PC has 500 GB of HD space, not 80.

As someone who isn't into consoles for the most part, the Wii is the only one that turns my head, though I'd love to have a PS3 or a 360 if they could fix their crippling problems.

I just need someone to convince me to get a PS3 :(

Nintendo tries to make their systems as cheap as possible.
They assume that a house hold has a dvd player so they dropped it b.c it would make it more expensive

this ties into the graphics as well
if they had the best graphics out of the three then they would have to make it a lot more expensive make it less attractive to customers.

Yes, Nintendo got it right and you, the OP, got it all wrong.
Nintendo's vision was a success, which is making them money, which is just what success is for a console maker : best market share, best sales, best money, more fun.

Nintendo got it right the whole time they knew it would be selling like hot cakes but the lack of not playing dvd`s really was their only mistake imo

^the lack of a DVD player doesn't matter because most households have a DVD player nowadays

Nintendo's vision was to get as many normal people as possible to buy the Wii.

To get the "hardcore" gamer to buy the Wii and one of the other consoles.

To forget about the grahics whore, because they weren't going to double their hardware/development cost to cater to their taste.