This sucks.

Not that I disagree, but if they do so, this just gives Nintendo license to keep the Wii around for 10 years. Nintendo isn't upgrading when they're 1) market leader 2) making tons of money unless their hand is forced by a competitor.

It's a bit like the DS situation: the DS won't see a successor until the PSP does.

And if Sony and Microsoft keep the PS3/360 around for 10 years just so that they don't lose tons of money, Nintendo can go from "making tons of money" to "being the second largest company in Japan." And that doesn't really change the frame of reference, does it? If, on a scale of 1-10, the current PS3/360 economic strategy is a 1, then the Wii strategy is a 9. If we do manage to stretch this generation out 10 years, then perhaps Sony and/or MS will eek out a 3 on that rating scale, while Nintendo will eek out... an 11, or something. That shift makes the market as a whole look better, but it doesn't change the fact that the specific market strategy employed by MS/Sony is inferior.

Lastly, it's important to note that I'm not just talking about this particular generation, but long term. Even if they stretch this generation out to 10 years, what about next generation? And the generation after that? Profits have been shrinking generation after generation for Sony, year after year for third party developers. This isn't a PS3/360 problem, they're just specific and very relevant examples of it. It's an industry problem that has been building for over a decade, and will continue to get worse until a remedy is found.

I personally suspect that remedy will be "stop making such expensive games and live with lower end graphics and tech," but we'll see if the magic fairy dust does arrive some day.  

Phew, it is probably only MMO.......Okay, carry on..

You guys should get a job at Nintendo's PR firm. Seriously, you guys have even convinced me that this isn't that bad of a thing with this aggressive spinning.

What's to spin? Look at the simple facts:

Nintendo's biggest 2 online games every do not have this system (SSBB and MKWii). They said it was introduced to allow them to adapt online services for certain games flexibly.

These things clearly imply that this is a system designed for a type of online game that has not been on the Wii before. Something like, oh, I dunno, an MMO? Like maybe the heavily rumored Animal Crossing MMO? Just looking at the objective facts, the most likely result of this is that it's a new system to make MMOs financially viable on the Nintendo Wii. Any objections to these lines of thought?

You make some really interesting points, and I surely don't disagree with you, though my (bad) sarcastic posts might show otherwise. I don't know what the solution is, but I feel that if they (console manufacturers in general) want to do well, then they have to realize that success has nothing to do with the power of the console. The features of a console also have little to do with a consoles overall success as well. Being able to cater to the masses, and not alienate them, is more important overall, and is what has lead to the success of every console. Nintendo has just redefined what "masses" means.

And developers need to realize that gameplay is definitely the most important thing about games. Many Wii games get hammered because they lack deep single player modes, though it seems COD4 had a short single player mode, but it's multiplayer makes up for it. The same goes for (current) Wii games, and it's obvious that these "party" games are a lot of fun to play, thus gameplay is important

I personally don't like paying for online gaming, which is why I tend to stay away from such games (MMOs mostly, though LotR online looks great, and my roommate has it), but I can at least understand why paying for MMO's might be necessary. Also, MMO's usually are regularly being added to, so it's not as big of a deal to pay for it.

This may be a hope for people who want voice chat etc. this also brings back the possibility of downloadable stages and more with Brawl.

Well, since Brawl and MK won't be charged, I'm not worried at all.
I hope that charging means more quality in online experience on Wii.

Well maybe the old rumors of Nintendo partnering with that hard drive manufacturer is going to pop back up, for the DLC side of things, plus MMOs usually need more then the 512 that the Wii has.

Like I said, I've defended XBLive consistently, so this isn't a sudden about face for me personally. I have consistently defended subscription fees as a necessary means of revenue growth.

Here's a simple way to put this that hopefully makes us all agree: do you want games to keep increasing in graphical power and technological sophistication? Then help Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo find ways to make more money to justify the increased costs that technological sophistication will incur.

If you don't think it should be through these means (subscription fees), that's fine, but in that case, recommend something else, because profit margins continue to shrink even as revenue grows, and the magic fairy dust doesn't seem to be slowing this decade-long regression.