Right. Maybe we should move on. Next up "Sonic" and "Ninjabreadman 2: Makin' moar dough!" 

This is part of the brilliance of Ninty. Graphics are very much a "mental" anticipation thing - and they can always get better, right? Once you start playing (in general) they become very much less relevent.

I'm loving the Wii + current games - but still I "crave" better graphics. I'm not even sure why!

When Ninty finally does announce the Wii II (whenever), if they even semi-focus on graphics - its going to be a mental tidal wave towards the console. The same applies to the DS really.

MS & Sony are going to have a much harder time selling their next consoles based on "better gfx" or specs in general.

 Thank you for the prompt response. Sorry it took me so long to get back to you: I had a minor emergency to deal with. I'd like to begin with your last point, if I may. I do not, in fact, agree that the DS is experiencing a bigger shovelware problem that the playstations have. I invite you to browse the PS2 section of games. Organize them by sales. You'll discover that starting at about six crap like "Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks" and "Derby Stallion 04" start to rear their ugly heads. Be warned that you still have roughly fourteen more pages of games to wade through, before you begin to run into duplicates and untracked games.

The DS has stuff like "Paws and Claws" show up on page 4, but you'll reach the end eleven pages later. I would also point out that because many DS games are still selling, some good games like The World Ends With You and Soma Bringer are still stuck in the "shovelware" section, something that's less true for the PS2. To me, that makes it pretty clear that the crap-to-cream ratio is about equally low...

 And that being the case, why should Nintendo take a paternalistic stance towards gamers? If you'll like at the sales figures for both the PS2 and the DS, the "shovelware section" that I just highlightedis filled with games with comparatively low sales. Obviously, those companies made enough back to stay in business, but as I said earlier, they do not seem to have gotten their mitts on as many of the soccer moms as you fear. I'll admit that there are 200 thousand poor souls out there who got stuck with "Hamsterz Life", but considering the DS has an install base of roughly 80 million, that's an incredibly miniscule amount of people for Nintendo to "protect" from themselves. People didn't need protection from shovelware in the 90s, or during this millenium, and I still haven't seen anything to indicate that they need protection now.

I would also disagree with your assertion that because a PS3 is more expensive, it is "way too expensive for a developer to produce on for a quick buck." Unless, of course, you feel that "Transformers: The Game" or "My Summer Holidays 3" are actually big-budget games with high production values. There are more examples, if you want to look through them.

http://vgchartz.com/games/index.php?page=3&name=&console=PS3&keyword=&publisher=&genre=&order=Sales&picture=

In short, just because it's expensive to make a good game for the PS3, that does not mean it is expensive to produce shovelware for it. I don't have enough data to judge whether you are correct about PS3 owners being more likely to read reviews for the games they buy, but since part of the appeal of the PS3 is supposed to be that it is also a Blu-Ray player (the cheapest one available, in fact), I strongly suspect that many people are purchasing it for that reason. The low software sales that the PS3 has been experiencing are, I believe, indicative of that, with Smash Brothers Brawl alone outselling the entire PS3 line-up in America this March. However, I freely admit that I could be way off base here, and if you'd point me to sources that indicate that, I would be most appreciative.

In short, shovelware is not a new phenomenom, and even the Playstation 3 has not proven immune to it. Since there was no need to protect consumers from the ravages of developers during earlier years, why would Nintendo need to do so now? It would only prove self-destructive in the end.

 Yeah, like many folks I kind of doubt that the next generation of consoles will be that much better graphically than what we have now. If Nintendo hadn't come out with this "budget" system, I think we'd have seen a lot more developers merging, being bought, or just plain shutting down. Weren't there a half-dozen studios that all closed at around the same time during March? While I love my eye candy as much as the next guy, I'd rather have a variety of games to choose from, and cheaper, quicker-to-make games definitely gives me a better shot at scratching that itch.

Which game were you referring to?

Well, I'm glad I went and shaved my dog. I thought this thread was done.

I have a comment on graphics though, since it was in the OP and someone brought it up.

I was upset when Nintendo made the resolution on the DS quite low; not much of an increase from the GBA. As time passed I realized Nintendo did this on purpose. First obviously because it's cheaper to produce and Nintendo is in the habit of turning profit on consoles. Secondly, because it forces developers to focus on game play and not just graphics.

I believe the same thing was done for the Wii. For both reasons. Especially with a design aspect like the Wiimote. By keeping the graphical environment simple they ensure graphics don't steal too much of the development time.

 You hit the nail on the head.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=149347