There's no question that stubborn-ness like that can be an advantage: you can have the guts to try something new like the Wiimote. But it can also be a terrible limiter, as the cartridge-format and N64/PS1 era show. It is absolutely awesome to see them playing both ways -- being stubborn with risky good ideas, such as the Wii remote, and being flexible with other people's good ideas, such as downloadable content. It's a tight rope to walk -- staying firm but flexible -- but from the looks of it Nintendo is doing it extremely well.

Actually, I'd argue that copying others this time around is a GOOD thing.

One of the things I've consistently given Sony and Microsoft credit for on these boards is adaptation: when they see a good product is kicking their butts, they quickly adapt and absorb the good ideas into their own products. Nintendo, on the other hand, has often stubbornly stuck by their guns even while their fans complained and their ship burned and sank.

There's no question that stubborn-ness like that can be an advantage: you can have the guts to try something new like the Wiimote. But it can also be a terrible limiter, as the cartridge-format and N64/PS1 era show. It is absolutely awesome to see them playing both ways -- being stubborn with risky good ideas, such as the Wii remote, and being flexible with other people's good ideas, such as downloadable content. It's a tight rope to walk -- staying firm but flexible -- but from the looks of it Nintendo is doing it extremely well.

but... i am saying that copying others is a good thing! by "to see far you need to stand on shoulder of giants" i am saying "[for nintendo] to see far (go a long way) [nintendo] needs to stand on shoulder (i.e. build upon the foundation) of [xbox live or psn]".

i guess it wasn't very clear :P innovation is about copying everybody else (99% of the time anyway).