well, they also probably don't start working on the sequel the second they finish the game. like, do you expect them to actually be working on the wii 2 version of mario kart, super mario, metroid, zelda, and smash bros all right now?.

I think the biggest reason is that Nintendo develops a new engine for every game, whereas most HD sequels are made with the same engine.

Believe in Nintendo, in the end they always deliver.

OP: The comparison is not equal. The game you listed on the 360/PS3 were made by multple different companies. Nintendo is only one (given they have other development teams making games for the parent company). Of course they will release fewer games when you compair them to multiple 3rd parties who will all be working on different games at the same time.
Nintendo released quite a few games. Of course, this year has been slower then normal, but that tends to happen. Remember that most of the big hitters were released early this year.
Lastly, "casual" titles are just an essembly line of games. Nintendo has mentioned they put their 1st strong developers on those titles, so they is probably some delays and upheavals that happens during development.

I want to add on this comment.

Typically, the disrupted company(ies) can not fight off the disruption. They get bogged down by their values that they will lose all credability from their current market. So, they either have to try and halt the disruption (which probably won't happen) or move up the tiers. If they do the latter, then they'll eventually die, either leaving the market or becoming a small nitch.

I'm glad there are some people here who understand disruption. It is rare on message boards.

I take all the credit for Nintendo focusing on the controller.  I started having controller issues with the wired controller with GCN.  The c stick would malfunction and the A + B buttons would start sticking.  I would wash my hands each time I played and have my friends do the same.  I kept having the issue and sending them back.  Eventually I gave up and stopped bothering them.  Luckily the wavebird eventually came out and I bought 4 of those once I noticed the first one didn't have the same issues.  So I sent an email to Nintendo and told them whatever they do for the next system make sure there are no controller issues thus having them put more attention to the controller.

You serious? I have my GC for 4 years now and never had controller issues. My X360 never red ringed also. I'm a lucky bastard it seems :o

I guess it was because I played Super Smash Bros. Melee too much, or bad luck.

Your OP seemed like some random ridiculous whine, although it had some points.

Nintendo basically works in the same way it always have. Although i believe that at the moment they are putting out more games than ever. Their strategy isn't to whore out a franchise after frachise. They could whore out a number of their popular franchises, but they don't, since the franchises would lose their status and Nintendo its respect as a developer.

Nintendo also has a large number of franchises, more than they have dev teams. If i recall, Iwata said 1,5 years ago, that they have 120+ Wii games in (some stage of) developement, so Nintendo has plenty to choose from. Of course, some will never get their release, some get delayed to next gen etc. Nintendos teams also rarely start a sequel, after a game is finished and the staff is transferred into a different team if needed.

Now, Nintendos approach is very different to most devs there is; ususally a new audience game is made for retards in mind, or to be more specific, the mentality is, that everyone who doesn't like "the games i like", is a retard, which isn't Nintendos approach. Nintendo puts the same effort to their new audience games, that they put to the core audience games. In comparision, the average kids show in TV would compare to something unwatchable for most grown-ups, since the kids show makers think kids don't have the same quality standards as adults have, but for some odd reason, any random Pixar animation or Bob the Builder becomes an instant hit. Even that both examples i used are made with effort in mind, it doesn't mean that all the adults would like the cartoons, but because of the effort and quality, their audience, the kids, love them. It's the exact same thing with Nintendos games, you may not enjoy Wii Fit or Wii Sports, but there are a lot of effort put into the games, which means that the potential audince really likes the games, despite "traditional audience" disliking them. And the effort put into the new audience games is away from the core games (although, not to an extent that one core game would take from another core games).

Now, Nintendo is playing business here, which means that they release games "when needed". If there's a lot of core games coming for PS360, it's unlikely Nintendo will release its own core games at the same time - they more likely strike when it's quiet time for the competition, like they did with Brawl. In a competetive situation, Nintendo puts out new audience or bridged titles, like they did with Mario Kart.

I'm also guessing that Nintendo has a number of titles ready to be released on a short notice, maybe even in their 3 months period, this gives them a huge competetive advantage.

Because their games are fun....

"Graphics" are not so hard to tighten. Especially when basing your game upon an existing engine and gameplay style.

Gameplay IS hard to tighten. That's what Nintendo spends so much time doing. It shows through in sales. When they have three 10m sellers in a fiscal year, why does it matter?