What I mean is, will Nintendo ever have a console that can compare to the other current systems without looking like the weakling out of them all? I know they will eventually catch up to 360 and PS3 graphics, but when will they have a system that can boast powerful graphics and hardware as much as much as it's current gen competitors in the future?

if not they won't see me again as customer, what I learned from this gen is not buying any console which is not at least 1 year in its life cycle.

I see it happen in 2 or 3 gens when hardware starts to stagnate on a high level, next gen they will release a weaker console ( but not that much like now ) again to further milk the casual

Probably not, their current strategy is working well.

It's unlikely with the new demographic Nintendo has captured that they'd alienate themselves with a comparably high end console (high end console are more expensive , the casual gamer generaly isn't as concered about graphics).

The only situation I could imagine where Nintendo would return to it's roots is if Apple entered the market and completley dominated or either MS or Sony revised their strategies effectivley to dominate the new demographic, but this is unlikely. The face of gaming has changed as we know it , technical excellence isn't something any gaming company is going to be too concerned about IMO , the big 3 will be wanting to get a good balance between the traditional gamer and the newer generation of gamer (IMO it'll be a OLD 30:70 NEW gamer split in terms of priority.)

Not to mention that the DS and GBA were/are the most powerful handhelds available at the time of their respective launches.

Nintendo was on the brink of being forced out of making consoles, SEGA-style, and they couldn't afford to blow billions of dollars on a loss-leading strategy when they didn't know how popular the system would be.  That's the only reason Wii isn't in the same realm of graphical power as the PS3 and 360.

Like Rol said, Gamecube was roughly as powerful as Xbox and much more so than PS2 and Dreamcast, the N64 was the most powerful of its generation, and so was the SNES.

So Nintendo releases one recent console that isn't the most powerful and you think they will never release a console the same power or powerful in the future?

I'm sure Nintendo misses you so dearly.

I don't think Histroical trends are going to be of much use , the nature of gaming has raidcaly changed , it'll be more evident when the new generation starts.

this is troll bait. Everything already said is correct but i think next gen. will be as powerful as atleast one competitor.

wow, the topic owner is one of the biggest ... I've ever seen on the internet.
He acts like Nintendo always had weak consoles.