I don't think the argument behind point two is so much "so we can copy it" (although that tends to be the end result...) as "so someone can establish the market for us." In that respect, it actually meshes well with point one, as Nintendo has clearly demonstrated time and again that it can blaze one hell of a trail on its systems.

Put alternatively, I believe third-parties want Nintendo to 1) create a market on their system for the type of games that third-parties want to make, THEN 2) Abandon said market, so that third-parties can plunder it without interference. It's rather like a swarm of locusts asking the farmer to create a bountiful harvest, so that the locusts can reap the benefits.

Do I need to express the flaws in this plan?

No, your explanation was very thorough.

1. Mario Kart: 20.3m
2. NSMB Wii: 9.27m
3. Smash: 9.1m
4. SMG: 8.39m
5. Metroid Prime 3 Corruption & MP Trilogy: 1.95 million

Nintendo gave you the highest selling racing game ever. In return we get Need for Speed Nitro,Wheelspin, Sonic & Sega Allstar Racing, and M&Ms Kart Racing

Nintendo gives you the fastest selling platformer in near 20 years. In return you get a Klonoa remake and the Munchables.

Nintendo gives you the highest selling-fighting game ever. In return we get TMNT Smash Up with 1/3 of the characters and less than half the features and Soul Calibur Legends, which is trash.

Nintendo gives you a system selling Adventure game. In return we get Flip's Twisted World and nothing else.

Nintendo gives you  a near 2 million selling FPA (complemented by the 2 million selling Call of Duty games and Red Steel). In return we get on-rail/lightgun shooters and Rogue Trooper.....

What else can Nintendo do besides walk into your company and make the games themselves?

Slowly back away from big third-party publishers, focus on developing relationships with smaller, indie studios, and pump more resources into their existing studios (NST I'm looking at you) to diversify the type of content Nintendo and their second parties put out. It's time to become more self-reliant, simple as that. And Nintendo is in a unique position where if they play their cards right and intelligently divert their considerable financial resources, they can pull it off fantastically. We practically did it during the N64 years with Nintendo and Rare...we can do it again.

Nintendo and Rare was a match made in gaming heaven. You could not define quality better than you could with those two together.

I don't see a Rare successor anywhere around here though................

Soul Calibur Legends isn't a fighting game.

Were you thinking of something more along the lines of Castlevania Judgment?

People probably hated that game because it was a fighting Castlevania, Just like they hated the N64 ones for being 3D. That fanbase is too crazy for me.

Sould Calibur 2 on the GC only sold 200k less than the PS2 version on a much smaller userbase. The fact that the Soul Calibur that Nintendo got this gen was that trash called Legends, that is an insult. It was supposed to be a freakin fighting game. What else is SC possibly supposed to be?

A game intended to make use of the Wii's motion controls and test the waters for the Soul Calibur franchise without costing overmuch.

Since we don't have SC4 on the Wii, it's pretty easy to see how the test went.

Well I think that's a good idea. People buy Nintendo branded game, rating aside. I don't think they need to be rated M, but if Nintendo supports the new cinematic action or gory action genres (thank you RE4 once again) then that'll get the userbase to like it as well. Seems reasonable actually. Metroid: Other M actually seems like something to attempt that.

However, I question developers who speak like this. Why wait for Nintendo? Why not do it yourself. Shows some initiative and create the "ultimate game" for older more experience gamers and market it as such. And don't forget about the quality part haha. I guess this speaks to Nintendo's dominance as a publisher in the gaming industry but that doesn't mean they aren't the only ones who can do it.

Devs should step up themselves and stop waiting for Nintendo to help them out. Nintendo will help if they think it deserves it (Conduit, Monster Hunter 3 for example).

That wasn't a test for the SC series. That was a test for hack & slash games. They could have ported III to the Wii with motion controls and that would have been a proper test for the actual series.

And why did the Wii need to be tested for that but not the HD systems? It was just an excuse.