@jenovaschilld I honestly think they will lower the cost of the console in the not-too-distant future. (I wouldn't be surprised to see a price cut next year at this time or upon the arrive of the next 8th-gen console.) But at this point, Nintendo can sell out their entire inventory to early adopters and Nintendo fans who will pay whatever price to get the next Big N console. Do you think that guy Triforce in NYC cares what the price of the console is when he lines up a week in advance?

So Nintendo still has time to rake in as many sales for $300-$350 as they can. And then when Sony or Microsoft launches their console at a similar price, Nintendo can drop theirs by $50 and still keep sailing as the low-price leader.

The arguments in these comments have the same tone as the smartphone wars with Android fans pointing to specs and speeds while wondering why anybody would still buy an iPhone or Windows Phone. It's because (1) those other phones work well and (2) most folks could care less about dual-core this or gigahertz that.

The same goes for the Wii U. Nintendo has never made an argument for having the most powerful hardware...why would anyone think they're about to switch up and start pumping out the most powerful hardware now? Unlike Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo's *only* business is games, so they need it to be profitable pretty quickly out of the gate. They can't absorb repeated quarterly losses with offsets in their TV business or their laptop sales.

So Nintendo focuses on making an affordable system with fun games that are engaging to a wide audience. So far that approach seems to have worked pretty well for them. And right now they've made a system that (they hope) is powerful enough to entice third-party developers to add the Wii U as a code target in addition to the XBOX 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. We'll see if that gambit works. But I doubt that most of Nintendo's target audience cares how many polygons the Wii U can move as long as the games are fun and work well.

PS -- Sony tried to jump from last place to first in hardware capability, and it forced them to price their console right out of the market back in 2006-2007. They've been struggling to catch up to their competitors ever since. So I seriously doubt Nintendo, Microsoft, or even Sony is going to repeat that mistake.

Personally I think that having staggered launches is good for everybody. That way people have the time to get their money right if they wish to buy multiple consoles, but the launches and game releases themselves aren't crowding each other out. By the time the next 8th-gen system arrives, we'll have had plenty of time to dissect the Wii U and make educated comparisons. And hopefully we'll avoid having another six-year glut with no new home consoles.

This isn't history's first instance of a nation trying to rally its people behind a war effort. The only difference now is that it's happening on Twitter and the WWW.

So Hulu can't seem to find the time to create clients for the PlayStation Vita, Windows Phone, or the Surface, but the Wii U gets supported three days after it launches? Just great. :-/

@Muddrox_dev Miiverse must be the truth...I keep seeing people talking about it. If Nintendo ever gets their act together when it comes to online gaming, they might be a force.

@mr_squibble I'm not pleased that Nintendo games will now cost $60 like other systems, but I knew that would be the cost of gaming in HD.

Out of curiosity, what are you playing on the Wii these days? I haven't had any Wii games pique my curiosity in almost a year now...

@bmart970 My biggest gripe about the Wii was the cost of the controllers. A complete remote + nunchuck combo costs $60, and on a console that's at its best with friends, who's going to be satisfied with just one controller? Add in the classic controllers and a Wii balance board, and it quickly became the most expensive console among the Big Three.

That's one thing I liked about the Kinect. It may have only worked with two players at a time, but you just needed to buy one unit and you were done.

@bongsyas_23 A mid-range PC is more powerful than every console on the market. It is also more expensive.

This probably means that the Wii U will soon become profitable on its own as the production process gets streamlined and the components get cheaper. And if it only takes one game sale to generate that profit, then the $350 Deluxe Edition must be profitable out of the box...I doubt that the included game and extra memory really cost them an extra $50.

Either way, Nintendo really needs to improve their attach rate in this generation. Too many people played Wii Sports and then quit using their Wiis. Historically the only way to make a profit on selling games on Nintendo consoles was to (a) make some shovelware that required little investment / effort or (b) be Nintendo.