SSBB Sells Over 1.4M Copies, Becomes Nintendo's Fastest Selling Game Ever

[Haemorrhage]

Nintendo announced today that Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii has sold over 1.4 million copies since its North American release on March 9.

From Shacknews: (http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/51801)

According to Nintendo of America, the title has become the fastest-selling video game in the company's history, moving at a brisk 120 units per minute. Of the over 1.4 million figure units sold, more than 874,000 copies were sold on March 9, the first day of availability.

The money printer continues. Hopefully, this will encourage better quality titles for the Wii.

[fitbabits]

The money printer continues. Hopefully, this will encourage better quality titles for the Wii.

Nope, it won't. Shovelware continues to sell well on the Wii, pobably due to the targeted demographic, so games like SSBB, Zelda, etc. will be the exception, not the norm.

[Johan]

Yes, but shovelware encourages the sale of more shovels, which encourages....something something, or something!

[dfr]

you just gotta love all the bitching the wii is getting from you folks.

[fitbabits]

you just gotta love all the bitching the wii is getting from you folks.

Hey, Sony's been behaving of late... We're feeling the crunch.

[Norse]

Wake me up when the Wii reaches a reasonable price level. I'll jump on it like a goat on grass or something.

[H.Bogard]

http://www.thegamergene.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/wiiprintsmoney_vjenc-00.gif

[Telefrog]

Good for them and good for the Wii fans.

[Tabasco]

Hell yeah, good for Nintendo!

Also, I own 11 great games on my Wii and somewhere between 15 and 20 outstanding virtual console titles. It's really funny to hear people complain about all the shovelware when there are plenty of good titles out.

[Adam Blue]

I'm curious about how many Wii's have failed due to this game. Nintendo had a support page already set up for it and sent me a packing slip for my Wii, no questions asked.

[KidCactus]

"Best Selling Game Ever"? Shouldn't the title also say fastest-selling, as the quote says?

[mkelehan]

Sales of this and Galaxy prove that core, traditional games still sell well. I'm glad we don't have an exclusively brain training and Wii Sports future to look forward to.

Wake me up when the Wii reaches a reasonable price level. I'll jump on it like a goat on grass or something.

You should've been up since launch.

[Draconis]

I'm curious about how many Wii's have failed due to this game. Nintendo had a support page already set up for it and sent me a packing slip for my Wii, no questions asked.


Its nice to have an excellent level of Customer Support isn't it Adam? I'm happy that Nintendo rises to the occasion when it comes to their consumers and customer service, unlike a certain other company I know of...


That having been said, I picked up Smash brothers brawl and thankfully, my Nintendo Wii didn't have any issues with it. Also, I have 15 games for the Wii, none of which are shovelware. Hell, I'd have more if I had the money....theres plenty to play on it.

Its just the Worth of what people seem to deem as "Worth Playing" Always varies. Like if it isn't FPS XXXXXXXXXXVIX then it stinks....and should be allowed for a fat slobbering bulldog to chew it to pieces...

Inanity and joke of the previous comment aside. This is good news for Nintendo as I see it. Hopefully Third parties will take note, and put out more stuff like NMH caliber or higher.

[Elrik Murder]

You'd think Nintendo would do something wise with the money...oh, say invest in servers that can support the load. Seriously, they should have left the "with anyone" option on WiFi out b/c it's impossible to find a match or establish an ongoing connection. If I see that 86420 error message again I'm gonna kick a puppy. :mad:

[lockwoodx]

If I see that 86420 error message again I'm gonna kick a puppy. :mad:

Just don't throw it off a cliff.

Oh and HAHA elitest gamers, fun wins again! Go Nintendo!

[Purple Santa]

Its nice to have an excellent level of Customer

Inanity and joke of the previous comment aside. This is good news for Nintendo as I see it. Hopefully Third parties will take note, and put out more stuff like NMH caliber or higher.

But why would third parties put out anything different than they are now, aka shovelware for the most part when it makes them money? I don't doubt there will be some great titles for the Wii from third parties but I don't expect it to reach the amount Nintendo will produce. It's about the money. As long as someone is willing to buy the crap third parties are making then why change? Its worked for the DS and all the other Nintendo portables in the past it's now working with the Wii. That doesn't make the Wii an awful system though. It's just a system that will have quality games but a hell of a lot more shovelware.

[Greeble]

Oh and HAHA elitest gamers, fun wins again! Go Nintendo!

This is why I think Nintendo fanboys are the most annoying of all. For some reason they think only nintendo games are fun. Guess what for elitest gamers "hardcore" games are fun. (I'm not a fanboy. I owned all three consoles last gen I'll end up owning all of them this gen)

[Heretic Machine]

Nope, it won't. Shovelware continues to sell well on the Wii, pobably due to the targeted demographic, so games like SSBB, Zelda, etc. will be the exception, not the norm.

fit is totally right, everyone knows that shovelware didn't exist (nor would it have been profitable) before the Wii.

[Achilles]

It’s not Nintendo’s best selling game ever, it’s just their fastest selling game ever. If it keeps up it has the potential to be their best selling game but Super Mario Bros. sold 40 million, so I doubt it'll get there.

And good for them I might add, this is their Halo from back on the Game Cube, easily their best selling game of that generation and the most anticipated game of this generation.

[Draconis]

fit is totally right, everyone knows that shovelware didn't exist (nor would it have been profitable) before the Wii.

The Original NES and PS2 and PC are calling. Something about having shovel ware on them long before....

PC is especially the most guilty of this, but both the NES and PS2 had PLENTY of Crap Shovelware games on them. More then I care to count. They had alot of gems too yes, but still....

[Achilles]

The Original NES and PS2 and PC are calling. Something about having shovel ware on them long before....The PC is an unregulated platform, which I believe the Wii might as well be. For example there are 12 Wii games that have recieved a score of 1/10 from IGN. The 360 has 0 and it's been out a year longer. Xbox Live Arcade games get more development time than a lot of this Wii stuff. Nintendo fans just look at the big names, the ones with hype behind them and think the platform doesn't have an unbelievable glut of trash which the uninformed gamers who bought a wii because of Wii Sports will end up buying.

Here is a list (http://wii.ign.com/index/reviews.html?constraint.bool.game.playable_downloa d=is_false)of IGN's recently reviewed Wii titles. Most people haven't heard of a lot of these games, they just get cranked out there hoping uninformed Wii owners will pick them up based on the back of the box.

The up-side is that at least the games Nintendo did spend some time on are getting good sales because of the larger install base. Things like Super Smash Bros clearly had a lot of time put into it, as did Zelda and Mario Galaxy, but I think that introducing a bunch of new potentially long term gamers to a platform where 9/10 games are terrible to the point of being broken could do damage to the industry as a whole.

[Smoof]

This is why I think Nintendo fanboys are the most annoying of all. For some reason they think only nintendo games are fun. Guess what for elitest gamers "hardcore" games are fun. (I'm not a fanboy. I owned all three consoles last gen I'll end up owning all of them this gen)

I laugh at the assertion that any console game is "hardcore".

[Magnanimous Gnome]

As another poster said above, I'll be buying the Wii after a price cut or two. I can't justify spending $250 on the console. Maybe $150. Just because it costs less than the 360 and the PS3 doesn't mean that the system is "cheap" - it's still $50 more than the Cube and every other Nintendo system cost at launch.

Still, this is great news for Nintendo and Nintendo fanboys. :p

[Hellstorm]

You know, my friend's wife, a complete non-gamer, bought a Wii for Christmas. And you know what, she LOVES Carnival Games, Wii Sports, RRR, WarioWare. So now she is no longer a non-gamer, but a casual gamer, which is much better than being a non-gamer and not spending her money on something else. Her birthday is coming up and I plan on getting her Endless Ocean, which I hope will inch her closer to trying OTHER games that the people around here tend to consider to be games and not outright dismiss because it wasn't made for them.

90% of the people around here might not like the games she thinks are fun for her. But guess what, she doesn't care about blu-ray, or HD, or even going online. She justs wants a game she can play for 20-30 minutes out of her busy day and HAVE FUN.

Will she become a hardcore gamer? Who knows, but atleast now thanks to Nintendo and the Wii she IS a gamer NOW and her money is being put into this industry. And when she goes to work, she talks about the Wii to her friends, who are also not gamers and they want to try it.

That is most likely why Nintendo has already won this generation. The audience they are selling to is probably bigger than the audience the PS3 and 360 are aiming for COMBINED. The only thing that can stop the Wii is the DS.

And as we know the industry follows the market leader...

This is why I think Nintendo fanboys are the most annoying of all. For some reason they think only nintendo games are fun. Guess what for elitest gamers "hardcore" games are fun. (I'm not a fanboy. I owned all three consoles last gen I'll end up owning all of them this gen)

I don't think he said that Nintendo games per se are only fun, just that instead of focusing HD graphics, blu-ray, and other superfluous features that bloat a systems cost, Nintendo is pushing fun more than anything else, because the Wii doesn't offer those features and so far sales have shown consumers don't really care about those features that MS and Sony are thumping their chests about.

Gaming is no longer an exclusive club anymore and that club has to cater to everyone. Like it or not, so get used to it.

[Hellstorm]

You'd think Nintendo would do something wise with the money
Iwata swims in it like Scrooge McDuck. Best use of money IMO.

[TrackZero]

You'd think Nintendo would do something wise with the money...

You don't know Nintendo very well, do you? ;)

[Purple Santa]

The up-side is that at least the games Nintendo did spend some time on are getting good sales because of the larger install base. Things like Super Smash Bros clearly had a lot of time put into it, as did Zelda and Mario Galaxy, but I think that introducing a bunch of new potentially long term gamers to a platform where 9/10 games are terrible to the point of being broken could do damage to the industry as a whole.

You make it seem like the Wii is the first system to have 9/10 games be crap. Although I don't believe this is true on the Wii...nor was it true on the NES or the PS2, two other extremely popular systems that had a ton of crap games. This is business as usual. The gamers who bother to know what games they will like by reading reviews or game forums will know the crap and to avoid it. But the crap isn't made for those gamers. Those games (the crap) are for those "gamers" who aren't as critical to what makes a game enjoyable for them or who they buy it for. The DS and every Nintendo portable system before it had loads and loads of crap games. The game industry still survives. We need to stop with the chicken little cries of "the gaming industry is going to crash" cause the Wii is producing to much crapware.

[TrackZero]

90% of the people around here might not like the games she thinks are fun for her. But guess what, she doesn't care about blu-ray, or HD, or even going online. She justs wants a game she can play for 20-30 minutes out of her busy day and HAVE FUN.

Will she become a hardcore gamer? Who knows, but atleast now thanks to Nintendo and the Wii she IS a gamer NOW and her money is being put into this industry. And when she goes to work, she talks about the Wii to her friends, who are also not gamers and they want to try it.


There's the rub. Yes, it's completely a good thing that she's a gamer now. However, that cash went straight to Nintendo's pockets. If you think they plan to grow the market with her, think again. They'll do what they've always done, stick to formula. 10 Years from now they'll still be making Pokemon genre titles, and Mario Kart will be 3-4 iterations later, while playing exactly the same. You'll have a handful of "gem" titles that fans will crow about, but nothing will have changed. Some fans will view that as a good thing. Good ol' Nintendo, making more of what they want (which is not to grow up, by and large). The rest of us will be struggling with growing budgets for "real" (argue away) games trying their best to tell real stories with drama, action and suspense. I'm in the latter group, you can mock me all you want. But this doesn't help me as a gamer. It just drags more developers away to make games I'll never want to play.

I'd like you to consider, from my perspective, how this will directly benefit me as a gamer, at all. Honestly now.

Edit: Just in response to Purple Santa above, I don't in any way think this will cause any form of market crash.

[Elrik Murder]

fit is totally right, everyone knows that shovelware didn't exist (nor would it have been profitable) before the Wii.

:confused:...Yeah, about that...

http://dsi-games.com/boxart/MMsKartRacingDS.jpg

Congratulations! You've officially insulted my DS!

Just another reason to post this image. Soon all will know the greatness that is M&M Kart Racing!

[Johan]

fit is totally right, everyone knows that shovelware didn't exist (nor would it have been profitable) before the Wii.

My sarcasm detector is working overtime here...

[Chameleo]

hey, xbox 360! hey ps3!

the wii's just as good as you are!!

[Johan]

hey, xbox 360! hey ps3!

the wii's just as good as you are!!

Aim higher. The 360 breaks when you sneeze, and the PS3 is a dust-magnet. :D

[Orz]

People mock EA for putting out the same football game with roster updates, graphical overhauls, and mechanical tweaks. Some of the same people laud Nintendo for doing pretty much the same thing since the N64.

Go figure.

[Hellstorm]

There's the rub. Yes, it's completely a good thing that she's a gamer now. However, that cash went straight to Nintendo's pockets. If you think they plan to grow the market with her, think again. They'll do what they've always done, stick to formula. 10 Years from now they'll still be making Pokemon genre titles, and Mario Kart will be 3-4 iterations later, while playing exactly the same. You'll have a handful of "gem" titles that fans will crow about, but nothing will have changed. Some fans will view that as a good thing. Good ol' Nintendo, making more of what they want (which is not to grow up, by and large). The rest of us will be struggling with growing budgets for "real" (argue away) games trying their best to tell real stories with drama, action and suspense. I'm in the latter group, you can mock me all you want. But this doesn't help me as a gamer. It just drags more developers away to make games I'll never want to play.

I'd like you to consider, from my perspective, how this will directly benefit me as a gamer, at all. Honestly now.

Edit: Just in response to Purple Santa above, I don't in any way think this will cause any form of market crash.

It is hard to tell with the Nintendo under Iwata's and Reggie's watch in which direction they will go in the future, I doubt many predicted they would go the direction they went. All I can tell is what direction they are going currently and that is trying to walk the line of keeping hardcore gamers happy, while drawing in new gamers.

But then again, the whole industry is heading that way. So what about the core gamers like you and me? Well this is what I see, going to be a lot of bitching, crying, and general sky is falling from hardcore gamers. But in the end, everyone will be fine and all this gloom and doom will be for nothing. Everyone will have the types of games they enjoy on the Wii.

It looks like the entire industry is heading in the direction that Nintendo is going, that tends to happen when you are the market leader. Don't think for a second MS and Sony won't head in that direction either. So it all comes down to do you want to fight against the direction the industry has chosen?

If at best, you will come along for the ride and don't be so down. At worst you can just give up on gaming and spend your money on some alternative that more caters to you. PC gaming perhaps?;)

I dunno, I heard this crying come from a lot of friends that were into anime before the current explosion of interest. They always whined how they wished anime was more mainstream, accepted, and that more people would try it. Now that it is somewhat more mainstream and accepted, all they do is bitch about wishing it wasn't as mainstream or accepted.

[Bahamut]

I laugh at the assertion that any console game is "hardcore".

And I laugh at the assertion that PC gaming fanboys are open-minded. But I guess that comes with being a fanboy.

[bryan]

I don't get why the question of shovelware even matters. No one is forcing you too buy crap titles, and you can always read reviews/impression off the net so you can make an informed decision. This is like looking for a raincloud on a sunny day.

[Evil Avnovice]

http://www.threadbombing.com/data/media/2/nightattheroxburry.gif (http://www.threadbombing.com/details.php?image_id=2191)

[Deadend]

People mock EA for putting out the same football game with roster updates, graphical overhauls, and mechanical tweaks. Some of the same people laud Nintendo for doing pretty much the same thing since the N64.

Go figure.

Probably because Nintendo does not do it yearly. But Nintendo does it to plot based games as well. I hate Twilight Princess for being Ocarina of Time with some small changes and a wolf form. Whoopty do, the dungeon design is trite. Even Phantom Hourglass suffers from being a Zelda game.

The most surprising thing about the Wii is that Nintendo made it. They are the most stick in the mud and risk-averse company out there.

Oh... and whoopty do 1.5 million copies in the US, Halo 3 sold more on Day 1. Halo 3 had just as many new ideas as Smash Brothers, hell... Smash Brothers has many similar things to Halo 3... level editor... replays... co-op story, online multiplayer... that means Smash ripped off Halo 3! Zomg! I am going to cry now!

Anyways... I hope Nintendos next console will compete graphically with Sony and MS's next console otherwise Nintendo is going to end up portable only.

[bryan]

Probably because Nintendo does not do it yearly. But Nintendo does it to plot based games as well. I hate Twilight Princess for being Ocarina of Time with some small changes and a wolf form. Whoopty do, the dungeon design is trite. Even Phantom Hourglass suffers from being a Zelda game.

The most surprising thing about the Wii is that Nintendo made it. They are the most stick in the mud and risk-averse company out there.

Oh... and whoopty do 1.5 million copies in the US, Halo 3 sold more on Day 1. Halo 3 had just as many new ideas as Smash Brothers, hell... Smash Brothers has many similar things to Halo 3... level editor... replays... co-op story, online multiplayer... that means Smash ripped off Halo 3! Zomg! I am going to cry now!

Anyways... I hope Nintendos next console will compete graphically with Sony and MS's next console otherwise Nintendo is going to end up portable only.

Way to go mucking up the thread with your fanboyism. It's Nintendo's fastest selling game, it's a worthy enough newspoint, and NOWHERE does it ask to be compared to any other console.

[RMan]

Way to go mucking up the thread with your fanboyism.
That's what fanatics do, attack that which seems to threaten their particular obsession (and with a special brand of silliness in this case). I'm actually a bit surprised, it's certainly had decent marketing and a good amount of hype from the gaming crowd, but I really didn't think it'd have that kind of surge. Well, kudos to them.

[Yellowman]

Anyways... I hope Nintendos next console will compete graphically with Sony and MS's next console otherwise Nintendo is going to end up portable only.

Nintendo aren't making a new console Deadend! All their money goes to fund terrorism.

[Adam Blue]

I laugh at the assertion that any console game is "hardcore".

I'd like you to explain this one...

Unless it has just been some time since you played a SHMUP, or an SNK fighter, or Ninja Gaiden.

[Disgustipated]

Very well deserved sales.

[Deadend]

Way to go mucking up the thread with your fanboyism. It's Nintendo's fastest selling game, it's a worthy enough newspoint, and NOWHERE does it ask to be compared to any other console.

...I don't care what you think. As I am right, I also spent a few hours playing Smash Bros this weekend. So whatever the fuck you want to think. I also think you read the line with sarcasm as legit... why the hell would anyone say ZOMG except in joking terms? Maybe next time I should use [ sarcasm ]. But your right, I am such a fucking fanboy, because bryan and Yellowman say so.

Hell, I don't evne get why your being a dick yellowman, I honestly am not sure how Nintendo is going to do anything in 5-6 years from now, as they blew their load by having a motion controller. That shit is going to be copied and improved on, thus negating it, and since the Super Wii won't be up to par with PS4 in terms of graphics/RAM how will it compete?

[bryan]

Perhaps you need to think about what you post better. I saw the original version of your last post, I think you need a healthy dose of maturity. Explaining everything away with sarcasm hardly excuses you. What was the intent of your sarcasm? Trying to head off any X360 fans? Did it not occur to you that it would be much better for the thread not to start another dick contest?

Grow up.

[TrackZero]

It is hard to tell with the Nintendo under Iwata's and Reggie's watch in which direction they will go in the future, I doubt many predicted they would go the direction they went. All I can tell is what direction they are going currently and that is trying to walk the line of keeping hardcore gamers happy, while drawing in new gamers.


I'm confused by this statement. Aside from some new hardware, the software has continued to go in the same direction they've done for years. With a bit more emphasis on "easy" games for the masses (driven more from the DS sales of Brain Age).


But then again, the whole industry is heading that way. So what about the core gamers like you and me? Well this is what I see, going to be a lot of bitching, crying, and general sky is falling from hardcore gamers. But in the end, everyone will be fine and all this gloom and doom will be for nothing. Everyone will have the types of games they enjoy on the Wii.

What whole industry? Aside from Popcap games making a bunch on the PC doing the casual thing, the 360/PS3 games are the same as they've always been. With more of an emphasis on accessibility in their download games (arcade/PSN), which is understandable given the restrictions on those platforms.


It looks like the entire industry is heading in the direction that Nintendo is going, that tends to happen when you are the market leader.

I think you're seeing something that isn't quite there as much as you think it is.

Don't think for a second MS and Sony won't head in that direction either. So it all comes down to do you want to fight against the direction the industry has chosen?

Alright, assuming your observations (which I disagree with, outside of the Wii) are true, to answer that. Then yes, I do oppose what the market is lumbering towards. While I certainly don't consider this a "sky is falling" scenario in any way, it certainly doesn't help me and most likely diverts resources from the experiences I'm looking for in interactive entertainment.

If at best, you will come along for the ride and don't be so down. At worst you can just give up on gaming and spend your money on some alternative that more caters to you. PC gaming perhaps?;)

So in your theoretical scenario, your advice to me is to leave MY hobby and do something else because soccer mom's want to waggle their arms in front of their TV? Yeah, that ain't happening any time soon champ.

I dunno, I heard this crying come from a lot of friends that were into anime before the current explosion of interest. They always whined how they wished anime was more mainstream, accepted, and that more people would try it. Now that it is somewhat more mainstream and accepted, all they do is bitch about wishing it wasn't as mainstream or accepted.

Excellent parallel given there (applies to almost any industry where the mainstream takes an interest). The thing is, those wishes are for the mainstream to experience the "good" content that we have been appreciating for some time. Not watered down pap. Which, time and again has proven to be the right attitude. Unless you like feeding your brain slush memes, by watching Jerry Springer, listening to Britney Spears and your idea of a good book is "Chicken Soup for the Soul". In which case, go die in a field somewhere. If that is the direction the Wii is taking, by god, I'll oppose it on every front.

Congratulations, you've somehow managed to make me even more disgusted with Nintendo....achievement unlocked? Well, potentially disgusted. We'll see which way they actually go with this.

And all this from someone who's supported Nintendo since day one (weathering the storm with the N64, never touching a PSX, buying a massive library of Gamecube titles even after the market had moved on, I own the GBA printer for Christ's sake). Nintendo's great in their niche, what I don't want to see is them take back market leadership (as the lead development platform), as anyone who remembers what they did last time was a bad, bad thing.

[Deadend]

Perhaps you need to think about what you post better. I saw the original version of your last post, I think you need a healthy dose of maturity. Explaining everything away with sarcasm hardly excuses you. What was the intent of your sarcasm? Trying to head off any X360 fans? Did it not occur to you that it would be much better for the thread not to start another dick contest?

Grow up.

Wow bryan, you sure showed me... that you take shit way too seriously. Calm down and then quit caring about the sanctity of a thread.

[bryan]

Quit caring? You're the one who needs to rein in his emotions. You're the one who told me to go fuck myself. Resorting to cussing at people is a definite sign of taking things too seriously.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

I don't get why the question of shovelware even matters. No one is forcing you too buy crap titles, and you can always read reviews/impression off the net so you can make an informed decision. This is like looking for a raincloud on a sunny day.

The shovelware matters because it takes up shelf space and makes the console seem like junk at times.

It's especially bad on the DS, where so much crap is released that most of the good games disappear from store shelves after a few months.

[bryan]

The shovelware matters because it takes up shelf space and makes the console seem like junk at times.

It's especially bad on the DS, where so much crap is released that most of the good games disappear from store shelves after a few months.

Fair point, I haven't realized that. I live in Malaysia and we pretty much get all the good titles only. Pretty hard to get the crappier stuff, you'd have to make an effort.

[Baron Samedi]

Anyways... I hope Nintendos next console will compete graphically with Sony and MS's next console otherwise Nintendo is going to end up portable only.

I've actually thought that this is the future of Nintendo for quite some time, especially with the portable market in Japan. Who knows, maybe the next one will be a fusion between DS and Wii - something to take with you, but something you can also plug into a TV.

[51|RandoM]

Watching people on IRC the past couple days I might have to go pick this game up myself. Fighters usually don't get much traction on my consoles because there just aren't that many people in my local peer group interested in fighting games(or videogames at all).

Maybe 'net play will make that a non-issue?

[Craigtheplague]

This should be good news for everyone. If you read the rest of the article, it talks about people having trouble playing the game online because of crowded servers. We all know Nintendo is new and a little skeptical with online gaming, but this kind of traffic to play the game should make them realize the demand is there and they are going to do something about it.

[lockwoodx]

http://www.threadbombing.com/data/media/2/nightattheroxburry.gif (http://www.threadbombing.com/details.php?image_id=2191)

Pure win!!!

[Baron Samedi]

Watching people on IRC the past couple days I might have to go pick this game up myself. Fighters usually don't get much traction on my consoles because there just aren't that many people in my local peer group interested in fighting games(or videogames at all).

Maybe 'net play will make that a non-issue?

Do it! The more the merrier! Friend Codes are evil, but once you're past it, you can Smash it up with all of us!

[Chimpbot]

I've actually thought that this is the future of Nintendo for quite some time, especially with the portable market in Japan. Who knows, maybe the next one will be a fusion between DS and Wii - something to take with you, but something you can also plug into a TV.

It's arguable they now have the funds to attempt a play at building a competively-configured console.
While they made money from the N64 and Gamecube, neither console was the runaway success the Wii is.

I could be very, very wrong...but I have a feeling the next Nintendo console will be significantly beefier and much closer to the competition in terms of hardware specs; they'll actually have the wads of cash necessary to enter a hardware arms race next time.