[quote name='Grave_Addiction']My only problem with this is that having the cheaper system is good at the beginning of the console's life, but after the first few rounds of price drops, the system isn't very much cheaper than its competitors. Because of this, it loses a lot of the "value" they were striving for in the beginning, and they now have the weakest system on the market.
I hope Nintendo can come through with an inexpensive system that can hang with Sony and Microsoft in the hardware side of things.[/QUOTE]
What? The GameCube has the same 50% price advantage today as when it started. The difference could be even greater against the new Sony and Microsoft hardware but that is still completely unknown.
The price advantage of the GameCube failed to be sufficent advantage because screwed up elsewhere. If they had gotten their act together on third party support the price difference would be a bigger factor but as an also-ran to so much of the market it only seemed appropriate. I think they've largely given up on trying to win back third party support in a big way and this is why having lots of oddball controllers becomes more viable. When you aren't concerned with selling it to third parties but instead justify it solely on your own products it changes your perspective on what products to produce. I haven't heard anyone ask whether third parties would produce bongo games but that question often arises with EyeToy. The novelty of the bundled software ( all three to date) wears thin and they're soon looking for something else but all of the choices are pretty much the same thing.
The big difference seems to be that none of the EyeToy games seems adequate to justify the purchase all by themselves but Donkey Konga does. That is an important accomplishment. EyeToy isn't a loser but to hear people talk its promise is unfulfilled. I don't hear people making the same complaints about their bongos. Instead they go out and buy more bongos for multiplayer. This is one of Nintendo's strengths. Mario Party is by far the most successful party game franchise and Donkey Konga continues that theme. If that is to be the mainstay of what Nintendo pushes in the next generation high horsepower won't matter much but a low cost for the machine before you start adding extra controllers will be appreciated.
It remains to be seen if that is a winning strategy but is at least a real strategy and one that avoids direct confrontation with the other consoles, which is more than can be said for their present generation.