DSi is a transitional half upgrade. What I was proposing for a WiiHD isn't really like a DSi as in it is capable of soo much more, but more like Sony & MS offering a different sku with a HDMI port and a larger HDD.
Is it that simple? I ask this legitimately since I'm no hardware expert. At the time when the Wii was revealed the common excuse for why Nintendo was releasing a Gamecube 1.5 was because by not supporting HD there was no need in having such advanced hardware. I assumed that all the extra horsepower of the other consoles was a requirement to take advantage of HD and that the Wii as is is not up to the task. If it's just putting a port on there, well, that's a bummer for early adopters but is not THAT big of a deal. I was under the assumption that upping the specs would be a requirement and if so they're going to make Wii HD only games, just like they make DSi only games. It's in their best interest to since exclusive content will attract current Wii owners into double-dipping.
I don't think you are reading what I wrote, but instead just focusing on a specific sentence. No port needs to be added to the Wii, it already has component cables. Wii is already capable of outputting HD. All the Wii needs is more fill rate to upscale to that HD resolution.
The PS360 is more powerful because it is producing HD visuals using HD assets. The fictional WiiHD that I was discussing wouldn't be using any HD assets, just upscaling regular assets upto HD resolutions. Like a DVD upscaler. The DVD's are no different than any other DVD when it comes to resolution, and they work in any DVD player. But if you put your DVD in an upscaling DVD player and hook it up to a HDTV, the upscaler will take the 480p source(your DVD) and display it at 720p or 1080i(tada! upscaled). Essentially scaling the resolution up to something higher with some pretty noticeable differences.
The fictional WiiHD I was describing wouldn't really have any hardware difference that the Developers could take advantage of, because it wouldn't be included in the development kits. Sort of an invisible upgrade just to allow the Wii to upscale the image it already sends out at a higher resolution to your TV.
You have a PS3 now. Do you also have a HDTV?
hook up you old DVD player and the PS3 to the same HDTV and put the DVD in both of them to see the difference. The PS3 didn't turn your DVD into a Blu-ray, it just displayed the image it output at a higher res producing a more colorful, crisper, sharper image.
You also have to remember that the Xbox displayed out at 720p and the Wii is more powerful than the Xbox. The Wii is just lacking in fillrate since Nintendo optimized the system to do what they wanted it to do at the time, and nothing more.