I don't understand how people always forget that Microsoft and Sony were losing their shirts for a long time on their consoles. Outside of the 3DS for a short period of time Nintendo doesn't do that. They can't do that. This is their business. Sony has a bunch of other businesses (all of which somehow also manage to lose money, but whatever) Microsoft has Windows and Office and their enterprise businesses. Nintendo has Nintendo. So it's not surprising when they don't blow money on ridiculous new systems. They can't survive in that world. They have to be smarter and take different gambles. They have the technical know how to have made the 3DS more like the vita, but where would that have gotten them? And the Wii U may not be brain meltingly awesome, but they're taking a gamble that it'll be good enough for them to make money on. If the next consoles from Microsoft and Sony are magnificent leaps above where we are now it will probably lose money for those companies for a good while. If they're just a half step or so better than the Wii U then Nintendo may have won big.