That doesn't mean getting into a tech race with Sony and Microsoft. It goes against their business model to do that, and it has proven to be worse for them to compete in that arena than to carve out their own unique path. It's imperative that they get third-party support, but there are ways to go about that. They need to provide incentive for publishers to devote resources to their system, make it more attractive. Nintendo is a hardware-oriented business first and foremost -- all of their systems are sold at a profit -- which is the opposite of Sony and Microsoft, who sell consoles at a loss and make up for it through software and accessories.
The problem with the Wii was that they didn't foster goodwill with third-party publishers, so they had no real reason to develop for the system that wasn't giving them the same revenue as putting one game on the PS3/360/PC. For their part, Nintendo did a good job providing people with games they wanted, and that drove Wii sales through the roof. The solution isn't to make a super high-tech console but continue messing with different ways to interact with games. Offering another standard console that can play Mario won't let them continue to grow; it'll satisfy hardcore players, but it won't drive major growth.
It's the same excuse every single generation since the N64. If Nintendo is so terrible with third party relations, they should drop out of the hardware game altogether. Every single generation Nintendo spews the same garbage that they are going to appease third parties so they will create games for them, and it never happens. Either they are hardcore BSing people with statements like that, or the third parties just do not want to work for Nintendo because of their hardware faults. You can't have it both ways here.
Nintendo doesn't need to get into the tech race, but they do need decent tech! They don't need to be more powerful then the next Sony or Microsoft console, but they need to be close to them or else the developers aren't going to give a **** about Nintendo, like they already are and have been doing for decades now. If they can't port a 360 game to the Wii, then they won't. They will port that game to the PS3, and vice versa.
You're asking a lot for a third party developer to ignore the PS3 and 360 and build a game from the ground up on the Wii and only on the Wii. There's no way they will port that game to the other two, because the 360/PS3 crowds are expecting top of the line video games. And if that video game doesn't sell on the Wii like so many other third party games before it (Madworld, Dead Rising, Castlevania, Red Steel), then you've wasted time and money for nothing. Not going to happen.
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Good Times,
Great Memories