Nintendo's going with gimmick consoles every generation only because the Wii was able to sell like hotcakes in the late 2000's.
I've been enjoying this discussion you guys are having. This bit necessitates a response though.
I think you need to broaden your field of view when talking about Nintendo and so-called gimmicks. To claim that the Wii is the reason that Nintendo will continue to include gimmicky and experimental technology with their hardware does a disservice to your argument. Nintendo has been including weird things in their devices since the very start. Their pre-Famicom systems included a wide range of gameplay customization options that you couldn't get on an Atari or even some arcade cabinets. The Game & Watch device was a very robust line of handheld systems and you can't forget about their grandchild the Game Boy which could have a thread all on its own for how it innovated the gaming scene.
But sticking to consoles, go back to the Famicom and you have a microphone in the P2 controller; and don't forget about our friend the Robotic Operating Buddy or the Zapper or cartridges that were able to save data. Just to stick with that era, consider the Famicom Disk System and how Nintendo sold blank disks that could be written/rewritten at local shops so you could buy new games and write them to your existing equipment. The FDS also boasts an impressive range (for the time) of on-board copy protection, whether you like that or not.
Then we get to the Super Nintendo era and you begin to see a lot of radical changes under the hood. In addition to on-board capabilities like Mode 7, Nintendo begins experimenting with third party chips placed in certain game cartridges to enhance the system hardware beyond its original capabilities. SuperFX is probably the most popular of these and the most recognizable. Oh, I should also mention that the SNES was capable of networked play via the Satellaview attachment. Heck, the Virtual Boy offers functional 3D game play and one of the best pre-analog controllers around. That shit has two d-pads on it and is solid as a rock in a player's hands.
And then we come to the Nintendo 64 which brought us major changes in controller technology, surpassing the improvements made by its predecessors. The analog stick becomes fully realized, features like rumble and force feedback are introduced, and a minagere of attachments for the N64 controller came along from third parties, some good and some not so good. Not to mention the modular memory pack which meant that consumers could upgrade their console if they so desired.
And we're not even at the GameCube yet, which normalized first party wireless controllers. Though I will admit that this system offered more innovation on the programming side of things.
Check out this analysis of The Wind Waker to get an idea of the kind of wizardry Nintendo was pulling off just under our noses during that era.
What I am getting at is that Nintendo has a very long history of trying new things and not simply for the sake of being different. As
@Zeke Von Genbu kindly shared with us, Nintendo's ethos of innovation and flexibility are underlined by a strong sense of genuine effort. This does not mean that every effort is successful. But there has been an effort for quite a long time, not just since the Wii era.
Thank you.
