You need to consider the amount of money that companies like Sony and Microsoft are dumping into this. While Nintendo made a lot of profit, Microsoft lost billions of dollars over several years. Now, Sony is losing a ton of cash on the PS3. When companies put up so much cash into these systems, "doing well" isn't good enough. If these companies can't make money on these systems (Microsoft seems to have finally made it, but we'll see how 2008 financial numbers look), then it's a failure.
Also, Nintendo thrived during the N64/Gamecube generations without "hardcore" titles. People forget that Nintendo still had the best profit margins over that time, even though they didn't move as many units.
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You need to consider the amount of money that companies like Sony and Microsoft are dumping into this. While Nintendo made a lot of profit, Microsoft lost billions of dollars over several years. Now, Sony is losing a ton of cash on the PS3. When companies put up so much cash into these systems, "doing well" isn't good enough. If these companies can't make money on these systems (Microsoft seems to have finally made it, but we'll see how 2008 financial numbers look), then it's a failure.
Also, Nintendo thrived during the N64/Gamecube generations without "hardcore" titles. People forget that Nintendo still had the best profit margins over that time, even though they didn't move as many units.