Nintendo dominated sales because of two things 1: price of their system vs competition and 2: motion gaming was new/inevative at the time. Which is marketing 101... consumers favor what's new/interesting and cheap. Motion gaming is great ...when done in the right amount! Nintendo took it too far by applying it to most every game that appeard on the Wii. Not that I don't enjoy Wii sports, Mario, smash bros., and Zelda but for most games I'll take my regular controller and my HD graphics. Just because more Wii's were sold doesn't mean more people actually ended up using and liking the Wii more. Having something and using it are two very different things. I own all 3 consoles(as I've stated before) and my Wii is rarely used, Why? Because it looks just ok on a 60" HDTV(even with the component cables) and after a while I want to play some great beautiful HD games like: Need for speed hot pursuit, Forza motorsport 4 , God of war 3, Grand theft auto 4, heavenly sword, Rayman origins, mortal kombat, Bayoneta, saints row 3 etc... all experiences that the Wii never had because the Wii was unable to support such games graphic wise. Wii has some good games that are somewhat hardcore and very very fun play; but mainly it was for the kids, senior citizens, families, and tweens thus leading to a console full of shovel ware. Throw in the fact that the system doesn't really support any form of entertainment beyond games and it becomes just another one trick pony. Nintendo themselves have even aggreed that they took the wrong aproach with the Wii by focusing too much on casual games, and thus you get the Wii U. Which in itself has its own potential issues for Nintendo to sort out.
While I understand your point(s), There's nothing wrong with Sony or Microsoft relying on 3rd party games as long as they have a great 1st and 2nd party titles as well. That's what Nintendo forgot about was balance....Nintendo makes great games always have and will but other publishers do too. Nintendo didn't make the Wii inviting enough for great 3rd party game publishers to stick around and deliver their best. It can cost millions for games to be developed and at the end of the day publishers have to balance their check books and if they're not seeing enough over all sales on a particular system they may very well abandon it altogether and when one goes others will fallow. I'm not saying Nintendo is junk compared to Sony or Microsoft because that's simply untrue. What I am saying is the gaming world has had a drastic change compaired even with 10 years ago and it will continue to change in both what consumers expect of hardware and software. Unfortunetly Nintendo is increasingly showing unable to foresee and adapt to these changing expectations in a timely manner.
The only reason why people buy Nintendo consoles is because that's the only way one can play Nintendo games pure and simple. If Nintendo would would just make their games for the Playstations and Xbox's I think they'd be better off. I own a Wii... but I rarely use it, one can only play Mario, Zelda, Wii sports, Donkey Kong, Metroid M etc... so much! I personally don't like all the exclusivety in the gaming world. Some games I can only play on my Xbox 360, others only on my PS3, and other's only on my Wii....it's annoying! I'd rather have access to all games and just pick the console that on whole I like best. Also let's not forget the because Nintendo didn't build a capable HD console with the Wii they lost not only developer support but also gamer support(Not including Nintendo die hards) thus leading to mass disinterest and Nintendo to lose money for the first time in 30 years!
The only thing Nintendo has and has ever had going for it is it's brand name and their first party titles. People LOVE Nintendo software not Nintendo hardware. If Nintendo was really smart they'd quit the hardware side and just focus on what they've always done best which is make great games. Nintendo has a big mountain to climb with the Wii U! Most people who wanted HD gaming already own a PS3, Xbox 360, or both how is Nintendo going to convince these people to spend $300-$400 on a new console(especially in this economy)? Not to mention the PS4 and next Xbox are only 1-2 years away, and the Wii U compared to those is the original Wii all over again. Not saying that Nintendo won't sell lots of Wii U's , but tech and future wise doesn't seem too smart to me.
As far as the PS3 is concerned it doesn't use a mainstream processor, graphics card, or memory so it's not out of date! The PS3 system uses components customed designed and built especially and exclusively for it and it alone.
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