I just wanna re-say some things. Going into this generation (the Yamauchi) Nintendo focused on the Japanese market alot...I think he was trying to "save face" in the "home land". While this has helped GAMECUBE to be more supported by Japanese publishers and will, in the end, result in more Japanese marketshare than last generation it also really hurt their western presense. The N64, in the U.S., was sort of a focus platform for western publishers and games like the Tom Clansy series, Star Wars, FPS's, wrestling games, etc. GAMECUBE has lost pretty much all of that...and in turn X-BOX is now the home for these types of games and has been a better focus platform for western publishers. Why? Mr. Yamauchi saw MS as no threat and (with his Japanese focused goggles) he ignored them altogether. He was a legendary leader of this industry, and his strides to rebuild the burned bridges with Japanese publishers was awesome...but his Japanese-only focus has *really* hurt Nintendo's western presense and given MS a foothold where Nintendo slipped up. The Japanese games are fine and dandy, the fun approach is great and the trendy design of the GAMECUBE was great for Japan...but killed their already lacking image in the U.S.!
This is the new (Iwata) Nintendo now though. They've since switched their advertising companies and I've noticed a step up there, made black & platinum their focus colors for GAMECUBE, more TV commersials and less BS PR, and overall, I think they've done good to turn things around when literally NOA had to deal with NCL's bad console design. I think they're also listening more as the new Zelda proves (I, literally thought that the new Zelda was going to be a WW sequal so I was pleased and I think the industry in general was a lil' shocked) and if the rumors are true of them making a better LOOKING system then I think they'll do better. They need to finnish up this generation fully and as best as they can...and I really think in the end they're going to pull ahead of MS in the U.S. 'cos MS seems to be moving their focus to next generation next year, unlike Nintendo who will have two *very* kick ass exclussives next year while the X-BOX has...none IMO! Going in at 2ND place with at the same time as PS3 (not a year+ later) with a better strategy, better image, a more serious looking system and this time not ignoring MS and I'd say "Revolution" is a real turning point for Nintendo.