It's true. A position of weakness, criticism, and failure is what breeds innovation and OUR (the consumer's) best interest.
1. Nintendo's absolute failure in the console space motivated them to release Mother 3 and Earthbound in the United States; Iwata Asks became a thing, and steps were taken to embrace consumers internationally. Nintendo has never been more "intriguing" and interesting to me since 2006, I'm hype for NX.
2. Microsoft's awful unveil of the Xbox One convinced them to absolutely trash the initial concept of what Xbox One was. Some may call it a 180, but out of the 180 came backwards compatibility, EA Access, legitimate attempts at broadening the exclusive portfolio, and an Xbox controller that finally supports Bluetooth.
3. Sony's fall from grace with the PlayStation 3 created the most developer friendly environment in the history of consoles, the most drastic redesign of the Dualshock since it's inception, and a machine that was more POWERFUL AND CHEAPER than it's closest competition.
Failure motivates trailblazing. I may disagree with my fellow GAFFers, but I'm always going to be on the side of a GAFFer before I side with any corporation. Corporate worship- for as long as I can remember being a gamer- has done absolutely nothing for innovation. In fact all it ever does is raise prices (remember 3DS launch price of 249.99?), position anti-consumer loopholes (raising PSN/XBL prices any one?), and takes us for granted.