So, this is Nintendo's first HD system, and a console very similar to the DS.
The same DS that underwent a number of revisions, not only changing the design and functionality, but its capability, dramatically (on a miniature scale.)
Nintendo DS (Fat Nov. 21 2004)
Storage
Internal storage Yes
Storage capacity 0.25 MB
Hardware
CPU speed 67 MHz
Video RAM 656 KB
System RAM 4 MB
Nintendo DS Lite (June 11 2006)
Storage
Internal storage Yes
Storage capacity 4 MB
Hardware
CPU speed 67 MHz
System RAM 4 MB
Nintendo DSi (April 5, 2009)
Storage
Internal storage Yes
Storage capacity 256 MB
Memory card support Yes
Memory card support SD (SDHC)
Hardware
CPU speed 133 MHz
System RAM 16 MB
Nintendo 3DS (March 27, 2011)
Storage
Internal storage Yes
Memory card support Yes
Memory card support SD (SDHC)
Hardware
CPU speed 266 MHz
GPU speed 133 MHz
Video RAM 4 MB
System RAM 64 MB
Internal ROM 1536 MB
Between November 2004, and April 2009, a period of just four and a half years, Nintendo released 3 versions of the DS, each one more capable than the last, and by the last model, on board RAM had quadrupled and processing speed had doubled; it was also much, much more feature rich than the original DS.
I have included the 3DS to illustrate the evolution of that design and what it meant for specs.
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Moral of the story is: Somewhere after launching the DS -- maybe pressure from the PSP -- Nintendo realized that the product they delivered wasn't enough, and they kept redesigning it to deliver a more complete package. What I'm saying is -- before everyone goes and declares that the Wii U is doomed forever and Nintendo is now 3rd party, its entirely possible that a revision may happen down the line.
Perhaps Nintendo is testing the waters with this iteration of the console. "We'll make it quick and cheap to see what they think, and then change it accordingly to meet demand next time." It's not like consoles have never been revised before.
There were two (to my knowledge) versions of the SNES. Two or three types of Genesis, and then there was the Genesis-CDX Megabeast hybrid. Playstation and PSOne. PS2/Slim. PS3/Slim/SuperSlim. 360/Elite/S. Even the Wii, from what I recall, was changed somewhere down the line to not play Gamecube games any more.
For all the TL;DR's out there, let me say this: The Wii U hasn't even been out for 24 hours. Let's enjoy what it offers as much as we can, let's look forward to what the future holds, and trust that Nintendo (whether we believe it or not) may actually know what they're doing (even if we don't understand why the hell they're doing it.)
Before the Vita had come out, everyone was hailing it as the messiah and said it would crush the 3DS and save us all from inferior handheld tyranny. 47-to-1 sales don't sound like "Crushing" to me.
Maybe we should wait until the 720 and PS4 are actually announced and we can actually see them and play them and develop for them ourselves before we decide who is going third party.