I disagree that Nintendo's inclusion of motion sensors in the Wii and touch screens in the DS are gimmicky. They could have been, but a lot of games make really great use of these controls.
Eh...I've seen some DS games that use the touchscreen well, but it's stuff like
Etrian Odyssey where game mechanics (i.e. the map system) are designed specifically for the touchscreen - the majority of games use it as either a way to half-bakedly adapt a genre not suited for the existing controls (i.e. FPS ports) or an annoying "gimmick" mechanic dropped into the middle of a completely unrelated game.
And I've yet to see a Wii game that
doesn't use the Wiimote as either an annoying gimmick or a poor man's mouse. I'm in agreement with
Yahtzee: requiring larger motions for the same actions
detracts from game immersion, it doesn't
add to it.
I think the way the Wii has been adopted by many people who wouldn't normally play computer games is a testament to Nintendo's innovation in this area (I'm thinking specifically of my boyfriend's 65 year old parents).
And I'll put this one on clever marketing designed to accomplish exactly that goal (showing the general public games as a normal form of entertainment, not trying to offer condescending induction into the "gamer culture" cognoscenti.) And the price difference