hey, watch what you say about the dreamcast, that's all some of us have
seriously, $25 for a dreamcast system and either find roms or pay $2.99 for most games at used shops and maybe $15 for soul calibur and you have a kickass fun system
i don't think i've ever played as many games for one system that are quite this addictive...
as for nintendo...i have always liked their systems and have been a pretty much diehard nintendo console buyer until the N64. i buoght it, bought a few games and was kinda sad at how much more fun some of the playstation games were in comparison. GT1 and 2 being the two most memorable...then again, on the whole, i have more fun N64 (conkers, banjo, FzeroX, etc) than i have for playstation. it's like some systems put out a TON of games that may have a few must haves while others put out less games that are just 'better' or at least, 'better for me' like, look for the ratings on dreamcast adn you get a lot of 8/9/even a 10 with only a very few 2-5 ratings, while the xbox and ps2 are a bit more spread out across the spectrum. gamecube is in between, but i have spent more time playing "kiddie" games like mario sunshine than things like max payne or rogue spear/squadron.
now, back on topic.
nintendo won't really go the way of sega based on the next console. Simply put, nintendo has done well enough since what, 1988, when the gameboy came out. After that, they have had a HUGE market in the portable gaming industry that does not appear to be dying off anytime soon. Hell, it took 10 yrs just to get color, and it was still selling well...
as for the new console...I really hope nintendo drops the proprietary disk/chip/software/whatever else they are thinking of making proprietary. it just seems to drive up costs for the consumers...As long as it is not based on cartridges, i'll be happy