well... okay. that was mainly assumption anyway, and i did include *maybe*, so thank you for noticing that and not accepting what i said as fact.
also, they're selling the 3DS at a loss... maybe. but how much of a loss anyways? hasn't it been confirmed already that the actual value of the device is pretty much just a bit under the current sales price? so they gave up on much of the R&D costs, doesn't mean they have to give up on the resource costs as well. besides, it's good business for Nintendo if everyone assumes they're selling at a loss. people WILL underestimate them, as they have, and as they will. and yet... the figures in the end say otherwise to the naysayers. but i suppose they really did panic, what with all the pay cuts that followed the hubbub.
as for Reggie's grand scheme, i already said it's in his wiki article. go on, read it, and interpret it yourself. what i said in my post was my interpretation of it, which closely coincided with what i thought of Nintendo all along. but i think it's more like your first quoted sentence. they don't need fancy hardware since casuals don't care. i mean, i think Reggie prefers making new markets than trying to keep up with bleeding edge. and Reggie obviously doesn't want to keep up with bleeding edge, they're making gamers like their games and hardware because of the entertainment value, not because it can do fancy graphics. and besides, fancy graphics appears to be the norm, and they obviously don't want to be among the norm. as the article says, hardcore fans scoff at their hardware and games. but they succeed anyway.