[ac29]

Its because Nintendo isnt really a hardware company - they're a software company. Game console hardware is generally sold close to at cost (sometimes even at a loss), and profit is made by charging royalties to game developers.

The primary reason to lock down consoles is to prevent piracy, but also to lock in those royalties. If the console was open, presumably most 3rd parties would take advantage of that to reduce costs.

[Shared404]

IIRC, so take this with a grain of salt, the big N is the only major console developer to consistently sell consoles at a profit.