[bomanbot]

As far as I remember, Nintendo always did that, selling each console at profit, however small that may be, starting from NES, to Super NES, N64, Gamecube and now Wii (and I guess, soon WiiU).

So Nintendo was the only manufacturer who did not apply the "razorblade" model of the other console makers, which is understandable since they were and are a videogame company only and thus never had any other branches which could have been able to subsidize their console business in the beginning (unlike for example Microsoft).

I think the first console Nintendo made that actually sold at a loss is the current 3DS handheld and that may be after the very fast initial price cut after the slow reception on the market.